Committee on Academic Policy and Standards (CAPS)

This standing committee of the York College Senate is charged to:

• Review and recommend policies relating to the academic standards of college, as well as the procedures for their implementation

• Hear and decide upon petitions and appeals of students deviating from established policy

• Recommend policy for the admission of students admitted through the University Admission Policy Committee

• Recommend policy for the admission of students to York College

• Receive and review recommendations of policy addressing admission to professional programs

CAPS consists of twelve members, including students, faculty and administrators.

All petitions must include a typewritten personal statement describing in detail the relief requested. The student must provide supporting documentation for all petitions. No petition will be accepted or acted upon after a student has been certified for graduation. There is a two-year limitation on petitions to retroactively change a transcript entry. If a student is separated from the college for four consecutive academic semesters or sessions (Fall/Spring, Winter/Summer), the student must file the petition in the semester he/she is reinstated.

Appeal of Denial

A student may request reconsideration of a previously denied petition. The Appeal of Denial is the final level of review. An Appeal of Denial petition must be accompanied by additional documentation that was not submitted in previous petition submission, a new typed personal statement: documentation of extenuating circumstances; and any other information not provided for the initial petition that the student feels would help support their claim. Appeal of Denial petitions must be acted upon prior to the expiration of the two-year limitation for the previously denied petition.

Appeal of Dismissal

A student who has been dismissed for academic reasons may petition to be reinstated for the subsequent academic semester. A student may appeal their dismissal status a maximum of three dismissals; further appeals will not be considered. A student who is academically dismissed and has been separated from the college for one or more academic semesters must instead petition for Readmission.

Excess Credit Allowance

For students in good academic standing, the maximum number of credits for the Fall and Spring semester(s) is 18; for the Winter session, 6; for Summer session I and Extended Summer session, 6 credits; for Summer session II, 6 credits. A student may petition for an excess credit(s) allowance to exceed these limits. To be eligible for excess credit(s) allowance, a student must have a minimum of a Grade Point Average (GPA) of 3.0 or above at York College, and have no outstanding Incomplete (INC) grades. The student must also submit a typed personal statement explaining the reason for wanting to petition for excess credits for the semester or session they are applying for.

Extension of Incomplete (INC) Grade

A student may petition to extend the deadline to complete work for course(s) in which an INC grade has been assigned. The student must submit documentation of the extenuating circumstance that is preventing completion of the coursework by the published deadline. Written instructor and/or department support of the student completing the work after the deadline must be attached to the petition.

Grade Appeal

A student may appeal a grade to the Committee on Academic Policy and Standards (CAPS) within the first six weeks of the academic semester after receiving the grade. Prior to submitting a petition appealing a grade, a student must attempt to resolve the issue by consulting with the instructor and the department chair for the course in question. If the issue is not resolved after consultation, a petition may be filed. In the Grade Appeal, the student must provide evidence that the instructor deviated from the published grading criteria and syllabus for the course. In addition, instructor and department chair input will be solicited by CAPS if not provided in the petition.

Decisions on grade appeals are advisory in nature, and decisions in the student's favor will be delivered to the student, the instructor, the department chair and the Office of Academic Affairs. A successful grade appeal indicates only that the student has submitted sufficient evidence to show that the instructor deviated from the course syllabus and the published grading criteria and/or that evidence of bias in grading exists, and that a grade change may be warranted. CAPS do not have the authority to require that the decision of the grade appeal be reflected on the undergraduate student's transcript.

Grade Change

CAPS reviews the following categories of grade changes:

• Incomplete to final grade changes submitted after the tenth week deadline of the subsequent semester

• Any other grade change that is past the one-year deadline

Except for assigned INC grades, grading may only be based on work done during the semester the course was taken. There is a two-year limitation on appeals for retroactive change of transcript entry. Grades cannot be altered once a student has been certified for graduation. Petitions for late grade changes must be accompanied by the official change of grade form, along with documentation from the instructor as to the reasons for the delay in correcting the grade.

Readmission

Students must file for readmission through the CAPS Committee if they have been separated from the college for at least one academic semester and have a GPA of less than 2.0. Students with less than a cumulative GPA of 2.0 must receive CAPS approval prior to being readmitted to the college. To apply for readmission, the student must have passed the reading, writing and mathematics skills tests prior to filing for readmission.

Retroactive Leave of Absence

A student may petition for a Retroactive Leave of Absence from a particular semester. The student must request to withdraw from all courses in that semester.

Retroactive Withdrawal

A student may petition to change grades of FIN or WU to W, or to assign a grade of W in a course(s) during the current semester for which the deadline has passed. The academic department must certify the student's last date of class attendance, and the student must provide evidence of the extenuating circumstance that prevented official withdrawal by the deadline.

Retroactive Pass/Fail

A student may petition to elect a Pass/Fail Option after the 10-week deadline, or to rescind a Pass/Fail Option after the last day of classes for a particular semester. The student must submit supporting documentation of an extenuating circumstance causing the missed deadline.

NOTE: Failure in the course or missing the deadline to select the Pass/Fail option will not be considered grounds for an appeal.

Waiver of Degree Requirements

A student may petition for any of the following deviations from published degree requirements:

• Waiver of the York College residency requirement

• Waiver of the York College major residency requirement

• Waiver of a General Education requirement

• Substitution of a course to satisfy a General Education requirement

Petitions must include documentation of the exceptional circumstances that prevent the student from satisfying the published requirements. Petitions must also include evidence of support for the deviation from the relevant academic department. Substitutions of major and minor program requirements are provided by academic department certification to the Office of the Registrar, not by petition through CAPS.

Other

In addition to the previously described petition types, consideration of other types of policy waivers may be referred to CAPS by other units of York College. The same standards for supporting documentation and review will be applied to these petitions as to the previously defined petition categories.