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Biological Sciences Undergraduate Program
387 Thimann Laboratories
UC Santa Cruz,
Santa Cruz, CA 95064
Phone: 831.459.4143
Fax: 831.459.1568
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DEPARTMENT POLICIES: Disqualification Policy

The Biological Sciences have adopted a major disqualification policy that is intended to encourage students to take their performance in the introductory requirements seriously and to make a strong effort to pass their introductory courses.

Students who receive more than one No Pass, D and/or F in the following introductory major requirements will not be permitted to major in any of the Biological Sciences majors:

Biology 20A. Cell & Molecular Biology
Biology 20B. Development & Physiology
Biology 20C. Ecology & Evolution
Chemistry 1B. General Chemistry
Chemistry 1C. General Chemistry
Math 11A. Calculus with Applications
Math 11B. Calculus with Applications
Math 19A. Calculus for Science, Engineering & Mathematics
Math 19B. Calculus for Science, Engineering & Mathematics

Students failing one of these courses will be sent a letter reminding them of this policy and warning them that they are at risk of disqualification should they fail to pass a subsequent introductory course.

Disqualified students may appeal their disqualification by writing a letter to the department chair. The appeal must be submitted electronically to the BioAdvising Office no later than 15 days from the date the disqualification notice was mailed, or the 10th day of classes in the quarter of their disqualification, whichever is later. The BioAdvising Office will subsequently notify the student and the student's college of the appeal decision no later than 15 days after the submission of the appeal.

Disqualification Appeal Instructions

Students appealing their disqualification should write a formal letter to the chair of the department explaining any extenuating circumstances that influenced their poor performance in the introductory courses. For example, if some event led to poor performance in multiple courses in a single quarter, a student has a potential case for appeal. In contrast, academic dishonesty or poor performance spanning multiple quarters will be considered evidence a student is ill suited for the biological sciences. Appeal letters should be submitted electronically to the Undergraduate Advising Office (bioadvise@biology.ucsc.edu).

A formal letter is written in grammatically correct English utilizing proper spelling and punctuation. A letter than does not represent you and your abilities well will not help your disqualification appeal. Please take the appeal process seriously by submitting a well written appeal letter.

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