IMPORTANT DATES
PREPARING AN APPEAL
SENSITIVE SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION
At the end of the semester, your academic standing is calculated. Students in good academic standing have both a UC Merced semester GPA of 2.00 or higher AND a cumulative UC GPA of 2.00 or higher.
Students who are not in good academic standing are either placed on academic probation or are immediately subject to academic dismissal. Read the definitions and criteria for academic probation and subject to academic dismissal in the Progress to Degree and Academic Standing section of the Catalog.
If you are subject to academic dismissal, you will receive a message on your UC Merced email account with instructions for appealing the academic dismissal. You will receive a second email from UC Merced CatCourses with an invitation to the CatCourses site where you must upload your appeal and any supporting documentation. The two email messages are sent on the same day to students who are subject to academic dismissal.
For Spring 2024: the deadline to submit a dismissal appeal is Wednesday, May 22, 2024, before 1:00 pm Pacific Standard Time.
This appeal deadline is firm.
If you choose not to submit an appeal or miss the Wednesday, May 22, 2024, 1:00 pm deadline, your academic dismissal will stand. This means that you will not be able to attend classes at UC Merced in summer or fall semester, your financial aid will be cancelled, and you will be required to move out of the residence hall.
The Appeals Committee carefully reviews appeals and any supporting documentation in addition to your academic history. Appeals are not automatically approved. Most appeals are between 1-2 pages. The appeal must address the two prompts given in the CatCourses appeal site. See below for information about how to write a strong appeal.
IMPORTANT NOTE: any supporting documentation that you upload with your appeal must be in PDF format only.
Do NOT submit a file in Word, Pages, etc.
IMPORTANT DATES
Important dates for subject to academic dismissal appeals in Spring 2024:
- Tuesday, May 14, 2024: grades due to Registrar’s Office from professors.
- Thursday, May 16, 2024 (may be after business hours): subject to academic dismissal messages sent to UC Merced student email accounts and CatCourses site opens for appeal submission.
- Wednesday, May 22, 2024 before 1:00 pm Pacific Standard Time: deadline for students to submit appeal and upload any supporting documentation in CatCourses site.
- This deadline is firm and the CatCourses site will close at 1:00 pm.
- Friday, May 24 through Friday, May 31, 2024: students notified on UC Merced email account if appeal was approved or denied.
PREPARING AN APPEAL
A strong appeal is concise, clearly written, and contains:
- Description of events/challenges that impacted your academic performance during the semester. Include specific dates and timelines.
- An explanation of how those events/challenges impacted the work in specific classes in which you earned unsuccessful grades (D, F, NP).
- A description of the specific ways in which you sought assistance including the places or people and the frequency (how often, when) you sought assistance.
- A detailed plan including the specific steps you will take to return to good academic standing in the next semester if you are allowed to remain at UC Merced. Make sure your plan addresses the events/challenges you described.
Strong appeals may contain supporting documentation (documents separate from the appeal) depending on the individual situation. Examples of supporting documentation that might be uploaded along with the appeal include:
- A letter on letterhead from your doctor, Student Health Services, medical clinic, Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), non-UC Merced therapist, or other medical provider detailing the dates of appointments related to your circ*mstances.
- Police reports or notices to appear in court.
- Other specific verification of the events or challenges that you described in your appeal.
SENSITIVE SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION
If your circ*mstances are of a sensitive nature, you must still write an appeal and upload the appeal in the CatCourses site before the deadline.
If you have sensitive supporting documentation that you would prefer to submit in person or via email, contact the following person based on your currently declared major BEFORE the appeal deadline at 1:00 pm on Wednesday, May 22, 2024:
Undeclared students (all class years)
- Dr. Michelle Roppeau, Director of First Year & Undeclared Advising, Bobcat Advising Center, maroppeau@ucmerced.edu
Declared majors in the School of Engineering
- Linda Zubke, Assistant Dean for Student Support, lzubke@ucmerced.edu
- Includes all students declared in Bioengineering, Civil Engineering, Computer Science & Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Materials Science & Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Undeclared—Engineering
Declared majors in the School of Natural Sciences
- Erica Robbins, Director of Student Services, erobbins2@ucmerced.edu
- Includes all students declared in Applied Mathematical Sciences, Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Environmental Systems Science, Physics, Undeclared—Natural Sciences
Declared majors in the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts
- Brenda Maldonado-Rosas, Director of Student Services, bmaldonado-rosas@ucmerced.edu
- Includes all students declared in Anthropology, Cognitive Science, Critical Race & Ethnic Studies, Economics, English, Global Arts Studies Program, History, Literatures in English, Management & Business Economics, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Public Health, Sociology, Spanish, Writing Studies, Undeclared--SSHA
