Second Start Readmission Policy – Application Deadline

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Second Start Readmission Policy – Application Deadline

To: UA Faculty, Academic Advisors, and Registrar's Staff

From:

Neel Ghosh, Chair, Undergraduate Council
Celeste Pardee, Assistant Director for Academic Policies/Organizations

Subject: Second Start Readmission Policy – Application Deadline

Date: April 18, 2019

Effective in Fall 2019, readmitted students who may benefit from the Second Start Policy will have more time to apply for this program. The request to extend the application deadline was submitted by the University Academic Advising Council (UAAC) on behalf of returning students who haven't spoken with their college or department advisor prior to the first day of classes for their term of readmission – thus, missing the current deadline. A new deadline was approved by the Undergraduate Council on 2/12/19, and by the Faculty Senate on 4/1/19, to be effective in Fall 2019 for all undergraduates, regardless of their Catalog year.

The new Second Start Readmission Policy deadline is in the 2019-20 Catalog (in bold font below).

Undergraduates seeking readmission to the University of Arizona after an absence of at least three years may apply for the Second Start Readmission Program. When a returning student applies for readmission through Second Start, the student's application and prior academic record are reviewed by the academic college offering the student's program of study. If accepted by the college and the University, students are also accepted into the Second Start Program.

Once the conditions of Second Start are met, all grades earned for UA course work prior to the student’s absence will be disregarded in the student's cumulative GPA; however, courses in which a C or better was earned will continue to fulfill degree requirements. Credit for those courses with a C grade or above will count as earned units toward specific requirements (e.g., General Education, the major or minor), class standing, and total degree units. But only the courses taken after Second Start is enacted will count toward the University Credit requirements.

Criteria for Enactment of Second Start

To qualify for the program, the following conditions must be met:

  • The student is pursuing readmission to an undergraduate degree program;
  • At the time the request is filed, a minimum of three years must have elapsed since the most recent UA course work was attempted;
  • The student must complete 12 or more graded units in the 12 months following the absence, with a minimum grade-point average of 2.500 for all courses completed in that interval.

Students may apply for Second Start prior to readmission and up until the last day of classes of the first term of readmission. The application form is available from the student's college advisor. Some colleges will require the program for conditional readmission. Recalculation of the student’s GPA won’t occur until after the student completes 12 graded units with a 2.500 GPA within the first 12 months.

Rationale for the extended deadline:

During the first 3 years of the Second Start Program (Fall '16 – Spring '18), only 29% – 47% of the eligible students registered by the deadline – the first day of classes of the first term of readmission.

Eligible students missed that deadline for several reasons:  some were readmitted during the first week of classes, some had other priorities (such as changing majors) so Second Start wasn’t discussed during the advising session, and some who left in good standing didn’t have Second Start as a criterion for readmission.

The new deadline – the last day of classes (before final exams) of their first term of readmission – gives students ample time to consult with an advisor on whether Second Start is an appropriate option.

Management of the extended deadline (these procedures haven't changed):

1.) Students may be notified of their eligibility for Second Start in one of these ways:

  • College advisors may pull Second Start reports from the Advisor Dashboard in UAccess Analytics identifying readmitted students who are eligible for Second Start, based on their length of absence (minimum of 36 months). Advisors will contact their students to inform them about the Second Start Policy.
  • When college advisors review a student’s application for readmission, they may notify the student that participation in Second Start is a condition of readmission and that the student should meet with his/her academic advisor to apply.
  • When eligible students meet with their advisor to discuss their first semester back and to get the advising hold removed, they may be encouraged to participate in Second Start.

2.) In all cases, the academic advisor is the point of contact for a student to be enrolled in Second Start.

  • The Second Start business processes and declaration form are available to advisors on the ARC website under Policies & Procedures, Forms & Processes.
  • For main campus students, the advisor will provide the declaration form, will have the student sign the participation agreement, and will deliver the form to the Registration Office no later than 5:00 PM on the last day of classes (before the final exam period) of the student’s first term of readmission.
  • For online or remote students, the advisor will ask the student to return the signed declaration form by email and will then forward or deliver the form to the Registration Office by the deadline.

3.) The Registration Office will place a service indicator on the student's UAccess record on the term of readmission. This service indicator will be used to track the student’s progress towards the 12-unit/2.500 GPA requirement. The student’s record will be monitored at the end of each major term to determine whether the 12-unit minimum has been met. When the minimum has been met, the record will be adjusted.

4.) If the 12-unit minimum is not met within 12 months, the student will become ineligible for the Second Start benefit, but will remain actively enrolled in the UA.

Questions may be addressed to:

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