2.5 – SMEA Guidelines for Satisfactory Performance

Satisfactory Progress Policy for the School of Marine & Environmental Affairs

All active graduate students should strive to maintain satisfactory progress towards their degrees.  This includes performance in coursework, timely and successful completion of departmental milestones, and adherence to professional behavior standards. The Graduate School’s Policy 3.7 provides an overview on satisfactory progress for graduate students.  In the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs, the requirements for satisfactory progress include:

  • Maintaining a cumulative grade point average above 3.0
  • Earning a grade of 2.7 or higher in each core course/core area (SMEA 500, Economics, Environmental Equity & Justice, Marine Science, Law, Research Methods, Policy Processes, and Policy Analysis Techniques)
  • Committing to the thesis, capstone, or courses-only tracks, with required approvals, by established deadlines
  • Completing all requirements of the degree program within 12 academic quarters (excluding summer and quarters on leave)

In the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs, the Graduate Program Coordinator, Graduate Program Advisor, and faculty advisor(s) are responsible for regular reviews of student performance.

Should students fail to make satisfactory and timely progress toward their degrees, or fail to achieve milestones of the degree process, they may be placed in an unsatisfactory performance status.  In this case, the Graduate Program Coordinator will provide written notification of the reason(s) the student was dropped from a satisfactory status, as well as the steps needed to return to satisfactory progress, and the time allotted to complete those steps.  In some (severe) cases, a student may bypass one or more unsatisfactory performance statuses.

 

Academic Notification

Academic notification is internal to the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs and is used to help bring the student’s academic plan back into satisfactory progress within a short period of time (e.g., one quarter).  Academic Notification may be made for the following reasons:

  • Full-time students in their first quarter in the School AND whose quarterly and cumulative GPA are below 3.0 but whose grades in all core courses are at least 2.7.
  • Part-time students who have accumulated fewer than 12 total credits AND whose quarterly and cumulative GPA are below 3.0 but whose grades in all core courses are at least 2.7.
  • Failure to meet provisions in Student Code of Conduct, including those pertaining to academic integrity

 

Academic Alert

For certain criteria, students may be given an academic alert without receiving an academic notification, as specified below.  When a student is placed on an academic alert, the Graduate School must be notified.  Academic alert may be issued for the following reasons:

  • Failure to resolve Academic Notification criteria in allotted time.
  • Students whose quarterly and cumulative GPA are below 3.0 (except as noted for full-time and part-time students above).
  • Students with a grade below 2.7 in any core course.
  • Failure to meet provisions in Student Code of Conduct, including those pertaining to academic integrity

 

Final Academic Alert

For certain criteria, students may be given a final academic alert without receiving an academic notification or being placed into academic alert, as specified below.  When a student is placed on a final academic alert, the Graduate School must be notified.  Final Academic Alert may be issued for the following reasons:

  • Failure to resolve Academic Alert criteria in allotted time.
  • Students whose quarterly GPA is below 3.0 and whose cumulative GPA has been below 3.0 for two successive quarters (excluding the first quarter in the School, or the first two or three quarters for part-time students whose total credits are fewer than 12).
  • Failure to meet provisions in Student Code of Conduct, including those pertaining to academic integrity
  • Failure to complete all degree requirements within 12 quarters (excluding summer and quarters on leave)

 

Academic Drop

This action will terminate a student’s enrollment in their program of study without receipt of a degree.  If this occurs, a student is no longer eligible to complete the program (although they may enroll in other graduate programs within the UW).  For certain criteria, students may receive an immediate academic drop without receiving Final Academic Alert, as specified below.  Academic Drop may occur for the following reasons:

  • Failure to resolve Final Academic Alert criteria in allotted time.
  • Students whose quarterly GPA is below 3.0 and whose cumulative GPA has been below 3.0 for three successive quarters (excluding the first quarter in the School for full-time students, or the first three quarters for part-time students whose total credits are fewer than 12).
  • Students with two consecutive grades below 2.7 in the same SMEA core requirement
  • Failure to meet provisions in Student Code of Conduct, including those pertaining to academic integrity
  • Failure to complete all degree requirements within 12 quarters (excluding summer and quarters on leave)

 

Updates may be made to this policy in the autumn 2025 quarter. If so, an updated version will be distributed to all students by the end of autumn quarter.

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