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University Advising

Office of Undergraduate Education

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University Advising > For Students > Current Exploring Students > Resources & Support >

Petitioning and Probation for Exploring Students

Petitioning and Probation for Exploring Students

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The reinstatement process varies by college. The steps below apply only to Exploratory Preference (EXP) and Exploring Business Preference (EBP) students.

If you belong to another college, visit the Advising by College page for college advising contact information.

If you’ve been away for 3+ semesters

  • You must apply for readmission through the Office of the Registrar.
  • Deadlines:
    • Domestic students: Apply at least 1 month before the semester starts.
    • International students: Apply at least 4 months before the semester starts.

Petition for Reinstatement 

What does petitioning mean?

Exploratory Preference and Exploring Business Preference students recessed from the university can submit a formal request (petition) to shorten or waive the recess period so you can return to MSU sooner.

You can petition for reinstatement before completing the required three consecutive semesters of recess.

What does petitioning look like?

  1. You will submit a Petition Form (provided by University Advising)
  2. You will meet with the associate directors for University Advising to discuss:
    1. What challenges impacted your success.
    2. Your academic and career goals.
    3. Your personal and academic interests.
    4. What support you need moving forward.
  3. The associate directors will work with you to create a plan and determine next steps.

Formal Petition for Reinstatement Process

  1. Review documents. Thoroughly read all university communications about your recess. Generally, you will find this information via confidential messaging from the Office of Registrar. Additionally, compile relevant materials that support your petition.
  2. Submit a completed petition for reinstatement form to our University Advising email address (UniversityAdvising@msu.edu). Enter “UA Petition for Reinstatement” as the subject of your email for a timely response.
  3. Meet with the reinstatement committee. Upon receipt of the reinstatement petition, the office coordinator for University Advising will contact you to schedule an appointment with the reinstatement committee. Occasionally, students must meet with the Director of University Advising for additional support.

Students whose enrollment at Michigan State University is interrupted for three or more consecutive terms (including Summer) should follow the readmission process.

Two people walk along a lit sidewalk at night in front of MSU's STEM building with glass windows and bright interior lighting, surrounded by landscaped grounds and campus lighting.

Academic Probation

Good academic standing requires that you have a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0. When your cumulative GPA falls below a 2.0, you will be placed on Academic Probation or you may be recessed (or dismissed).

When placed on any level of academic probation, you must assess your academic performance with an advisor and identify what you need to do to return to good academic standing.

home-questions

If you are on academic probation, you must:

  • Complete the Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) form. The link to this form can be found on the Financial Aid website.
  • After completing and submitting the SAP form, you must meet with an academic advisor at the beginning of the semester for a probation conference (SAP meeting) to assess your past performance, and to make a plan for success.
    • The advisor will submit this plan for approval of the student’s Assistant Dean and, if applicable, the Office of Financial Aid.
  • If you have a major within a college, you must schedule their probation conference (SAP meeting) with the advisor for that major. Schedule your appointment via SIS.

Probation Conferences are most effective when they are done at or prior to the beginning of the semester.

STARLite Advising

STARLite (Success Training for Academic Resiliency Lite) is grounded in a strengths-based mindset and organized around academic proficiency, institutional navigation, and socio-emotional engagement. It is an academic recovery and retention intervention for Exploratory Preference and Exploring Business Preference students who have experienced academic difficulty in a prior semester. Students are identified after the Academic Standing of Undergraduate Students (ASUS) review and are invited in the following semester to participate in regular advisor contact to help them diagnose challenges and strengths, connect them to resources, and build a plan to return to academic success.

A student’s success is an institutional responsibility for supporting students’ psychological, social, emotional, physical, cultural, financial, and academic well-being, not just individual academic achievement. Its strength lies in reframing probation from a punitive label into a structured recovery plan. 

About

  • What we do

    • This program is designed to move students from academic challenge back to success and good standing. In the longer term, we help students remain enrolled at MSU and progress toward graduation. 

    It is intended to help students with three overlapping problems:

    • Academic proficiency: course performance, study strategies, workload, use of tutoring or academic supports.
    • Institutional navigation: understanding MSU policies, deadlines, repeat rules, major pathways, reinstatement/readmission processes, and which offices can help.
    • Socio-emotional engagement: belonging, motivation, confidence, accountability, and connecting students to people rather than leaving them to interpret probation as personal failure.
  • Risk indicators

    • STARLite explores risk indicators and their effect with student success, such as: 

    • Grades
    • Poor attendance
    • Missing or low scoring early assignments
    • Limited engagement in a course
    • Connects students to support quickly, before issues escalate
    • Emphasizing early intervention
    • Centering holistic advising
    • Supporting exploratory and first year students in particular
    • Reinforcing a culture of shared responsibility for student success
  • How it works

    • Academic standing is reviewed at the end of the semester. Students receive an Academic Standing of Undergraduate Students notice based on updated grades.

    Students with a GPA below 2.0 and those with a significant drop in cumulative GPA are identified for intervention. 

    Students meet with an assigned STARLite advisor at least three times in their next semester of enrollment. The advisor functions as both strategist and accountability partner. STARLite advisors guide students using a growth-mindset approach, help students build belonging, provide institutional navigation tools, and help students believe they can recover academically even while on probation.

    The students’ outcomes are measured at the end of the semester. A primary short-term goal is for the student to return to good academic standing; the long-term goal is the accomplishment of the student’s goals, persistence, and graduation.

  • What the evidence says

    • Engagement

    Students who complete all required components, or extra, return to good standing at higher rates. 

    Bottom line

    University Advisor’s STARLite Program is an intervention & academic progress support program designed to identify and support Exploratory Preference and Exploring Business Preference students who have experienced academic difficulty in a prior semester.
     

  • Contact

    • Reach out to Debra Thornton-Fitzpatrick to learn more.