The following is a presentation prepared for the 2005 FALL MASFAP CONFERENCE NOVEMBER 6-8

Instant Replay, Let’s Review That One Again! SAP Overview for Newcomers MASFAP FALL 2005 Todd Martin, Director of Financial Aid, East Central College

A Little Humor If only students could fill out our forms correct the first time! Relayed by Todd Martin Early on in my financial aid career, I collected a verification worksheet that made me laugh. The student listed her family members on a verification worksheet in the following manner (names have been changed): Cathy Smith self 33 MHCC Fred Smith Spouse 33 none Chris Smith Dog 9 none

A Little Humor Duh! Relayed by one of my staff members This staff member received a call last week. The person asked, “Do I have to enroll to receive a student loan?”

A Little Humor We all know students love to mix up terms Relayed by Gail Catron: She says, ”One of our students at Wytheville Community College called Counseling and told the Counselor that she could not register until she got her pelvic check.”

A Little Humor I had to include a funny SAP story Relayed by Celena Rader-Lambdin, Director of Financial Aid, Lincoln Memorial University, Harrogate, Tennessee: She says, “My favorite story is the student who received a Satisfactory Academic Progress letter....and called to ask what we meant by calling her a "SAP"! “

Federal requirements School requirements East Central College’s SAP policy Do you need to revise your policy? Tips for counseling students Agenda

Federal & School Requirements Where you can find Federal and School Requirements Vol. 1- Student Eligibility pages 1-8,1-9 attachm ents/0506Vol1.pdf Vol. 2 –School Eligibility and Operations Pages 2-174/ ents/0505V2C10.pdf

Federal Requirements Qualitative standards: Student must have a “C” average or equivalent at conclusion of second year of enrollment, or an academic standing consistent with school’s graduation requirements Quantitative standards: Student cannot receive aid for more than 150% of published length of program SAP standards must be same as or stricter than standards for non-Title IV recipients

Federal Requirements School must establish, publish, & consistently apply standards for measuring whether a student is maintaining SAP

School Requirements A school must have a Satisfactory Academic Progress policy that includes the following elements:

School Requirements Qualitative Component: Must meet the basic federal requirement The written policy must include how it handles course repetitions The school can exclude grades from prior attempts when calculating GPA, but it must include the credits from all attempts when calculating the maximum time frame (150%)

School Requirements Quantitative component: Must meet the basic federal requirement The school determines whether to measure in academic years or terms, credit hours attempted, or clock hours completed As soon as it is clear that a student will not graduate within this period, they become ineligible for aid

School Requirements The policy must explain the effect of incomplete course grades, withdrawals, repetitions, and noncredit remedial courses on satisfactory progress The policy must include rules for both undergraduate and graduated students who change majors, as well as for students who seek to earn additional degrees Example: A school can exclude hours that do not count toward a new major

School Requirements The policy must define how it measures increments An increment cannot be longer than half of the program or one academic year, whichever is less The policy must explain the amount of work a student must successfully complete at the end of each increment This can be a percentage of the attempted hours instead of a fixed number of credits A graduated completion percentage may be used

School Requirements The policy must include procedures through which a student may appeal You may permit a student to appeal for mitigating circumstances, but your policy must explain the mitigating circumstances under which a student may appeal If the appeal is approved, the school is suspending the SAP standard for this student not modifying their academic record

School Requirements Finally the policy must include specific procedures for students to re-establish SAP Requirements to sit out for a term, or pay for a set number of hours without financial aid may be included as components of a school’s SAP policy. However, a student can re-establish eligibility only by taking actions that brings them into compliance with the qualitative and quantitative components of the school’s standard

East Central College’s SAP policy Qualitative Component: All students who have completed 24 semester hours or less must have a 1.8 cumulative GPA. Students who have completed more than 24 semester hours must have a 2.0 cumulative GPA Only the highest grade is counted for course repetitions for your GPA. However, all repeated classes are counted as attempted hours. GPA is reviewed each semester

East Central College’s SAP policy Quantitative Component: Students must complete a total of 67% of all coursework attempted, including degree and remedial coursework. Coursework attempted during all semesters, including fall, spring, and summer will be evaluated cumulatively. This percentage is reviewed each semester

East Central College’s SAP policy Course Grades: Successful completion is defined as receiving a grade of A, B, C, D, or P A grade of “F” (Failure), “W” (Withdrawal), “H” (Audit), or “I” (Incomplete) is considered unsatisfactory. All coursework must be completed within the regular semester time frame. Although the College allows a student to take an incomplete grade in a course and complete the course in the following semester, the course was not completed in the specified time frame, and the grade is therefore, unsatisfactory

East Central College’s SAP policy Change Majors: Students may request a review of their cumulative, attempted, and completed hours if they switch degrees. ESL and remedial courses will not be counted as attempted or completed hours during this review. ECC will not review an over hours student with a suspension status unless the suspension date is more than two years from the date of the request

East Central College’s SAP policy Increments and amount of work the student must complete: In the fall, Jane Doe attempts 15 credit hours and completes 9. She withdrew from two, three-credit hour courses. Jane completed 60% of the coursework she attempted. This is below the minimum standard of 67%. Therefore, Jane is on probation going into the spring semester. While on probation she can continue to receive financial aid. However, she must carefully consider the number of credit hours she attempts in the spring. In the spring Jane attempts 6 credit hours and completes all of them. Now, her cumulative record shows that she has attempted 21 and completed 15. She has improved her standing and now has completed 71% of all coursework she has attempted. Now Jane is back in good standing and removed from financial aid probation. (Note: If Jane accomplished the above, but only had a 1.79 cumulative GPA at the end of this semester she would have been placed on financial aid suspension.) If Jane did not bring her cumulative completed hours back up to 67% of courses attempted by the end of the spring semester, she would have been placed on financial aid suspension and, therefore, would be ineligible to receive financial aid in future semesters.

East Central College’s SAP policy Procedures for appeal: In the event of mitigating circumstances, the student may request to be continued in the financial aid programs through a written appeal to the Financial Aid appeals committee. A student may appeal for the following reasons: becoming very ill or severely injured, a relative dies, becomes very ill or severely injured, a documental mental illness, divorce or family abuse, or documented work conflict. Students will be notified in writing of the results. Only one suspension may be approved through appeal

East Central College’s SAP policy Procedures for students to re-establish SAP Students can re-establish eligibility by bringing themselves back into compliance with the required cumulative GPA, and the required 67% completed hours out of all hours attempted within their degree program

Do you need to revise your policy? When you return to the office review your SAP policy If a required component is missing, notify the appropriate person Remember your policy could be totally different than ECC’s and still be OK If you check only one thing, make sure you look at how students can re-establish eligibility

Tips for counseling students When speaking with each student, assume they have no understanding of this policy Stick to the basic qualitative and quantitative components Encourage them to finish as many courses as possible If you have tutoring services on campus, make sure you refer them to this office

Tips for counseling students Try to think of questions they have not asked If they are emotional when they come in, encourage them to come back at a later time, because they will probably not hear anything you say Before they leave, give them your policy even if they received it earlier Ask if they have any last questions

Questions: Todd Martin Director of Financial Aid 1964 Prairie Dell Rd Union, MO (636) ext Contact Information