In addition to the professional ethics and discipline standards, including professional conduct, required in all BFA, MusB, MFA, and MM programs, students must demonstrate satisfactory progress in their school/conservatory and program as detailed below.

Conservatory of Dance

The Dance faculty review a student’s artistic, academic, and technical proficiency twice each semester. In addition to prescribed coursework, all students participate in and are evaluated/graded on their freshman jury, sophomore jury, junior project, and senior project.

Undergraduate students must earn a grade of C or higher in all courses required for their major, excluding the senior project. A grade of C- or lower constitutes a failure to demonstrate successful academic or artistic progress. A student who receives grades of C- or lower for two or more semesters may no longer be eligible for scholarship funds and performance opportunities and may be dismissed from the conservatory.

An undergraduate student may also be placed on professional probation or dismissed for breaches of professional conduct at the discretion of the director of the Conservatory of Dance. In cases of professional dismissal, students may or may not receive a formal warning, or probationary status, in advance. A student may appeal a professional probation or dismissal to the college’s Academic Review Committee. 

Conservatory of Music

Undergraduate students must earn a grade of C or higher in all courses required for their major, excluding the senior recital/production. A grade of C- or lower constitutes a failure to demonstrate successful academic or artistic progress. A student who receives grades of C- or lower for two or more semesters may be dismissed from the conservatory.

Graduate students must earn a grade of B or higher in all courses. A grade of B- or lower constitutes a failure to demonstrate successful academic or artistic progress. A student who receives grades of B- or lower for two or more semesters may be dismissed from the conservatory.

An undergraduate or graduate student may also be placed on professional conduct probation or dismissed for breaches of professional conduct at the discretion of the director of the Conservatory of Music. In cases of professional dismissal, students may or may not receive a formal warning, or probationary status, in advance. A student may appeal a professional probation or dismissal to the college’s Academic Review Committee. 

Conservatory of Theatre Arts

BFA students must earn a grade of C or higher in all courses required for their major. A grade of C- or lower constitutes a failure to demonstrate successful academic or artistic progress; students who earn a grade of C- or lower in a required course will be automatically placed on professional probation. When possible, students must repeat a required course to replace a grade of C- or lower in order to move forward within a discipline (i.e., to continue in a numbered sequence or to move from the 2000 level to the 3000 level, etc.). A student who receives grades of C- or lower for two or more semesters may be dismissed from the conservatory.

• In the theatre design/technology BFA program, repeating a required course in a subsequent semester or substitution of equivalent coursework is permitted only at the discretion of the department.
• In the acting BFA program, repeating a required course is usually not possible due to the cohort nature of the program. Therefore, students in this program who receive a grade of C- or lower in a required course will normally not be permitted to advance within the major.

Within the BFA programs, lack of academic progress, breaches of professional conduct, as well as judgment on such matters as artistic growth and development may also be the basis for professional probation or dismissal.

A student in a BFA program may be placed on professional probation or dismissed for breaches of professional conduct at the discretion of the director of the Conservatory of Theatre Arts. In cases of professional conduct dismissal, students may or may not receive a formal warning, or probationary status, in advance. A student may appeal a professional  probation or dismissal to the college’s Academic Review Committee. 

School of Art+Design

Students in the BFA and BS programs in the School of Art+Design are expected to meet all attendance and participation requirements in all studio courses. Unexcused absences, tardiness, or lack of preparation for class will not be accepted. Three or more unexcused absences in any course will result in a grade of F or WF.

All undergraduate students in the School of Art+Design must earn a grade of C or higher in all studio art courses required for their major, excluding the senior project. Students must repeat a required course to replace a grade of C- or lower in order to move forward within a discipline (i.e., to continue in a numbered sequence or to move from the 2000 level to the 3000 level, etc.).

Graduate MFA students must maintain a 3.0 (B) GPA for successful progress through the program.

Lack of academic progress, breaches of professional conduct, as well as judgment on such matters as artistic growth and development may also be the basis for professional probation or dismissal from the School of Art+Design. A student may appeal a professional probation or dismissal to the college’s Academic Review Committee. 

School of Film and Media Studies: Film BFA Program

Students in the film BFA program must maintain the department standards for academic and professional conduct. Criteria for advancement also include the student’s fitness and potential for a professional life in the field, as determined by the department. Advancement each year is by invitation of the department following a scheduled, mandatory review of each student’s work.

Any student on warning or probationary status is reviewed at the end of the semester (fall or spring). A student may appeal a professional probation or dismissal to the Academic Review Committee. There is an ongoing assessment of professional growth in all work for all students.