Academic Progress

Academic Forgiveness

Students who attended County College of Morris in the past with poor academic records and who wish to return to the college without being penalized for a long-standing poor record may declare academic forgiveness for all courses taken during their initial attendance at the college.

Students may declare academic forgiveness if there is a five-year interim between the time they took their last course and the time they re-enroll at the college.

Once the Academic Forgiveness Form is submitted to the Office of Records and Registration and the student is approved, the student’s previous record is retained on the transcript with “Academic Forgiveness’’ indicated. This statement will separate the past from the current course work. The academic forgiveness policy is printed on the back of the student’s transcript.

When students declare academic forgiveness, all courses taken during their first affiliation with the college will be included.

Selecting only certain courses is not permitted. Also, there is no minimum number of credits required before a student is eligible to declare academic forgiveness. Students will have one opportunity to take advantage of this policy.

Students interested in further information should contact the Office of Records and Registration.

Academic Conduct

In order to maintain academic integrity at County College of Morris, the college community will not tolerate any form of academic dishonesty. Unacceptable forms of dishonesty include cheating, copying, fabricating information, plagiarism, unauthorized collaboration, and submitting someone else’s work as your own; dishonesty through technology, such as using generative AI engines to complete any academic activity or assignment without permission, sharing documents, files, flash drives, or programs, and accessing, modifying, or transferring electronic data, system software, or computing resources. The goal of this policy is to promote academic integrity and prevent all forms of academic dishonesty.

When incidents of academic dishonesty occur and the faculty member chooses to submit a formal complaint of the incident to the Dean of Students Office, the Dean will refer the complaint to the Academic Integrity Review Board, which is composed of faculty, academic administrators and the Dean of Students. The Academic Integrity Review Board will review the circumstances surrounding the incident and make a recommendation of appropriate disciplinary action. Penalties imposed on a student who violates this policy may vary from failing the unit of work to expulsion from the college.

Academic Alert, Probation and Dismissal Policy

A student will be placed on academic probation when the Cumulative Point Average (CPA) is less than a 2.0 after attempting 24 or more credits in credit and/or remedial courses. Once a student reaches this checkpoint, CPA checks are made each semester to determine the student’s academic standing.

A student on probation who achieves a 2.0 semester grade point average each semester thereafter will be permitted to continue at the college in an attempt to bring the CPA up to acceptable minimal standards. Once the student’s CPA meets the minimum 2.0, the student will be in good academic standing and no longer on academic probation.

Academic Alert

  • A student will be notified they are being placed on academic alert when the Comprehensive GPA+ is less than a 2.0 after attempting 12 to 23 credits.

Academic Probation

  • A student will be notified they are being placed on academic probation when the Comprehensive GPA+ is less than a 2.0 after attempting 24 or more credits.
  • A student on probation who achieves a 2.0 Comprehensive Term GPA° each semester thereafter will be permitted to continue at the college in an attempt to bring the Comprehensive GPA+ up to acceptable minimal standards. Once the student’s Comprehensive GPA+ meets the minimum 2.0, the student will be in good academic standing and no longer on academic probation.

Academic Dismissal

  • A student will be academically dismissed from the college when they are unable to achieve a minimum 2.0 Comprehensive Term GPA° at the conclusion of the probationary semester (Summer and Winterim terms included).
  • Once a student is academically dismissed, the student will not be permitted to take any courses for one semester following the dismissal (Summer and Winterim terms not included).
  • An academic dismissal may be appealed to the Academic Review Committee.
  • If the appeal reverses the dismissal, the student will be placed on academic probation and can register for the next term.
  • A dismissed student will be dropped from their registered courses in the next term.

Second Academic Dismissal

  • If the student is academically dismissed a second time, the student will not be eligible to take any courses for one year.
  • An academic dismissal may be appealed to the Academic Review Committee.
  • If an appeal reverses the dismissal, the student will be placed on academic probation and can register for the next term.
  • At the end of the dismissal period, the student may apply to re-enroll at the college through the Dean of Students Office. Once re-enrolled, the student will be placed on academic probation.

Academic Dismissal Appeal Process

 The Dean of Students Office shall inform students in writing of his/her/their dismissal under this policy and of the right to appeal such dismissal.

A student seeking to appeal academic dismissal or seeking readmission prior to expiration of the dismissal period must write a letter of appeal to the Academic Review Committee c/o the Dean of Students Office, which appeal must be received at least fourteen (14) calendar days prior to the commencement of the semester for which readmission is sought.

The Academic Review Committee shall be composed of the Dean of Students, one counselor, the Director of Educational Opportunity and Cultural Engagement, the Director of Accessibility Services, and two (2) faculty members from each of the three (3) academic schools. The Academic Review Committee shall have jurisdiction to (a) determine appeals by students who have been academically dismissed, and (b) consider applications for readmission following academic dismissal.

The Academic Review Committee may approve an appeal of academic dismissal or a request for readmission when a majority of the committee determines that the student experienced extenuating circumstances beyond the student’s control that are not likely to happen again and that contributed to the academic difficulty. The appeal letter must clearly explain the reason for the appeal and describe the extenuating circumstances being presented. The committee will review the appeal based on the letter and any supporting letters submitted by faculty or administrators, and may also choose to meet with the student before making a decision.

The Academic Review Committee shall determine the appeal and notify the student in writing of its decision prior to the first day of classes of the semester commencing after the filing of the appeal. The decision of the Academic Review Committee shall be the final decision of the college.

*GPA Definitions:

• Comprehensive GPA+ - grade point average that is calculated using grades from all classes taken, including credit and remedial courses.

• Cumulative GPA± - grade point average for all credit courses and does not include remedial courses.

• Term GPA≠ - grade point average for semester credit courses.

• Comprehensive Term GPA° - grade point average for semester courses, including credit and remedial courses.