Committee on Scholastic Standards

Faculty oversight of retroactive withdrawal and academic dismissal appeals

The Office of Academic Advocacy provides administrative support for the Faculty Council Committee on Scholastic Standards, which provides faculty oversight regarding scholastic standards at Colorado State University. Policies regarding academic standing, dismissal, and appeal are determined by the faculty and CSU​, subject to acceptance by the governing board of CSU.

students talking to each other

The Committee on Scholastic Standards consists of one faculty member from each college and the Libraries, the Chairperson of Faculty Council (ex officio), and the Director for University Academic Advising & Advocacy in the Collaborative for Student Achievement (ex officio). The duties of this standing committee shall be to recommend to the Faculty Council policies related to undergraduate academic standards and regulations and procedures for implementing and enforcing these policies.

The Committee on Scholastic Standards oversees the following types of appeals: Academic Dismissal Appeals and Retroactive Withdrawals. The Committee does not provide oversight or render decisions on tuition related financial appeals.

Retroactive Withdrawal


A student may request that all grades in an academic period (one or more semesters of continuous enrollment) be retroactively removed and replaced by entries of “W” on their transcript. A retroactive withdrawal may be granted only when a student ​has experienced significant and prolonged extenuating circumstances beyond their control during the academic period ​​in question that prevented them from succeeding academically and completing the usual Semester Withdrawal ​process before the deadline. ​Appropriate documentation of these significant extenuating circumstances is a required part of the retroactive withdrawal application. 

Dismissal Appeal


Students in the academic standing process n who do not raise their cumulative GPA to a 2.0 or higher after two regular semesters (fall and spring) will be dismissed from CSU. Students may appeal their academic dismissal by submitting an online appeal to the Faculty Council Committee on Scholastic Standards.

A dismissal appeal that is granted allows the student to return immediately for the next regular semester (fall or spring). Dismissal appeals granted cannot carry forward to a future semester unless the student was approved (prior to dismissal) for a planned leave for the next regular semester. If a student withdraws during the dismissal appeal granted semester due to extenuating circumstances, the student must submit another appeal to dismissal that includes documentation of the extenuating circumstances or the student will be dismissed at the end of the dismissal appeal granted semester.

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