SAP Appeals: Advisor FAQs

Undergraduate Students:

• • Minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0 or better on a 4.0 scale. Some financial aid programs may have standards that are more stringent. In those cases the program standards will supersede UMBC’s requirements.
  • May not attempt more than 150% of the credits required to receive an undergraduate degree (i.e.: 120 credits required X 1.5 = a maximum of 180 credits may be attempted). This calculation includes all accepted transfer/test score credits and those that would be attempted for a second major or area of concentration (minor).
  • Progress toward Degree Completion (or “Pace”) will be evaluated against the following

Graduate Students: 

• • • Minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 In the event that their program of study requires a higher GPA it will supersede the minimum listed in this procedure.
    • Must be completing at least 67% of all enrolled courses.
    • Must also complete their program within the timeframe established in their Degree Requirements as outlined in the Graduate School catalog and may not attempt more than 150% of the credits required to complete their program.

Students who are not meeting SAP standards have the opportunity to appeal for financial aid eligibility if there were unexpected circumstances that prevented them from meeting SAP standards. In order to appeal, students must complete a DocuSign form that includes an explanation of the circumstances, as well as an academic plan that outlines their intended courses towards degree completion. Detailed information on the appeal process is found under SAP Appeal Process.

As part of their SAP appeal, students must complete an academic plan outlining their intended coursework for each semester until they graduate. OFAS recommends that students discuss their academic plan with their advisor prior to submission and requires that students include the name/email of their assigned academic on their Academic Plan

Advisors then review the submitted plan and offer their comments as part of the appeal review process. Advisors should be aware that their comments are a crucial component, providing insight from the academic perspective on a student’s future academic success.  The SAP committee values the advisor’s recommendation as part of the SAP decision.

Anything you think is helpful! The more context you provide, the easier it will be for OFAS staff to determine if a student should be placed on financial aid probation while they work towards meeting SAP standards.

Advisors should review the plan submitted to determine if it seems reasonable and indicate if there are any concerns/issues with the plan as submitted by the student. Advisors should be sure to provide any additional notes or context that they feel would assist in the decision making process.

Students input advisor information directly on the DocuSign form. If you have incorrectly been sent a SAP Appeal for review, you can simply select ‘Decline to Sign’ and note the reason.

Each time you click a link to complete or open a DocuSign form, a duplicate copy of the form is created. If you have a duplicate copy of the form, you can log into DocuSign and delete the duplicate copy. You should be able to see any pending forms and/or copies in action required, waiting for others, or expiring soon in DocuSign. Anything that you have already completed will appear under ‘completed’. 

If the student sent another copy of the form, we recommend checking to be sure that the form includes the same information as the version you have already reviewed. From there, you may sign or ‘Decline to Sign’ as appropriate.

Students should submit a completed academic plan through their intended graduation, in their DocuSign submission.

If you feel the student’s academic plan is incomplete, or needs adjustment, you can indicate in the Advisor’s section directly that you disagree with what was submitted. You should also add notes to this section to indicate what you feel is incomplete or needs to be corrected.

You can also ‘Decline to Sign’ and indicate in the notes what changes are needed by the student. They can then submit a new copy of the form with the updated information included.

After the advisor signs the academic plan, the student will automatically receive a copy. If a student indicates they are still receiving emails to complete SAP documents, it may be one they have a duplicate version of the form to delete on DocuSign.

Students who have been successfully readmitted to the university may need to complete a SAP appeal if they were not meeting SAP standards when they last attending UMBC. SAP decisions cannot be made for students until they have been officially readmitted to the university.