Sponsor: Office of Academic Affairs
Contact: Registrar
Category: Academic
Number: 100.019
Effective Date: April 1, 1990
Implementation History: April 1990 (original implementation), December 1993, February 1996
Keywords: Readmission, re-enrollment, degree programs

Purpose

This policy establishes principles for determining conditions of re-enrollment for students returning to the college after more than three years.

Statements

Students who return after absences greater than three years must reapply for admission. In some cases, students who have been out of the college for a long time, if they have degree programs at all, have programs which differ in kind, quality and format from the expectations of recent years. In these cases, the procedures that follow determine how each case shall be treated.

Upon notice of absence, for students whose studies are interrupted due to military obligations and who return within 36 months of their last enrollment, are readmitted with the same academic status the student had when he or she last attended.

It is important to note that the purpose of this policy is not automatically to subject all old degree programs to intensive review and revision. Rather, the intent is to provide students, faculty and academic administrators with a regular and accountable means of dealing with the sometimes serious problems arising from substantial changes between past and current university practices.

Reapplication/Re-enrollment Procedure

1. Students who have been withdrawn for more than 36 months must reapply to the university, submitting an application for admission to the Admissions Office. Deans may consult with Admissions about expediting readmission, where appropriate.
2. Students who have been enrolled as matriculated students within the past 36 months can contact their school/program and make arrangements to continue their studies by re-enrolling; reapplication is not necessary.
3. Students reapplying are responsible for the university’s portfolio assessment fee if applicable.
4. For applicants (or re-applicants) who never enroll, the application file is destroyed 36 months after the date of their orientation or their last activity in the case of applicants who do not attend an orientation. After that time, an individual needs to reapply and is treated as any new applicant.

Degree Programs

The university recognizes all degree programs approved within the last five years prior to the student’s re-enrollment date.

Degree programs approved more than five years prior to the student’s re-enrollment date are reviewed by the program’s dean, who may seek the assistance of the student’s mentor and/or faculty member with expertise in the student’s area of concentration. If the dean judges that the student’s early degree program is sound by contemporary standards, the student is not required to make any additions or changes to the degree program. If the dean, in consultation with the student and the mentor, judges the once-approved program to be inadequate, the student is asked to prepare a new program for submission through the regular channels following contemporary expectations. Additional degree program planning credit may be required.

1. Degree programs must conform to current standards for Empire State University degrees in terms of the total number of credits required; the maximum amount of advanced standing awarded; the inclusion of 4 to 8 credits of degree program planning; and advanced-level credit and liberal studies expectations.
2. Learning contracts and experiential learning listed as months should be translated to credits. It may be necessary to make a reasoned estimate (judicious but not overly conservative) of credit for work completed in months during the very early years of the university and experiential learning credit may need to be grouped. The university recognizes all completed learning contract months translated to credits.

If the student is dissatisfied, the regular appeal procedures are available.

Readmission Policy for Service Members

Upon notice of absence, students whose studies are interrupted due to military obligations, and who return within 36 months of their last enrollment, are readmitted with the same academic status the student had when he or she last attended:

1. Students who have been withdrawn for more than 36 months must reapply to the university, submitting an application for admission to the Admissions office. Deans may consult with Admissions about expediting readmission, where appropriate.
2. Students who have been enrolled as matriculated students within the past 36 months can contact their location and make arrangements to continue their studies by re-enrolling; reapplication is not necessary.
3. The university recognizes all degree programs approved within the last five years prior to the student’s re-enrollment date.