If you're dealing with dismissal from a university or college in Oregon, or if someone you love is dealing with it, you need to reach out for help from an expert attorney-advisor as soon as possible. Getting a university degree or a postgraduate degree is a popular avenue to a great future. If you've been dismissed from school because of academic misconduct or because you weren't making satisfactory progress toward your degree, the repercussions could be devastating.
Your school may have given up on you, but the last thing that you should do is give up on yourself. Do everything in your power to fight your situation so that you can continue on and receive the degree that you've worked so hard for. Whether you're at the beginning of an academic dismissal situation or it's already happened, there's always time to make a difference and reach out for help. National academic attorney-advisor Joseph Lento and his team at the Lento Law Firm have years of experience helping students with exactly these types of situations. If you need help immediately, call 888-535-3686 right away.
Academic Progress Dismissal
Different universities and colleges across Oregon, both public and private, have different rules, but generally speaking, students must maintain an average of at least 2.0 in order to stay in good academic standing. Students whose grades dip below this level may be subject to academic probation. Satisfactory academic progress (SAP) must be maintained in order for students to continue at the school.
Both public and private schools within the state have students who receive federal loans. Students who receive federal loans must maintain a certain academic standing, usually a 2.0. When students do fall below that cutoff point, schools are prohibited from extending loans to them. The natural result of this is that universities and colleges frequently make decisions to remove students who are not performing up to par.
The problem with this is that in their rush to dismiss failing students, schools sometimes make mistakes when it comes to deciding who deserves to be dismissed and who doesn't. They may dismiss students whose past academic records actually meet SAP standards. Decisions to dismiss these students may be made in error.
The Dismissal Process
When schools go through the dismissal process, they take a lot of different factors into consideration. While the details of the process may differ from school to school, the core outcomes remain pretty much the same across the board.
When someone is struggling at university or college, there's usually a period of time where they're allowed to go through some sort of academic remediation or probation. If the student is asked to go through academic probation, they usually have a set amount of time, usually up to a year, during which they need to bring their grades up to satisfactory levels. Whether or not a student is successful during this process will be left to the discretion of the University and the professors in charge of the course, opening up room for error.
While some students may successfully complete the remediation process, others may not. Schools are often unaware that there may be extenuating circumstances at play that may prevent a student from successfully making it through the academic probation or remediation process. Failure to take those extenuating circumstances into consideration when determining punishment could lead to a situation where a student is unfairly dismissed instead of being given other opportunities and the right type of support to improve their grades and stay in school.
Most students, especially those in the midst of a situation where they could be kicked out of school, don't know that they can appeal decisions made against them by their schools. If they do know that they can appeal, they may not know how to do so. Wherever you are in the process, you're going to need help. Even if you've already been dismissed from your school, reach out for help from national academic attorney-advisor Joseph Lento and his team at the Lento Law Firm so that you can get the full power of this experienced team behind you.
Dismissal for Misconduct
In addition to being dismissed for failure to maintain satisfactory academic progress, a student may also be dismissed for academic misconduct or any other type of misconduct.
All schools in Oregon, both public and private, receive federal funding. In order to receive federal funding, they have to have systems in place that satisfy the rules of Title IX law and any other state and federal laws that protect students. By abiding by these laws while simultaneously developing their own codes of conduct, schools provide students with templates on how to behave. They are required by law to respond immediately to any misconduct that violates federal law. Failure to respond swiftly to infractions that violate Title IX laws and similar laws could create serious liability issues for schools.
Many Oregon students receive some sort of sanctions for academic misconduct or other types of misconduct every year. The sanctions could range from minor warnings that barely make a blip on a transcript to full-out dismissal.
Dismissal is usually reserved for the most egregious types of misconduct on campus. While bad behavior should have consequences, the problem is that schools are not always known for imposing discipline fairly and equally across the board when it comes to their students. One student who commits one type of misconduct may get a completely different penalty and sanction from another student who does the exact same thing.
This often leads to situations where hard-working, disciplined, good students may have actions taken against them that are completely unfair and that don't fit the offense. Sometimes, in their haste to hands down some type of punishment, schools move so quickly to dismiss students that they don't provide those students the time and resources they need to defend themselves properly. The schools could even be acting on information that has been exaggerated or is outright false. If a student who knows nothing about academic misconduct hearings or other types of misconduct hearings tries to defend themselves, they won't be prepared and could end up losing everything. University hearings are not courts of law, and students are not attorneys.
If you're facing some sort of disciplinary action where the threat of dismissal is very real, or if you've already been dismissed, you need to reach out to Joseph Lento and his team as soon as possible. They have years of experience defending and protecting students against punishments handed down by universities that could end up ruining their lives. By working with these attorney-advisors, you have the best chance of providing a defense that will help protect you against sanctions that could end up ruining your life.
Consequences of Dismissal
Being dismissed from an Oregon college or university could have devastating effects on your future. Once you are dismissed from a school, you no longer have the opportunity to receive your degree from that school. You'll also need to deal with the following:
- You will still be responsible for any federal or private loans that you received to attend the school. They don't go away simply because you didn't graduate from the school or that you are asked to leave. Some of those loans come due once you leave the school, no matter the circumstances of your leaving. This can put an obscene amount of financial pressure on a student who was not expecting to start paying off their loans so prematurely.
- The dismissal will most likely go on your permanent record, a mark that can make it really difficult for you to get accepted at another school. When other schools see this information on your transcript, you're going to look like a much less attractive candidate than students who don't have these black marks on their transcripts. You will always be at a disadvantage against other students.
- It may be extremely difficult for you to apply for a job. Many jobs require school transcripts from their newest, youngest employees, and having a dismissal mark on your record does not bode well for your chances.
- In addition to outright dismissal, there are other types of sanctions that could have similar negative effects. If you've been suspended or placed on academic probation for the same reasons as above, that information also goes on your permanent record. That could again put you at a disadvantage when you're trying to apply for graduate school or for a job directly out of school. Just because a sanction or disciplinary action is considered “minor,” does it mean that you need to treat it lightly. It could still have devastating effects on your future. You need a national academic attorney-advisor on your side who can help you navigate any of the above scenarios so that you still have hope for your future.
Get the Help You Need
Oregon schools and universities have the right to dismiss students who don't meet academic or behavioral standards, but decisions to dismiss should not be made at the expense of their students' rights to due process. Joseph Lento and his team have years of experience representing students who are fighting to defend their academic lives.
Reach out for help at 888-535-3686 today to schedule an evaluation of your case. Your future may depend on it.
