Getting on Academic Probation and Suspension

By Jordan Maynard

Rotunda ReporterOver the past three semesters, the number of students receiving their first academic suspension has dropped by 17 percent, and the number of students receiving their first academic probation has dropped by 30 percent. However, students are still receiving academic warnings. What causes students to receive lower GPAs, and what can they do to fix it?

One major factor is the difference between high school and college work loads. Wayne McWee, provost and vice president for academic affairs said, "I don't think many kids that come here as freshmen have been in high school programs in the last five or six years that require a lot of daily nightly homework." McWee believes block scheduling is to blame, as students have a lighter load of homework. Also, many teachers don't use the entire class period and will allow students to do their homework in class.

Ashlee Colley, a freshman currently on academic probation, said, "I guess I really didn't know what to expect when I got here, because in high school, everything was so easy for me. Like I didn't study for my tests, I would [rush] papers and get a good enough grade to pass. I had good grades in high school, like they weren't awesome, but I graduated with a 3.2, never bringing a book home in my life." Colley said she was just naturally smart at the things she needed to learn in high school and never read her textbooks.

Kelly Holcomb, a super-senior, was on academic probation during her freshman year. She feels students are just not ready for the demands of college classes at times. "It's a completely different writing style, teachers and professors expected different things, and I just tried to get into the groove of what they wanted. Just different ways of citing stuff, I had never heard of the Chicago or the APA style before, and I had to figure out what they were and how to use them."

"I think Longwood has a fairly rigorous general education program, which is where freshmen reside for the first year. The first three semesters are normally General Education. Even though they have good GPAs and good SAT scores - the rigor, all five classes are hard classes - that's what makes a difference," McWee said.

Many students also get into trouble academically because of the freedom they have in college. A Longwood junior, who preferred to remain anonymous, said, "Campus life is harder, not being able to really do as much. Just because, if you're on academic probation, you're frankly not allowed to have fun, unless you want to go out and get drunk at a frat party, which is counterproductive."

McWee said, "I think students drink harder than [previous generations] did. I never saw people trying to down 12 bottles of beer - that makes it harder to be an academic student. I think that freshmen in particular get caught up in that in the first few weeks, and then you're in the hole." He also said students sometimes begin drinking on Wednesday or Thursday each week. In previous years, students would only drink on Saturdays, and he believes times have shifted.

However, there are ways to get off of academic probation, and things to change if you are on academic suspension. Rebecca Sturgill, the director of the learning center, teaches a class for students who have been readmitted from suspension or are on probation. This class has no credit value, but is meant to help students change their habits and become better aware of academic life. "When [students] are readmitted, we kind of had two choices. We could bring them in and let them be, or we could try to do something to help focus them and give them a face to help answer questions, provide them with some background," she said. The class teaches students how to create balance between academics and social life, in a way that the student is still able to enjoy their time at Longwood. "We talk about time management, and I don't preach studying 24/7. It's like a diet. You can't do that. If somebody tells you not to eat anything, just drink water, you can stick to that for a day and then you're off it. If somebody is screaming at you to study all the time, all the time, all the time, and don't do anything else, you can't stick to that either. They need to learn how to balance the fun pieces of their life."

Sturgill's class teaches students how to calculate their GPA and how to approach professors. She is a constant reminder of administrative deadlines and how to complete the paperwork. But even though she tries to get these students back on track, "Not every student that comes through the class is successful. I have varying success rates; it depends on how the students want to or feel like performing. We get a few that use 'Hotel Longwood,' there's not mechanism to change that."

Students who have been on probation know there are many things that would help keep their GPAs up. Colley said, "I know that if I want to go to a party, or go to a club - we go to the club sometimes during the week - I make sure all my work's done. And I make sure I get up and go to class if I've partied the night before." She even said that mid-day naps might not be the best idea. "I think it would help if I did my work during the day instead of sleeping."

An anonymous student said, "I've started doing papers earlier, I've started presentations earlier. I've started to go to study groups with other people in my classes. That's helped. Even if that means that I know it and they don't, yet, I remember it that much better. I want to get a little more involved on campus, because it's a lot more fun actually doing something. And frankly it means I get a lot more structure, which has helped me in the past."

Sometimes, the way to academic stability could be considered drastic. Senior Jon Norcutt said, "I was taking a major at the time that I wasn't interested in, so I barely [tried]. I changed majors over my suspension period." When he returned, Norcutt said, "I cut back on social life. I didn't spend all weekend gallivanting, I went to bed at like one o'clock in the morning, a reasonably decent hour."