The purpose of Academic Progress is to identify and alert students with low academic achievement and to help them improve their academic performance.
- You must earn a grade point average (GPA) of 2.0 or above to be in good academic standing. Otherwise, the college will place you progressively on alert, probation, or suspension.
- Alert: A student whose cumulative GPA falls below 2.0 will be placed on academic alert.
- Probation: A student on academic alert who fails to earn a cumulative GPA of at least 2.0 at the end of the subsequent quarter of enrollment will be placed on academic probation. If you are in this situation you must meet regularly with a success navigator until your cumulative GPA is 2.0 or better. If during this time your quarterly GPA continues to be below 2.0, you will be subject to academic suspension.
- Level I suspension: A student on academic probation who fails to earn a quarterly grade point average of at least 2.0 in the next quarter of enrollment will be placed on academic suspension. Students may appeal for immediate reinstatement.
- Level II suspension: If the student fails to meet the terms of reinstatement from Level I suspension, then the student is suspended from enrollment at the college for 12 months and may not appeal.
Certain vocational program students, international students, veterans, and students receiving financial aid may have different and/or additional academic standard requirements and appeal processes.
Audit
Auditors are expected to attend and participate in classes regularly, but examinations are not required and are at the instructor's discretion. Auditors are required to meet course prerequisites or otherwise have instructor permission. You will not receive a grade or earn credit for an audited class.
Regular, Non-Senior Auditors
Non-senior auditors pay the same tuition as if they were taking the class for credit.
Senior Auditors
After the fifth day of instruction an individual who is a Washington state resident, and is at least 60 years of age by the first day of instruction of the quarter, may enroll as an auditor in certain courses on a space-available basis. Students enrolling under this waiver shall register for no more than two courses per quarter. For approved senior audits, no tuition will be charged, although some fees may be assessed. Written approval of the instructor is required. (See RCW 28B.15.540 and WAC 131-28-080.)
Senior auditors may sit in from the start of the class with the instructor's permission, since they have to wait to add the class pending confirmation of available space. Senior auditors should contact Pirate Central before the first class meeting at SServices@pencol.edu or call (360) 417-6340 to learn more about the process.
Nonattendance
Student attendance and participation is crucial to academic success.
At the beginning of a quarter, to accommodate students waiting for space to register for a course, instructors may initiate a withdrawal for nonattendance. A student who fails to attend at least 50% of a face-to-face class or fails to log in for at least 50% of online class activity during the first week of the quarter may be administratively withdrawn from the course by the instructor notifying the Student Services Office. However, students should not count on instructors dropping them for nonattendance: students who are not attending are responsible for dropping themselves.
Students who plan to remain enrolled but have attendance difficulties during the first week of the quarter should contact their instructors immediately to avoid being dropped for nonattendance.
At the end of a quarter, an instructor may, at the instructor's option, assign a V grade to a student who stopped attending or failed to attend class. When a V grade is issued, no grade points are calculated, the grade is not computed in the student’s GPA, and no credits are earned. Again, students must not assume the instructor will assign a V grade. Students are responsible for dropping themselves.
Passing and Unsatisfactory Grades
You may request to enroll in certain courses on a pass or no-pass basis. If you select the option of having a Pass (P), Satisfactory (S), or Unsatisfactory (U) grade for specific course work, you should request this from your instructor at the beginning of the quarter. Remember that U grades do not earn credit.
The P grade is defined as 2.0 quality work or better, while an S grade is defined as 1.0 quality work, or equivalent to the decimal range of 1.0 - 1.9.
While the number of passing and satisfactory (P and S) grades is not limited at Peninsula College, transfer students are cautioned that baccalaureate institutions may impose limits or restrictions on the acceptance of P and S graded credit. If you plan to transfer to a baccalaureate institution, you should determine that school’s policy regarding the acceptance of P and S courses before electing the P option.
Plagiarism/Cheating
Plagiarism and/or cheating are not tolerated by Peninsula College. An individual who cheats or plagiarizes the works of others is at risk of receiving a failing grade for the course in which such action takes place. In addition, plagiarism and/or cheating are violations of the Student Code of Conduct and such actions may result in an official sanction by the Conduct Officer.
Repeated Courses, Grade Forgiveness Petition
Repeats
A course may be repeated two times for a total of three enrollments. The lower grade(s) will remain on the transcript. However, only the highest grade earned in the repeated course will be used in computing grade point averages. Credit is granted only once for a repeated course.
Pirate Central will detect repeated courses and code your transcript accordingly. A letter "R" will appear after a course that has been repeated. If you repeated a course but it was not coded as a repeat on your transcript, contact Pirate Central at SServices@pencol.edu or call (360) 417-6340.
Grade Forgiveness
A returning student who has not been enrolled for a period of two or more years at Peninsula College may petition to have previously earned Peninsula College grades of less than 1.4 disregarded in computing grade point averages. However, if such a request is approved, all grades will still remain on the transcript and academic credit will be removed. The form and process for this request may be obtained through Pirate Central by calling (360) 417-6340, emailing SServices@pencol.edu or obtaining the form on the College website at pencol.edu.
If you plan to transfer to a baccalaureate university or to another two-year college, the destination school may or may not honor Peninsula College's grade forgiveness. Check with the destination school for its policy.
Quarterly and Graduation Honors
President's List, Honor Roll
Eligibility for quarterly honors is as follows:
- Enroll in and complete at least 12 credits in a quarter in courses numbered 100 or above for which decimal grade points are assigned
- Receive no Incomplete grades
- President's List: quarterly grade point average (GPA) no less than 3.9
- Honor Roll: quarterly GPA of 3.6 - 3.89
President’s Medal for Scholarly Excellence at graduation:
- Complete a degree with at least 45 college-level credits at Peninsula College
- College-level cumulative GPA of 3.85 or higher