For some students, an unfortunate course of events can have a detrimental impact on their transcripts.
Students who have had a life-changing event and did not perform adequately in their undergraduate enrollment at UMKC for one or multiple semesters now have a second chance through the Academic Amnesty policy.
"Everybody deserves a second chance," said Dr. Karen Vorst, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
If a student's request for amnesty is approved by the committee, then the grades for all the courses taken in the period of time for which amnesty is requested by the student will not be counted toward the cumulative hours of the grade point average. However, the original grades will remain on the student's record, but will be marked with an 'X' by the grade.
A student may petition for amnesty by letter or a standard form available in the Admissions office and the Registration and Records office. A student can receive amnesty only once in a lifetime.
Transfer students are not eligible for amnesty.
In order to qualify for amnesty a student must meet the following two requirements: 1) A student cannot have been enrolled at UMKC during the past two years 2) A student must apply for amnesty at the time they apply for readmission or before the end of the first semester of readmission.
Once a student has applied, he/she has one shot at being granted amnesty.
"There is no appeal process in amnesty … the committee's decision is the final decision," said Douglas Swink, associate registrar.
Although less than one percent of the student population at UMKC petition for amnesty, it offers hope for those who have had life-changing events which affected their academic careers.
jmehta@unews.com
