Academic Renewal for Graduate Students

If a graduate student is considering an application to a different degree program, the student may apply to the Graduate College for Academic Renewal. Academic Renewal is intended to allow a fresh start in a new major. Academic Renewal allows students to have all grades for a particular period of time excluded from their graduate grade-point-average (GPA). If the request is approved, the student will have all grades for a specified period (up to a maximum of four consecutive semesters of course work completed within a 24-month period, and with no intervening enrollments at the UA) disregarded in all calculations regarding academic standing, grade-point-average, and eligibility for graduation. If summer work is to be included in the work to be disregarded, a five-week summer term shall count as one-half semester.

Students considering Academic Renewal for a semester or term in which necessary courses are disregarded are responsible for satisfying the degree requirements fulfilled by those courses. To complete their degree requirements, students have the following options:

• Repeat the same courses to fulfill the requirements;
• Select substitute courses with the approval of the program's director of graduate studies.

To begin the process, a student submits the Graduate Academic Renewal Request Form.  If the student's request for Academic Renewal is approved by the Graduate College, the Office of the Registrar will annotate the student's permanent academic record to indicate that no work taken during the disregarded semester(s) or term(s), even if satisfactory, may apply toward graduation. However, all course work and grades will remain on the record, ensuring a true and accurate academic history.

Academic Renewal may be effected only once during a student's graduate academic career and is not available for degrees already earned.