There are so many great reasons to go back to school. Maybe you're looking for a promotion at work. Maybe you're thinking about diving into an entirely new career field. Maybe you're just one of those people who believe in the idea that learning should never stop. Whatever your motivation, working towards a Continuing Education (CE) degree or certificate can be an incredibly rewarding experience.
And you've chosen a great school as well. Syracuse is among the best universities in the country, with a reputation for challenging courses taught by world-class instructors. You want that kind of rigor in your CE program. What's the point of going back to school if the courses you're taking don't push you to be the very best version of yourself?
Of course, “challenging” can be a double-edged sword. It's one thing to be pushed to do your best. It's entirely another thing to be pushed beyond your limits. You're not 20 anymore. You've got a family now, a mortgage, a job. It's not always easy to fit education into the mix.
You'll find that most of the professors at Syracuse understand what you're up against. They're eager to work with you and flexible enough to extend deadlines when you need them or excuse absences if your kids are sick. However, you'll also occasionally run into faculty and administrators who just don't get it, who hold you to unfair standards and expect you to drop everything else in your life for the sake of a quiz. What do you do then?
You contact the Lento Law Firm. The attorneys at the Lento Law Firm are dedicated to the principle that all students deserve fair treatment and every opportunity to succeed. That's just as true for CE students as it is for freshmen undergrads. Our attorneys have experience dealing with a wide range of educational issues, from filing grade appeals to responding to stalking allegations. We're on your side, we understand your unique needs as a CE student, and we're ready to do whatever it takes to safeguard your educational future.
Academics
Your first concern as a CE student must be meeting your school's academic expectations. That starts with choosing the right program and the right courses. It also means earning good grades and avoiding academic misconduct accusations. The attorneys at the Lento Law Firm can offer help in all of these areas.
Educational Options
One of the best things about the Syracuse College of Professional Studies is that it offers such a wide range of choices to CE students. Whether you're looking to take a single course or trying to earn a graduate degree, CPS has a program to suit your needs.
- Microcredentials: Sometimes, a single course can be enough to move up at work. Or maybe you're just looking to enrich your life by taking a weekend seminar. The CPS offers several ways to earn what it calls “microcredentials,” including courses in Project Management, course bundles in The Business of Canabis, and workshops on Indigenous Healing.
- Certification Programs: If you're looking for a more concrete skill endorsement, you might consider signing up for a CPS certification program. Most certificates, such as the certificate in Health Care Management, require around 15 hours of coursework, and it's possible to take all of your classes online.
- Degrees: Finally, the CPS also offers several degree programs. You can earn an associate's degree in general subjects like Liberal Arts, a bachelor's degree in fields like Business Management and Computer Programming, or go for your Master's in Project Management. B.A.s usually take around 120 hours, while M.A.s require 30 hours. However, you can take these courses at your own pace, and again, many are taught online.
Educational Requirements
Your particular educational requirements will differ depending on your particular education path.
For example, if you're taking a single course or attending a seminar, grades may be the furthest thing from your mind. As long as you enjoy yourself and learn something, you'll have accomplished what you set out to. If you're working towards a certificate, you'll want to make sure you're passing all your coursework. Failed courses don't count towards your certification, and retaking them means paying for them again. If you're trying to earn a degree, you need to familiarize yourself with the Syracuse University Academic Standing Policy. Among other stipulations, that policy requires you to earn a minimum 1.5 GPA each term and to maintain at least a 2.667 in all your major coursework. Fail to meet any standing criteria, and you can wind up on probation, suspended, or even dismissed.
Whether you're attending a workshop or you've signed up for a 120-hour degree, you can expect your instructors to hold you to high academic standards. That means attending class, reading all assigned materials, completing homework, writing papers, and studying for exams. Finding time for all of that can be a tall order when you've got a full life outside of class. Again, most Syracuse faculty understand the particular pressures you're under and will work with you to make sure you have a reasonable opportunity to earn your degree. You will sometimes encounter instructors, though, who insist you turn your work in on time even if you have a project due at your job or administrators who refuse to excuse your absences when your kids are sick.
Any time you feel someone is treating you unfairly, you can turn to the Lento Law Firm. We know your rights. We also know how Syracuse operates. Whether you need to lodge a complaint about an instructor or fight your school's attempts to dismiss you, we understand education bureaucracy and can help you navigate it.
Satisfactory Academic Progress Financial Aid Policy
Some CE students have an additional worry when it comes to academic performance. If you receive any form of financial aid, including scholarships, grants, and loans, you are subject to the Syracuse SAP policy. The federal government requires all schools maintain a Satisfactory Academic Progress policy to ensure students who receive aid are actually attending courses and making progress towards their degrees. In other words, such policies are meant to safeguard the financial aid system. Sometimes, however, they can feel punitive.
The Syracuse SAP policy includes three criteria.
- First, you must maintain a minimum 2.0 cumulative grade point average. Note that this is stricter than the Academic Standing policy.
- In addition, you must complete at least two-thirds of all the courses you attempt. Obviously, failures count against this percentage. Withdrawals and Incompletes do as well. In addition, you should know that this requirement isn't cumulative but rather applies to each semester. In other words, there is a defined limit to how many courses you can drop and fail in a term.
- Finally, you must complete your degree within 150 percent of the required number of courses for that degree. If, for instance, you're working towards a 120-hour B.A., you will lose financial aid once you've taken more than 180 hours of coursework.
The SAP policy is separate from the Syracuse Standing Policy. That means you can still be eligible to take courses and complete your degree even if you should lose your financial aid. However, many students find it difficult to finish their program of study if they have to pay for it entirely out of pocket.
Syracuse does provide a Warning semester to students whose GPAs have fallen or who fail to meet the completion percentage requirement. This gives you time to improve. In addition, there is a process for appealing the loss of aid. Successful appeals mean an additional semester of aid under probationary status. Appeals are time-sensitive, though. Once you've lost aid, it can be extremely difficult to get it back. In other words, you want to contact the Lento Law Firm for help at the very first sign of trouble.
Academic Misconduct
Syracuse University takes academic misconduct extremely seriously. No school wants to develop a reputation for cheating. Most offenses are dealt with in the confines of the course itself. That is, your instructor has the authority to accuse you of misconduct, to determine whether or not you committed misconduct, and to assign course-related sanctions. These typically include
- Warnings
- Makeup assignments or rewrites
- Educational assignments on the nature of academic integrity
- Lowered grades on assignments, up to a zero
- Lowered course grades, up to an F
In addition, however, faculty are required to report misconduct to the school or college Academic Integrity Coordinator. That official can impose additional sanctions, such as
- Probation
- Suspension
- Dismissal
You don't have to accept an allegation of misconduct, though. You have the right to challenge your instructor's accusations to the Coordinator or, failing that, an Academic Integrity Hearing Panel. In fact, you can even accept responsibility for the offense but appeal the severity of the sanction.
However, taking on an instructor, let alone the weight of the school is never an easy prospect. Campus judicial procedures can be confusing and difficult to navigate. You have some important rights, but you need to know how to use them effectively. As a result, you should never try to defend yourself on your own. The Lento Law Firm is here when you need them. Our attorneys are experienced in handling all types of university cases.
Academics: What Could Go Wrong?
You may have asked yourself when you started reading: how exactly is a lawyer supposed to help me get through college? It's a fair question. After all, the Lento Law Firm can't help you study for an exam, and our attorneys won't write your papers for you.
Here's what we can do, though:
- Coach you in negotiating with
- Draft misconduct appeals
- Find out who you need to talk to
- Work with you to craft a strong defense
- Help you gather evidence
- Ensure your rights are protected
Maybe it shouldn't be this way, but college success is often as much about dealing with bureaucracy as it is about paying attention in class. Attorneys know bureaucracy. They swim in it. And no attorney knows more about dealing with educational bureaucracy than the attorneys at the Lento Law Firm.
Disciplinary Misconduct
Your first priority as a CE student is to meet Syracuse's academic expectations. Your behavior outside of class can be just as important as your behavior inside it, though.
As a CE student, you may not necessarily think of yourself as a “college student.” And we've said it already: your life isn't like the typical undergraduate's life. Even so, you're expected to follow the same rules and regulations as anyone else attending Syracuse. The Code of Conduct contains dozens of rules about everything from physical assault to misuse of fire safety equipment. True, many of these rules won't apply to you. You're probably not going to get in trouble for underage drinking. And if you take most of your classes online, trespassing, vandalism, and theft may not apply. That doesn't mean you're immune to misconduct accusations.
- Of particular concern for Continuing Ed students are SU's rules against violating local, state, and federal laws. Any criminal conviction, even for something as small as a DUI or domestic abuse, can put your education at risk.
- You're also subject to Title IX, a federal law that bars sexual discrimination and harassment in college and university programs. The government requires all schools to investigate allegations, and most schools impose severe penalties on students found Responsible.
- Finally, you should keep in mind that Syracuse policies apply even in online environments. CE students often take most of their classes online. A misinterpreted comment in a class forum, though, can get you charged with sexual misconduct as easily as if you'd made the comment in a brick-and-mortar classroom. In general, you want to be careful about your online content and utilize best practices for your behavior. That means
- Acting professionally
- Treating others with respect
- Avoiding profanity and other types of socially-offensive language
- Dressing appropriately if others can see you
- Avoiding video chat in inappropriate surroundings.
What happens if you should wind up accused of misconduct? Luckily Syracuse gives you the right to defend yourself. The school is required to conduct an investigation and, in most cases, to hold a formal hearing before assigning you a sanction. You have several important due process rights throughout these processes, including the right to examine evidence in the case, the right to be presumed “Not Responsible” (Innocent) until proven “Responsible,” and the right to question witnesses.
The most important of these rights is the right to an advisor, someone to help you prepare your case and to accompany you to proceedings. In some cases—Title IX cases, for instance—this advisor can be an attorney. Even when your advisor can't be an attorney, though, you are always better off consulting with someone from the Lento Law Firm. They may not be able to sit beside you during your hearing, but they can be instrumental in crafting your defense, drafting documents, gathering evidence, and coaching you in presentation methods.
Continuing Education Student Attorney-Advisor
If you've been out of school for a few years, you need to know that things have changed in education.
- Cheating is on the rise, so professors are more hyper-vigilant.
- Academic expectations grow higher every year.
- In today's political climate, no school can afford to be seen as soft on discipline, and every school conducts rigorous investigations and doles out stiff penalties.
It's worth recognizing, though, that you've changed too. Sure, you care about passing your courses and getting your degree, but that's not the highest priority in your life anymore. You've got a partner, a mortgage, and kids to worry about. Satisfying your boss's demands is probably far more important to you than pleasing your professor.
Most continuing education faculty understand the particular kinds of stresses you're under, and most are willing to work with you to make your educational experience rewarding. If you should run into issues, though, it's important you know that there's help available.
The Lento Law Firm has helped hundreds of students just like you deal with school-based issues. We know the law as it applies to education, and we're practiced in dealing with faculty and administrators. Whatever problem you might be facing, from issues with technology to accusations of sexual misconduct, don't wait to see what will happen. If you're in trouble, contact the Lento Law Firm today at 888-555-3686, or use our automated online form.
