Fresh Start is an appeals procedure that allows undergraduate students returning to SUNY Morrisville after a prolonged absence to regain good academic standing and accomplish their educational goals. With Fresh Start, students may choose to exclude up to 15 credits for an Associate’s degree and up to 30 credits for a Bachelor’s degree. Excluded credits can apply to courses with a grade of D+ or below (i.e., D+, D, or F) so the student can attain a 2.0 overall grade point average (GPA).
Eligibility
- Students must not have taken any coursework as a matriculated student at SUNY Morrisville for a minimum of 4 full (fall and spring) semesters prior to readmission.
- Prior to readmission, students will not have attempted more than two semesters of coursework at SUNY Morrisville if enrolled in an Associate’s degree program or more than four semesters of coursework if enrolled in a Bachelor’s degree program.
- Students must meet all criteria for readmission, be accepted for readmission, and have completed Fresh Start appeal paperwork prior to beginning the new semester.
- Readmitted students who have appealed under the Fresh Start policy must complete a full-time probationary semester of at least 12 credit hours. In this probationary semester, students are not permitted to drop any courses and must receive a grade of C or better in every course.
- Once elected, Fresh Start may not be rescinded.
Students may apply for Fresh Start only once during their SUNY Morrisville career.
Procedure
Upon completion of the probationary semester, if all eligibility requirements for Fresh Start (above) have been met then the following procedure shall be followed:
- The student will meet with their academic advisor and complete the FS Course Exclude paperwork, indicating those courses they wish to have excluded from the transcript.
- The academic dean will review and approve the FS Course Exclude paperwork and forward on to the registrar’s office for processing.
- Approved courses will be coded as Excluded on the students’ academic transcript with the grades and credits being excluded from the cumulative GPA.
- All original credits and grades will remain on the permanent SUNY Morrisville transcript to reflect an accurate academic history.
Fresh Start is a policy of SUNY Morrisville. As such, students should be aware it may not be recognized by outside institutions or for financial aid purposes. Fresh Start does not override state and federal financial aid regulations nor satisfactory academic progress standards. Excluding grades will impact financial aid eligibility. Repeating courses previously passed may not count toward full-time enrollment for financial aid purposes. Students should contact the Financial Aid Office for information on their aid eligibility if considering applying for Fresh Start.