Academic Appeal Process

Get your education back on track. These are the steps to appeal an academic suspension.

Appeals are due by the date provided in your academic status email notification. Your appeal results will be emailed to your WSU account within a week of the due date.

Submit an Academic Appeal Form

Complete the Academic Appeal Form.

You cannot edit the appeal form once it has been submitted. 

Send Any Additional Information to Advising Services

If you want to include additional details about your circumstances, email advising@winona.edu. 

Documents such as a disability or severe illness diagnosis, a record of using campus resources, and letters of reference can help explain your situation.

Advising Services will provide this content to the Appeals Committee. 

Evaluation Criteria

Each appeal is evaluated based on each person’s unique circumstances. There is no guarantee that your appeal will be granted.

Here are some common criteria members of the Appeals Committee may use when evaluating your appeal:

• The number of times you have been suspended.
• You have a reasonable chance to be in good standing (cumulative GPA of 2.0) within 1-2 semesters. This may include checking if you are enrolled to repeat any courses that you didn’t do well in.
• There has been improvement in your grade point average from semester to semester. For example, if you had a 1.4 fall semester and then a 2.2 spring semester, you would be showing progress even though your cumulative GPA is still below 2.0.
• You have a documented medical or psychological disability or illness. If so, they would look for documentation from a physician, counselor, or therapist. Typically, the committee wants to see that you have a plan to accommodate your condition and if you have used the resources available on campus.
• You experienced unforeseeable circumstances. The committee would look for documentation of that situation.
• You attended an academic warning meeting and you followed through on those recommendations for academic success.
• Your documented use of on-campus resources such as tutoring, advising, counseling etc. It may be helpful to keep a record of your visits and have the staff include a letter of support with your appeal.
• You are enrolled in a reasonable course load for improvement. This may mean reducing the number of courses you are enrolled in at one time. The appeals committee may evaluate if you have repeated or plan to repeat any courses that you did not do well in.
• You have changed your major. For example, you were struggling in courses for your declared major and have now decided to change your major to an area you have done well in. This could improve your chances of being successful at WSU.
• You had a change of living situations. Often living situations are cited as a distraction from academics. If this is the case for you, a change in your living situation could improve academic success.
• Your financial situation has changed or you have reduced your workload. Students often cite that work interfered with their academic progress and they can be successful in school if they alter their work schedule.