At the end of any long-term semester or summer session, compute your cumulative UT-Austin GPA as shown in the section "Computation of Grade Point Average". Go to the Table of "University Academic Standards". Find the total hours (both UT-Austin and transfer work) you have attempted in Column 1 of the Table. Then look across the row corresponding to your total hours. If your UT-Austin GPA falls below 2.00 GPA, you will be placed on scholastic probation. If your GPA falls below the scholastic probation level in column three, you will be subject to scholastic dismissal.

If you are on scholastic probation, you will be removed from such probation at the conclusion of any long-term semester or at the end of a summer session when your cumulative GPA has risen above a 2.00.

For a complete set of rules governing scholastic probation and dismissal, please consult the most recent edition of General Information of The University of Texas at Austin, or the Office of Student Affairs, PHR 5.112.

Progression Standards

The following is an explanation of scholastic probation/dismissal from The University:

1. SCHOLASTIC PROBATION = CUMULATIVE GPA AT THE UNIVERSITY LESS THAN 2.00 (based on work attempted at UT) A student then has two long-session semesters to raise his/her overall UT GPA up to 2.00 minimum. (The UT GPA for scholastic dismissal becomes greater as more college hours are undertaken.)

2. SCHOLASTIC DISMISSAL = REQUIRED TO LEAVE THE UNIVERSITY. Any beginning student (who registers for the first time, whether as a freshman or college transfer) who undertakes and fails 12 or more semester hours of coursework in a long-session semester is subject to SCHOLASTIC DISMISSAL from the University without a prior probationary period. (The University of Texas at Austin, General Information 1997-1998) Other scholastic dismissal standards are summarized in the table below.

Table Of University Academic Standards

* Based only upon work attempted at The University of Texas at Austin, including credit by examination, correspondence, and extension.

** Any beginning student (freshman or transfer) undertaking and failing twelve or more semester hours of coursework in a long-session semester is subject to scholastic dismissal without a prior probationary period..

Academic Probation and Dismissal

A student is placed on academic probation in the College of Pharmacy if he or she receives a grade of D or F in any required pharmacy course. If the grade received is an F, the student must repeat the course and may not progress to courses for which it is a prerequisite until he or she has earned a grade of at least C in the failed course. If the initial grade received is a D, the student may progress to courses for which it is a prerequisite. The student may choose whether to repeat a course in which he or she received a D, but this choice affects the student's release from academic probation as described below.

If a student receives more than two incomplete symbols in required pharmacy courses, regardless of the grades ultimately awarded, he or she is subject to review by the Academic Performance Committee; the committee may choose to place the student on academic probation.

A student is subject to dismissal from the college if he or she receives more than one D or F in required pharmacy courses in one semester. The student is also subject to dismissal if he or she receives a second D or F while on academic probation.

Students on academic probation are strongly discouraged from holding office in professional organizations and are ineligigle for travel scholarship funding to attend professional meetings.

Release from Academic Probation

After receiving a grade of F. The student must repeat the course and earn a grade of at least C before taking courses for which the failed course is a prerequisite. The new grade replaces the grade of F when the student's pharmacy grade point average is calculated. If the second grade in the course is at least a C, the student is released from probation if and only if no further grades of D or F are earned while on academic probation. If the student does not earn a grade of at least C upon repeating the course, he or she is subject to academic dismissal.

After receiving a grade of D. The student chooses whether or not to repeat the course. In either case, he or she may progress to courses for which the course in question is a prerequisite. If the student chooses to repeat the course, he or she must earn a grade of at least C. The new grade replaces the grade of D when the student's pharmacy grade point average is calculated. If the second grade in the course is at least a C, the student is released from probation if and only if no further grades of D or F are earned while on academic probation. If the student does not earn a grade of at least C upon repeating the course, he or she is subject to academic dismissal.

If the student chooses not to repeat the course, he or she remains on academic probation (or conditional academic probation, described below) through completion of the internship courses in the final semester. (To take the internship courses, the student must have a grade point average of at least 2.00 in required pharmacy courses.) If the student completes the internship courses with credit, he or she is released from probation and graduates in good academic standing with the college.

Conditional Academic Probation

If a student on academic probation receives no grade lower than a C in required pharmacy courses during the following semester or summer session with at least 6 semester hours of required pharmacy courses, he or she may be placed on conditional academic probation. This status allows the student to hold student office in professional organizations and to be eligible for travel scholarships to attend professional meetings. However, a student on conditional academic probation remains subject to dismissal if he or she receives a second grade of D or F.

Academic Progression Policy

Grade point average (GPA) is the number of grade points earned divided by the number of semester hours attempted (excluding those for which "Credit" (CR) is earned).

Grade Points are determined by multiplying the number of semester hours times the numeric value assigned to the grade earned.

An "A" gives you 4 grade points for each semester hour.

A "B" gives you 3 grade points for each semester hour.

A "C" gives you 2 grade points for each semester hour.

A "D" gives you 1 grade point for each semester hour.

An "F" gives you 0 grade points.

For example, an "A" in a 3-semester-hour course gives you 4 (points) x 3 (hours) = 12 grade points. A "B" in a 4-semester-hour course gives you 3 (points) x 4 (hours) = 12 grade points.

Remember: the first digit in a course number tells you the credit value of the course in semester hours (except for two-part courses designated by A and B) and the last two digits tell the level of the course (-01 through -19 are lower division, that is, Freshman and Sophomore level; -20 through -79 are upper division, Junior and Senior level; and -80 and above are graduate level).

Here is an example:

Course	Course Credits		Grade Earned	Grade Points
PHR 372K*	3	x	B (3)	9
PHR 442C	4	x	D (1)	4
PHR 142P	1	x	C (2)	2
PHR 443C	4	x	C (2)	8
PHR 244C	2	x	C (2)	4
PHR 144P	1	x	C (2)	2
PHR 249A	1	x	B (3)	3
	__________			________
	hours = 16			GP's = 32

*this student completed biochemistry previously and elected to substitute a pharmacy elective (PHR 372K) in place of PHR 341C.

Pharmacy GPA is determined by grades earned in required pharmacy courses, NOT electives. Only the last grade earned for each course is used to calculate PHR GPA.

Total GPA is computed by dividing all hours attempted into all grade points earned, not by averaging semester grade point averages.

A handy thing to know is how to determine what grades you will need in order to be removed from scholastic or academic probation, get on the honor roll, or achieve a specific overall GPA. It is really easy arithmetic if you know the formula to use.

Here is a sample situation: Suppose you have attempted 30 hours at UT and have a GPA of 2.00. This means that you earned a total of 60 grade points with the 30 semester hours. Suppose further that you are currently taking 15 semester hours. The question is: What GPA must you earn this semester in order to attain an overall GPA of 2.25 at the end of the semester?

To compute your College of Pharmacy GPA, use only your grades and hours in required pharmacy courses. Please consult the most recent edition of The Undergraduate Catalog, The University of Texas, for a statement of official policy.

A committee of College of Pharmacy faculty meets each semester to evaluate the academic records of students in academic difficulty within the College. The job of this committee is to determine whether students in academic difficulty will face: (1) scholastic dismissal, (2) academic probation, or (3) academic dismissal.

If the student is subject to one of the above, he or she is so informed in writing. If the student is subject to scholastic or academic dismissal, he/she is entitled to appear before the Academic Performance Committee to appeal the dismissal. Following the appeal hearing, the committee makes its final decision. If the decision of the committee is to dismiss the student, he or she may then appeal directly to the Dean.

1. F as a final course grade
   1. No progression to any course for which that course is a prerequisite.
   2. Student must repeat the course.
   3. Student is placed on Academic Probation until the course deficiency is cleared.
      1. If the student maintains satisfactory academic performance (which is defined as all grades in required PHR courses > C) during the next semester in which a full academic load* is taken including five or more hours of required pharmacy courses, then he/she is placed on Conditional Academic Probation (explained further under "Summary of Circumstances leading to Conditional Academic Probation" below) until the deficiency is cleared.
      2. If the course is repeated successfully, the new grade earned replaces the original grade in calculating the PHR GPA and the student is released from Academic Probation.
   4. If a second F or a D is earned in a required pharmacy course in the same semester as the initial F or prior to clearing Academic Probation, the student is subject to dismissal from the College.
2. D as a final course grade
   1. Student may progress within a course sequence.
   2. Student does not need to repeat the course in order to progress.
   3. Student is placed on Academic Probation until the course deficiency is cleared.
      1. If the student maintains satisfactory academic performance during the next semester in which a full academic load is taken including five or more hours of required pharmacy courses, then he/she is placed on Conditional Academic Probation until the deficiency is cleared.
      2. If the course is repeated successfully, the new grade earned replaces the original grade in calculating the PHR GPA and the student is released from Academic Probation.
   4. If the student chooses not to repeat the course, he/she will remain on Conditional Academic Probation until completion of the Internship courses. The student will be allowed to progress to the Internship provided his/her overall GPA in required PHR courses is > 2.0.
   5. Upon successful completion of the Internship courses, the student will graduate in good academic standing.
   6. If a second D or an F is earned in a required pharmacy course in the same semester as the initial D or prior to clearing probation, the student is subject to dismissal from the College.

Summary of circumstances leading to Academic Probation within the College
A single grade of D or F in any required PHR course, regardless of the studentís semester or overall GPA in required PHR courses. Students on Academic Probation may not hold office in a student organization, nor accept College travel scholarships to professional meetings.

Summary of circumstances leading to Conditional Academic Probation within the College
After any Academic Probation semester in which the student takes a full academic load including at least five hours of required pharmacy courses, and upon satisfactory academic progress during that semester (which is defined as no D's or F's in any required pharmacy courses), that student may be placed on Conditional Academic Probation until Academic Probation is cleared. Conditional Academic Probation would allow the student to hold student office and engage in travel to professional meetings on College funds, if otherwise appropriate. However, the student would still be subject to dismissal if a second grade of D or F were earned in a required pharmacy course while the student is on Conditional Academic Probation. If the original D is not cleared, the student remains on Conditional Academic Probation until graduation from the College.

Summary of circumstances leading to dismissal from the College
Two or more grades of D or F in any required pharmacy course in a single semester, or a second grade of D or F in any required pharmacy course in any subsequent semester while on Academic Probation or Conditional Academic Probation.

REMINDER:
Students need an overall required Pharmacy GPA of at least a 2.0: (a) to progress to his/her Internship courses; and (b) to graduate. Additionally, all electives counting toward a professional degree in Pharmacy must be successfully completed with a ěCî or better.

* A full academic load is defined as 12 semester credit hours in the long term. A full academic load for the summer semester is defined as six hours. ALL semesters in which a student may clear probation MUST include at least five semester credit hours of REQUIRED pharmacy courses (not including electives), OR courses prescribed by the academic advisors.

If you must withdraw from school, go to the Office of Student Affairs. After the last day to withdraw (approximately one week after mid-semester), an undergraduate student will be permitted to withdraw only by an Assistant or Associate Dean and only for urgent and substantiated, nonacademic reasons.

If you are on scholastic probation with the University when you withdraw, you will be subject to scholastic dismissal. If you have questions about your scholastic standing, confer with an advisor in the Student Affairs Office.

1. Do not be deceived by our course schedule; the large amounts of free time implied simply do not exist. If you are enrolled in at least 12 semester hours, you are considered a full-time student. Why is that? The general rule is that a student should spend at least 3 hours of study per day for each hour of course credit. Therefore in an average week you should spend:

      12 in-class hours/week

   + 36 study hours/week (12 x 3)

      48 total hours/week

   Or, to put it differently, 75% of what you accomplish is done on your own. This may be vastly different from your experience in high school.

   In the working world, a full-time employee is often expected to work 44 hours/week; therefore, a student who is classified as a full-time student should be expected to spend the same amount of time at his job as any other full-time employee.

2. So, don't ever cut class; 12 hours/week is little time indeed for faculty to help you. Consider, at least, how much easier it is to understand a subject and retain that knowledge if you have both read the material and heard it discussed.

3. Do not depend on cramming for an exam the night before. These heroic last-ditch efforts are no fun and are only slightly better than no preparation at all. If cramming is your habit, you'll find that a few hours to a few days after the exam you'll remember very little about the material covered. This is no way to prepare, during the semester, for a comprehensive final exam nor any way to learn the fundamentals required but not reviewed in subsequent courses, and certainly no way to prepare for the pharmacy state board exam and a lifelong commitment as a pharmacist.

4. Do prepare before class, go to class, and review daily after class according to the schedule of lectures in your course outlines. Begin your preparation for class by paging through the chapters assigned. Read the major headings, captions, and summaries for an overview of the topic.

   Take notes in class; try using only one side of each notebook page. If you have prepared for class, you will find that you actually have time to listen and you will not feel pressed to take down every word and copy every illustration.

   Review the material covered in the lecture as soon after class as possible. Use your textbook as reference material. Your focus now is to work with the textbook and class handouts to expand your class notes. Use the blank page facing each of the lecture notes to incorporate the reading material into the lecture material. Particularly, concentrate on the lecture material that you did not completely understand.

5. Learning takes time. Test your comprehension and retention of material by discussing the material. Study with a friend or two. Set up weekly meetings to "go over the notes." But don't permit anyone at any time to substitute words like "thing" or "stuff", for the proper words required!! You'll defeat the whole purpose of discussion if you do. You and your friends might also try studying at a blackboard. The more sensory modalities you use simultaneously, the more likely you are to retain material.

6. Review your exams and quizzes soon after they are returned. Study the questions by explaining why each wrong answer choice is wrong. Write the explanations down. Make sure that you understand why your errors are incorrect.

7. Let your professors and TA's help you all they can. Take advantage of discussion sections and office hours. But don't wait until the last minute; there's little anyone can do the day before an exam to clear up weeks of problems.

8. A lot of students after an exam say, "but I knew (or understood) the material," and are truly bewildered by a grade lower than anticipated. The problem is, there's a big difference between understanding something you hear and/or read and being able to explain it to others. Understanding is what has to come first, but being able to explain it goes beyond self-understanding. To explain requires being able, without references, to 1) repeat what you've heard/read, accurately and completely; and 2) use what you've heard/read to figure out things you've never seen before at all. To explain requires a degree of familiarity with the material that cannot occur overnight. Cramming doesn't work and short- term memory will never get you through the NAPLEX EXAM.