Academic Policies
Anchors To:
FERPA
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974, as amended, requires that students be advised of their rights concerning education records and of the information that the University of California, Merced, has deemed public information.
Your Rights as a Student
FERPA governs and protects your rights to your individual education records. The primary rights protected under FERPA are:
- the right to inspect and review your education records;
- the right to seek an amendment to your education records;
- the right to consent to the disclosure of your education records; and
- the right to obtain a copy of UC Merced’s FERPA policy
Education Records
Education records are all records that 1) are maintained by UC Merced and 2) are related to the student, with the following exceptions:
- Personal notes by staff, which are not shared with others;
- Law enforcement/public safety records maintained solely for law enforcement purposes;
- Employment records where employment is not connected to student status (ex: work-study student employee records would be covered by FERPA); and
- Records related to the treatment by a health care professional and used only for the medical/health treatment of the student
School of Engineering Compliance
Your academic advisor cannot release details about your academic status, record or other information without your explicit written permission. To release this information, you need to contact your advisor and file a release form.
Further Details
For more information about how UC Merced handles student privacy, please review the Office of the Registrar’s Website.
Repeat a Course
A student may only repeat courses in which he or she receives a D+ or lower. Students are not automatically allowed to repeat — permission must be obtained from the student’s academic advisor.
Repeat Limits
The School of Engineering has a strict repeat policy:
- Students are allowed to repeat a course only once.
- If the course is failed a second time, the student might not be allowed to continue in the School of Engineering.
- The student may petition to repeat the course a second time. Contact your advisor to discuss this option and to obtain the petition.
Note: The second grade replaces the first grade for purposes of GPA calculations for the first 16 repeated units. After 16 units, the second grade will be averaged for GPA purposes. In either case, both grades will be recorded on the transcript. If you plan on repeating/replacing a failing grade at another UC, you will need to complete a Subsequent Repeat form.
Repeat/Replace Policy
A student may repeat up to 16 units of UC coursework in which he or she received a D+ or lower, for the purposes of improving his or her UC Merced grade-point average. Only the first 16 units of coursework that is later repeated will be excluded from the GPA.
When a course is repeated, the original grade points and units will be excluded from the GPA calculation. Only the repeated grade points and units will be included in the GPA, regardless of whether the repeated grade is better or worse than the original grade. The original grade will not be removed from the transcript.
Once 16 units of coursework have been repeated, the grade points and units from both the original attempt and the repeated attempt(s) will be used in calculating the grade point average.
Student Standing
Academic Probation
An undergraduate student is placed on academic probation if one of the following occurs:
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The student’s semester grade-point average is lower than 2.0, or
- The student’s cumulative University of California grade-point average is lower than 2.0.
Academic review occurs at the end of each academic semester. When a student is placed on academic probation, the university notifies the student, and the student’s transcript states “Academic Probation” for the affected semester. While on academic probation, the student is under the supervision of his/her school or advising unit.
Subject to Academic Dismissal
An undergraduate student is subject to academic dismissal from the university if one of the following occurs:
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The student has been on academic probation for two or more semesters and the student’s cumulative grade-point average is lower than 2.0; or
- The student’s semester grade-point average is lower than 1.5 and the student’s cumulative grade point average is lower than 2.0.
Subject to Academic Dismissal Appeals
When a student is academically dismissed, the university notifies the student via UC Merced email.
The student may be given the opportunity to make a written appeal.
The student who is subject to academic dismissal and does not complete the appeal process as prescribed by his or her respective school is automatically dismissed. The student whose appeal is approved returns on special academic probation under the appropriate school or advising unit. The student whose appeal is denied will have his or her official transcript reflect “Academic Dismissal” for the affected semester.
Academic Reentry
Students who are academically dismissed may apply to return to UC Merced via the Academic Reentry process. See the Academic Reentry guidelines online.
