Going back to school can be an incredibly rewarding experience. In a practical sense, you can improve your resume, move up at work, and maybe even get qualified for an entirely new job. Enrolling in a Continuing Education (CE) program offers more intangible rewards as well, though. It's a chance to broaden what you know, to demonstrate that you're never too old to learn something new, and to prove to yourself that you're just as smart as you ever were.
Nothing worthwhile is ever easy, though. College is always tough, and UPenn is an Ivy League school. And above and beyond the ordinary challenges of attending a world-class university, you've got a unique set of challenges. You're not just taking classes like an ordinary undergraduate. You're trying to balance taking classes with all the other demands of adult life—kids, a job, a mortgage.
You can handle it, and you'll find most faculty and administrators at UPenn are willing to work with you to ease your transition back to school and make sure you have all the support you need. Unfortunately, you can sometimes run into problems too. There are faculty who refuse to be flexible when it comes to due dates and administrators who have no sympathy when your kids are sick.
When you run into people like that, the LLF Law Firm's Student Defense Team is here for you. The attorneys at the LLF Law Firm understand the pressures you face. They think you should be rewarded for your courage in going back to school, not penalized. They know the law when it comes to education, and they know how the University of Pennsylvania operates. They're ready to use what they know to make sure you're treated fairly and that you achieve all the academic success you deserve.
Academics
One of the most daunting aspects of going back to school is simply trying to get yourself back into the student mindset again. It's probably been a minute or two since you were in college, and things have changed. So let's start by looking at the classroom issues most CE students face.
Educational Options
UPenn offers a wide range of CE opportunities, and one of your first challenges may simply be deciding what path you want to take.
If you're looking to earn annual professional development hours to help you meet re-certification requirements, you can sign up for seminars and conferences through any of the university's several colleges—Penn Dental Medicine, Penn Veterinary Medicine, or the College of Liberal and Professional Studies.
Penn also offers several boot camps for anyone who wants to improve their skills in digital technology. You can choose from programs on coding, data science, and cybersecurity.
Or, you can take advantage of the many different programs offered by Penn's Online Learning Initiative (OLI):
- Earn micro-credentials that can lead to a degree
- Take single courses in a variety of subjects
- Enroll in a 4-6 week non-credit MOOC to learn a single skill
- Take a series of courses to explore a topic in depth
- Earn certification to add to your resume
- Earn a bachelor's or graduate degree in subjects like Urban Education, Health Care Innovation, and Clinical Social Work.
Educational Requirements
Once you've decided on a field of study and an educational goal, your next concern should be meeting academic expectations. Of course, those expectations will vary depending on what academic path you've chosen to take.
A seminar, for instance, may require no more time commitment than a weekend. A degree, on the other hand, can require you to take two years of coursework.
If you're taking a single course, grades may not matter much to you. You just want the experience of learning. If you're working towards certification, your primary interest may be in passing your courses so you don't have to pay to retake any. If you're after a degree, though, you'll need to know about your individual college's academic standing requirements. These set the standards you must meet in order to make progress and complete your program. For example, the College of Arts and Sciences standing policy states that all students must maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 2.0 and earn no more than one F in any given term. If you can't meet those requirements, you can be put on academic probation, forced to take a leave of absence, or dismissed from the university entirely.
No matter what your particular educational goals are, your instructors will hold you to high standards. You can't expect to earn credentials of any kind without attending classes, reading all materials, completing any homework, writing papers, and studying for exams. That's a tall order for any student, but especially for CE students for whom education is only one priority among many. If you should find yourself struggling, remember that the LLF Law Firm Student Defense Team is here to help. The firm's attorneys know all the tips and tricks for navigating the Penn system. They know who to talk to when you have a problem and what to say. Whether you're trying to negotiate with a professor or need to file a grade appeal, they can help help you develop and implement a plan that's right for your particular situation.
Satisfactory Academic Progress Financial Aid Policy
Some CE students have another set of academic expectations to worry about. If you receive any sort of financial aid, you'll have to meet Upenn's SAP policy. An SAP, or Satisfactory Academic Progress, policy sets the conditions you must satisfy in order to continue to receive aid from one semester to the next. The federal government requires all schools to maintain such policies in order to prevent fraud and ensure all recipients are actually working towards a degree.
The UPenn SAP policy sets three conditions.
- Maintain a minimum 2.0 cumulative grade point average
- Complete at least two-thirds of the courses you attempt
- Take no more than 150 percent of the number of courses required to complete your degree
The school reviews SAP at the end of each semester. If you fail to meet conditions during the fall semester, you are issued a Warning for the spring semester. If, however, you fail to meet conditions at the end of the year, your financial aid is suspended for the following year.
The school does offer an appeals process for students with extenuating circumstances. If, for instance, your academic deficiencies are the result of a long-term illness or a family emergency, you can petition the Director of Student Financial Aid for an additional probationary semester to improve.
Of course, you don't have to be eligible for financial aid to remain in the University of Pennsylvania CE program. You can continue as a student, even if you aren't meeting SAP conditions, so long as you are meeting all Standing requirements. However, many students find it difficult to continue if they're forced to pay for their education entirely out of pocket.
If you've been ruled ineligible for financial aid, or you think you might be in danger of losing your aid, it's important you contact the Student Defense Team at the LLF Law Firm as soon as possible. The attorneys at the LLF Law Firm are experienced in filing SAP petitions and appeals, but often the Office of Financial Aid puts strict time limits on submitting these appeals. Once you've lost aid, it can be extremely difficult to get it back.
Academic Misconduct
Penn's Code of Academic Integrity prohibits all forms of academic misconduct, including cheating, plagiarism, fabrication, multiple submissions, misrepresentation, and any other activity that might tend to give you an unfair advantage in completing your coursework.
Most cases are under the authority of course instructors. That is, your instructor has the power to decide whether or not you have violated policy and to assign a sanction they deem appropriate within the confines of the course. Typical sanctions include
- Oral or written warnings
- Makeup assignments or rewrites
- Extra 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, faculty are encouraged to report violations to the university's Center for Community Standards and Accountability (CSA). This office has the authority to assign additional disciplinary sanctions to repeat offenders, including:
- Probation
- Suspension
- Dismissal
You don't have to accept responsibility for an accusation, though. You have the right to challenge your instructor's findings or the severity of the assigned sanction by asking the CSA to conduct an investigation and hold a disciplinary hearing on the matter.
As you can imagine, CSA investigations and hearings can be complex processes. Rules and procedures can be difficult to navigate, and you're taking on the full weight of your school. Generally speaking, universities tend to close ranks behind professors when they make an accusation against a student. In short, you don't want to go into this situation by yourself. An attorney from the LLF Law Firm can help you build your defense, work with you to gather evidence, and even accompany you to meetings and proceedings. Having someone from the LLF Law Firm Student Defense Team beside you gives you your very best chance of success.
Academics: What Could Go Wrong?
CE students often ask: how can an attorney help me with academic issues? And it's true that the LLF Law Firm Student Defense Team can't take your exams for you or write your papers.
College success isn't just about turning in lab assignments and acing tests, though. It's about learning how the system works and learning how to use the system to your advantage. Lawyers are trained to help clients make sense of systems, and the lawyers at the LLF Law Firm are especially adept with educational systems. They 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
Disciplinary Misconduct
It's easy to get caught up in meeting all of your CE program's academic expectations. After all, there's a lot to worry about when it comes to your coursework. Don't forget, though, that you also have to abide by the university's rules of general conduct.
Just like any other Penn student, you're subject to the school's Code of Student Conduct. That Code contains dozens of rules against everything from tampering with fire safety equipment to assaulting another student. Of course, many of these rules won't apply to you. You're not likely to get charged with underage drinking, for instance, and if you're taking online courses, you probably don't have to worry about vandalism, trespassing, or theft charges either. That doesn't mean you can't wind up in serious trouble for breaking university rules.
- In addition to general campus misbehavior, the Code also prohibits violations of local, state, or federal law. That means you are subject to university sanctions should you wind up convicted of a crime, even a small crime like DUI or domestic abuse.
- Like all students, you're subject to Title IX, a federal law that bars sexual discrimination and harassment on college and university campuses. One comment in class can be enough to get you charged with a violation, and most violations are punished with dismissal.
- Online activities are treated no differently from real-world activities. If you should post a harassing comment in an online class forum, it will be investigated as a Title IX offense no different than if you'd made the comment in a brick-and-mortar classroom.
In general, you want to pay special attention to how you behave in digital environments. That includes
- 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.
Just as with academic misconduct, an allegation of disciplinary or sexual misconduct doesn't necessarily mean you'll face a sanction or be dismissed from the university. All Penn students have the right to defend themselves from allegations. You also have a number of important due process rights when you're defending yourself. For example, you have the right to a presumption of “Not Responsible” (Innocence) until such time as you are proven “Responsible” (guilty). You have the right to notice of all charges against you and to review all evidence. You have the right to notification of all meetings and proceedings.
Perhaps the most important of these rights is the right to an advisor, someone who can help you prepare your case, who can accompany you to proceedings, and who can offer advice any time you need it. 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 Student Defense Team at the LLF Law Firm. An attorney from the LLF Law Firm may or may not be able to sit beside you during a hearing, but either way, they can serve a crucial role in things crafting your defense, drafting documents, gathering evidence, and preparing to present your case.
The LLF Law Firm: Continuing Education Student Attorneys
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 LLF Law Firm Student Defense Team has helped hundreds of students just like you deal with school-based issues. LLF Law Firm attorneys know the law as it applies to education, and they'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 LLF Law Firm today at 888-555-3686, or use our automated online form.
