Kirtland Community College understands that a student may "get off to a bad start" due to circumstances beyond his/her own control. Also, a student may enroll in a program that he/she later finds does not suit his/her needs. Both situations may result in a student experiencing poor academic performance. Academic amnesty is an action of forgiveness provided to certain students who have experienced poor academic performance at Kirtland Community College. Through academic amnesty, a student will be awarded a "second opportunity" to achieve success at Kirtland by removing the negative effect of less-than-C grade courses on the student's academic transcript.
To be eligible to apply for academic amnesty, a student must meet the following criteria:
1. Have a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of less than 2.00.
2. Complete at least six credit hours or more toward a new program of study while maintaining a 2.00 GPA or higher since beginning the new program.
3. Allowed one year to elapse between the poor academic performance period and requirement #2.
Once eligible, a student may petition the academic amnesty committee by completing this Application for Academic Amnesty form. The applicant must meet with a counselor and agree to the conditions of academic amnesty.
The academic amnesty committee will review all requests for academic amnesty. Academic amnesty will only be granted for one continuous period of enrollment in a program at Kirtland Community College, as indicated by courses taken by the student that are directly attributable to that program.
Once amnesty has been approved by the committee, and applied by the registrar to the student's (petitionee's) transcript, the student will not be permitted to rescind the application of amnesty on his/her academic record. Other conditions include the following:
1. No course work will be removed from a transcript.
2. A special notation explaining amnesty approval will be placed on the student's transcript.
3. Honor points and credit hours attempted during the amnesty period will be subtracted from the current cumulative honor points and credit hours attempted. A new cumulative grade point average will then be established.
4. Courses successfully completed with a grade of C or better during the amnesty period can be used toward the student's certificate or degree requirements but do not count toward the student's GPA.
5. A student receiving academic amnesty will not be allowed to graduate with honors.
6. Academic amnesty, when granted, applies only to Kirtland Community College courses. There is no guarantee, expressed or implied, that academic amnesty will be recognized by any other college or university.
7. Academic amnesty can be granted only once to any student.
The registrar has the responsibility of implementing amnesty, as stated in the academic amnesty policy, when it is granted to a student.
