Academic Notice & Dismissal

Deficit Points and Academic Recovery Heading link

To better understand academic notice, dismissal, and academic recovery,  it is important to understand deficit points. Students who have earned a UIC total GPA below a 2.00 will have negative deficit points. Deficit points are calculated as follows: multiply the number of semester hours for each course taken by the points for the grade received, A=+2, B=+1, C=0, D=-1, F=-2. Add the points for each course taken during the semester. The total equals the deficit points used to determine academic notice and dismissal. For every negative deficit point earned, an equivalent in positive points must be earned to offset the negative, returning the GPA to 2.00, and good academic standing. As an example, students with a -14 deficit would need a subsequent semester of 14 semester hours of B grades, with nothing less than a C in order to return to good standing. A personalized degree audit found in uAchieve detail academic deficit, semester, and total GPAs.

Term Notice Heading link

A student not currently on academic notice or term notice will be placed on term notice at the end of any term in which the student earns less than a 2.00/4.00 grade point average but whose UIC grade point average is equal to or greater than a 2.00/4.00. For such a student, term notice serves as a call to action for the student to seek support from campus success resources, including academic advising. A student on term notice who earns a UIC Term GPA of at least 2.00/4.00 will be removed from term notice. Term notice resulting from a UIC GPA cannot be removed by coursework from other institutions or universities, including programs of the Springfield and Urbana-Champaign campuses.

Academic Notice Rules Heading link

Academic Notice Rules

A student not currently on academic notice will be placed on academic notice at the end of any term in which the student earns a cumulative or UIC GPA less than a 2.00/4.00. This rule applies even for the student with a cumulative GPA of 2.00/4.00 or higher. For such a student, academic notice serves as a warning for the student to seek support from campus success resources, including academic advising. An end-of-term academic standing of academic notice indicates that a student may be academically dismissed should subsequent semesters of negative GPA performance continue; see dismissal rules.

A student on academic notice who earns a GPA of at least 2.00/4.00 in a given term will be removed from academic notice, provided the student’s cumulative GPA in all work taken at UIC is at least 2.00/4.00. Academic notice resulting from a UIC GPA cannot be removed by coursework from other institutions or universities, including programs of the Springfield and Urbana-Champaign campuses. Further, for the student with transfer credit, the combined average of the student’s transfer credit and UIC coursework must also be at least 2.00/4.00.

A student currently on academic notice will be continued on academic notice when one of the following occurs:

  1. The student meets the GPA required by the conditions of their academic notice but does not raise the cumulative UIC GPA to at least 2.00/4.00; or
  2. The student meets the GPA required by the conditions of their academic notice but does not raise the combined average of the student’s transfer credit and UIC course work to at least 2.00/4.00.

To support degree completion, a designate of the dean of the student’s college may require the completion of specific courses and/or prohibit continued enrollment in areas where the student consistently fails to meet minimum academic standards. The college may notify the student of these limitations through an academic contract.  Additionally, the college may require additional mandatory advising and the creation of a success plan to promote continued enrollment and academic recovery. For assistance in choosing a major, see Major Exploration and Career Development.

Resources for Students on Academic Notice Heading link

Dismissal Heading link

The college is greatly concerned with student success and occasionally must take steps to encourage a student to remediate academic deficits and/or reevaluate their commitment to higher education. After careful consideration of a student’s ability to recover from academic difficulty, the college may elect to academically dismiss a student and cancel their continuing student status.

In any term, a student may be dismissed for one or more of the following reasons:

  1. First-term students will be dismissed after their first term of enrollment if they earn zero credit, have a grade point average of less than 1.00/4.00, or have a deficit of -15 points or more.
  2. Continuing students will be dismissed at the end of any term in which their deficit points are -15 or more.
  3. Failure to earn any credit.
  4. Failure to earn at least a 2.00/4.00 GPA while on academic notice.
  5. Failure to meet the conditions of an academic contract.
  6. Failure to meet conditions specified at the time of admission.
  7. Failure to make progress toward completion of an LAS degree.
  8. Two or more consecutive terms of university withdrawals.
In other university publications, Dismissal Rules are sometimes called Drop Rules. Before 11/15/24, Term Notice and Academic Notice were termed Probation.