RETURNING TO GOOD STANDING

What will you do in your next quarter of enrollment to ensure success? If you did not pass all of your classes with Cs or better (or if you earned Cs, but know you can earn higher grades), you'll need to consider some new strategies.  Research has shown that doing the following can have a significant, positive impact on students’ academic success:

  • Consider and set both short-term and long-term goals for your education.  It’s OK if your goals change over time.  But it’s important that you determine some goals that are meaningful to you so you’ll feel motivated to work to achieve them.  Your College, Department, and Career Center advisors are good resources to help you with this.
  • Make a connection with the UCSC campus – this can be a connection with your major department, with a student organization, with your college, or with a student job.  Building connections can make students feel more engaged and committed to their education.
  • Get to know your professors and the staff who are here to support you.  Utilize office hours to ask questions and find support from members of the campus community.
  • Follow the Academic Senate’s recommendations to spend at least 3 hours per week of academic work for each credit of course work you’re enrolled in (for a fifteen-credit quarter, that’s 45 hours of academic work per week – more than a full-time job!)

Depending on the factors you identified in the previous section, you may need to consider some other strategies, which might include:

  • Changing your major or concentration/dropping your minor
  • Balancing your course load
  • Cutting back on extra-curricular activities, including work, student groups, and socializing (OR finding extra-curricular activities to enhance your academic experience -- different strategies are effective for different people)
  • If you’re working 25 or more hours per week, if you have family responsibilities, or if you have medical or disability issues that affect your academics, enrolling in the university part-time program
  • Attending academic success workshops (ie, time management, test anxiety, note-taking)
  • Getting tutoring in your difficult subject(s) and/or attending MSI sessions and workshops
  • Meeting or registering with the Disability Resource Center, if a disability has affected your performance
  • Seeking counseling from Counseling and Psychological Services, if stress or mental health has been a factor in your academic performance
  • Changing your living/studying environment
  • Taking a quarter or more off to re-evaluate your priorities
  • Meeting with a Career Coach to renew your interest in your major and future

Consider the options above and any others that you feel might increase your success, and write them down in section 4b.

Now that you’ve done the most difficult parts of the exercise, let’s move on to setting specific goals for earning the grades you need to return to good standing.


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