The University of Georgia likes to brag about its Continuing Education (CE) program. It's right there on the homepage: why should you study at UGA? Because of it's “prestigious reputation.”
Translation: earning a CE certificate or degree won't be easy. Not only will you face challenging coursework taught by demanding professors—like any other UGA student—but you'll face an additional set of challenges, challenges unique to CE students. You can't just walk back to your dorm room at the end of the day and relax with a game controller in your hand. When you're done writing your paper, you have to pick up the kids from soccer practice, attend a departmental meeting, or do your taxes.
You're up for these challenges. You're bright and you're dedicated, or you wouldn't have signed up for CE in the first place. You care about your education enough to enroll at UGA even with all the demands of your day job. It never hurts to have a little help, though.
For instance, how do you deal with a cranky professor who won't excuse you from class when your kids are down with the flu? What do you do when your TA says you didn't turn your paper in online, even though the online course platform says you did?
Where do you get help with problems like these? The Lento Law Firm. The attorneys at the Lento Law Firm recognize the unique pressures you face, and they want to make sure you survive them and thrive as a returning student. What can they do? They can help you figure out who to talk to when you have a problem, and they can coach you on what to say. They can work with you to find resources and negotiate with professors. They know how the University of Georgia system works, and they can help you navigate it.
So before you sign in to your first class, make sure you know how to get help when you need it. You can always contact the Lento Law Firm at 888-535-3686 or just fill out the automated online form.
Academics
The whole point of a CE program is to learn new things, so when you're thinking about going to school, your first consideration should be academics.
Educational Options
Before you even step foot in a classroom—or log on, as the case may be—you have to make careful decisions about what it is you want to study and what you hope to gain from going through the program. Are you looking to move up at work, for instance, find an entirely new career, or just learn something you didn't know before?
The UGA CE program offers dozens of different courses, and many of these can earn you certification in a particular field or skill.
For example, you can take courses in Legal Studies topics like eDiscovery, Criminal Law, and Personal Injury, or you can take certification courses, such as those in Legal Investigation and Legal Research and Writing. Likewise, Accounting, Tax, and Finance courses include Introduction to Quickbooks, as well as more traditional subjects like Accounting Fundamentals. CE courses can also be useful for professionals who need to fulfill development requirements for their licenses.
In most cases, you can choose from classes at the Athens campus, instructor-led online classes with a variety of start dates, and independent online studies courses.
Educational Requirements
Once you've decided on a course of instruction, you can begin thinking through the particular academic requirements associated with your choice.
For example, if you're looking to improve your skills as a photographer by learning how to use Photoshop, grades may not matter much to you. If you need professional development hours, however, or you're trying to move up at work, a failed class probably won't help you meet your goals.
Depending on your program, you may also be subject to the University of Georgia's Academic Standing policy. That policy requires undergraduate students maintain a minimum 2.0 cumulative grade point average. Graduate students are held to a higher 3.0 standard. Anything below those numbers means Academic Probation, and should you continue to struggle, you can eventually face Suspension and even Dismissal.
Again, you're bright and hardworking, but you're not the average undergraduate. It's not always easy to balance the demands of coursework with a job, a family, and a life. You'll find most instructors at UGA understand your unique situation. When you encounter those who don't, though, the attorneys at the Lento Law Firm are here to help. They're skilled in the art of negotiation and practiced in talking with university faculty and administration. They can be fierce as well when called on to protect their clients' rights.
Satisfactory Academic Progress Financial Aid Policy
You may be subject to another academic policy if you receive any type of financial aid for your CE studies. All colleges and universities are required by federal law to maintain a Satisfactory Academic Progress, or SAP policy. Such policies are meant to ensure no one takes undue advantage of the financial aid system.
At the University of Georgia, the SAP policy includes three criteria.
- You must maintain a GPA in line with the Academic Standing policy.
- You must successfully complete at least 67 percent of your coursework. “Success” here means finishing the course and earning a passing grade.
- You must complete your goals within 150 percent of the published program requirements.
Of course, as long as your GPA is high enough, you can continue at UGA as long as you want. Most students who receive aid, though, find it difficult to continue once that aid has been suspended.
The good news is you don't lose your package the moment your grade dips below the 2.0 mark. Instead, the Financial Aid Office issues you a Warning, and you have an additional semester to improve.
In addition, UGA allows students to appeal their SAP status if they have extenuating circumstances that led to their academic deficiencies. However, the appeals process can be complex, and there are strict deadlines for submitting materials. To ensure you don't lose any money, you need to contact someone from the Lento Law Firm the moment you discover you've been disqualified under SAP. In fact, you're always better off letting a Lento Law Firm attorney know any time your grades are slipping.
Academic Misconduct
Finally, when it comes to academics, you should also take the time to become familiar with UGA's Academic Honesty policy. That policy bars any action that might tend to give you an unfair advantage in completing your coursework. That includes cheating and it includes plagiarism. You are not immune from this policy just because you're a CE student.
A first offense likely won't result in a serious penalty such as suspension or expulsion. Most are handled directly by faculty. Instructors have the power to accuse you of misconduct, to determine whether or not you're guilty of a violation, and to assign you a sanction. However, they are limited in their choice of sanctions.
- Oral or written warnings
- Makeup assignments or rewrites
- Extra assignments on the nature of academic integrity
- Lowered grades on assignments, up to a zero
- Lowered course grades, up to an F
UGA requires instructors report all instances of dishonesty, however, and multiple violations can certainly lead to more serious consequences, up to and including dismissal.
You're under no obligation to accept your instructor's allegations. You have the right to plead your innocence to an Academic Honesty Panel. In fact, even if you admit to violating policy, you can challenge the severity of your sanction to the Panel. As part of the process, you're allowed to submit evidence, call witnesses, and raise questions for any witnesses against you.
It's important, though, that you have help when you go into such a hearing. Defending yourself can be an uphill battle. Rules and procedures are complex; you can expect faculty and administration to close ranks, and the Honesty Panel doesn't have to find you guilty “beyond a reasonable doubt” to punish you. Instead, they're required to find you Responsible (guilty) if they are more than fifty percent convinced you committed an offense.
The Lento Law Firm will work with you any time you're facing a misconduct allegation. They can help you develop your arguments, organize your evidence, and prepare your overall presentation.
Academics: What Could Go Wrong?
We hear it a lot: how exactly is an attorney supposed to help with academic issues? We get it. You're not charged with shoplifting. You're not trying to draft your last will and testament. What can an attorney from the Lento Law Firm do for you as a student?
As it turns out, quite a lot. A large part of academic success has to do with learning the system—knowing how to talk to professors, figuring out what counts as a legitimate excuse, and learning what to do when you need to appeal a decision. No one deals with systems better than lawyers. It's sort of what they're trained for. And no one has a better grasp of educational systems than the attorneys at the Lento Law Firm. Among other things, the Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team can
- Coach you in negotiating with faculty and administrators
- Help you draft misconduct appeals
- Find out who you need to talk to about a specific problem
- Work with you to craft a strong defense when you need one
- Help you gather evidence to support your case
- Ensure your rights are protected
And the Lento Law Firm is always just a phone call away: 888-535-3686.
Disciplinary Misconduct
Just as you're not above academic standing requirements and the academic misconduct policy at UGA, you're also not above the general rules of student conduct. Just like every other student at the university, you're expected to abide by the Student Code of Conduct. That Code addresses all facets of campus behavior, from who's allowed to drink and where, to what kinds of demonstrations are permissible.
To be sure, you won't be subject to all the rules and regulations. You don't need to worry about the alcohol policy, for instance. And no one's likely to charge you with trespassing or tampering with fire safety equipment if all your classes are online and you never step foot on campus.
There are some rules, though, that apply particularly to you as a CE student.
- First, any violation of local, state, or federal law is a violation of the Code of Conduct. Even a conviction for something relatively minor, like a DUI, could put your academic career at UGA in jeopardy. In addition, it doesn't matter whether you committed the act on campus or in Iowa.
- You're also subject to federal Title IX regulations regarding sexual discrimination and harassment. UGA is required to investigate any credible complaint of misconduct, and it's encouraged to issue harsh sanctions to anyone found Responsible for an offense. The minimum punishment is usually suspension. The more likely punishment is dismissal.
- Breaking a rule in an online forum is the same as breaking that rule IRL (in real life). Post a harassing comment to your course web page, and you'll likely be in just as much trouble as if you had made that comment in a brick-and-mortar classroom. In general, you want to incorporate best practices into all of your online behaviors. That means
- Acting professionally
- Treating others with respect
- Avoiding profanity and other types of socially offensive language
- Dressing appropriately if others can see you
- Avoid video chat in inappropriate surroundings.
Here again, an accusation doesn't necessarily mean you'll be sanctioned. You have the right to defend yourself from all misconduct charges at the university. Further, you have a number of due process rights you can assert during the investigation and hearing. For instance, you have the right to a presumption of “Not Responsible” (innocence); you have the right to review all evidence in the case; and you have the right to be treated equally to the Complainant in any case.
One of the most important of your rights is the right to an advisor. UGA allows you to choose someone to help you coordinate your defense. That person can also accompany you to all meetings and proceedings. You're allowed to choose anyone to serve in this capacity, including an attorney, which means someone from the Lento Law Firm can sit beside you and offer advice from the moment you're charged until you've exhausted your last appeal.
The Lento Law Firm: Helping Continuing Education Students
Things are a little different from the last time you were in school.
- Academic expectations are likely higher; they grow higher every year.
- There's probably more cheating too, and that means professors have itchy trigger fingers.
- Schools are held accountable by state legislators more than ever. That means thorough investigations and severe penalties for those found Responsible for offenses.
You're different too, though. Your grades still matter to you, but probably not as much as they did before. These days you worry about paying your mortgage. You've got a spouse, and kids, and a boss. Professors have to take a back seat to all of that.
Most CE professors are OK with that. They know your situation is unique; they know what you're dealing with; and they'll work with you to help you succeed. If they don't, though, or if you run into other problems, we can help.
The Student Defense Team at the Lento Law Firm have spent years helping students just like you, deal with every sort of problem. They know how to talk to faculty and administrators, if that's what's required. But they can also be fierce when they need to be. Find out what they can do to help you. Contact the Lento Law Firm today at 888-535-3686 or use our automated online form.
