Over 10,000 University of Liberia Students on Probation

To streamline its academic activities in order to produce higher calibre graduates, authorities at the University of Liberia (UL) have with immediate effect, notified more than 10,000 undergraduate students that they have been placed on probation due to their “poor academic performance,” a UL Relations official has confirmed. The probation list was released a few weeks after the UL announced the names of its “good academic standing list,” which showed that more than 1, 400 students acquired cumulative Grade Point Averages (GPA) of at least 3.0 and above, while 16 students had perfect GPAs of 4.0.

In a statement issued yesterday, UL authorities said the probation notice serves as a strong warning for students to perform better during the current semester. “When grades are tabulated for the current semester, those on double probation will be suspended from school for one semester, while those in the category of three successive failures (semester GPA below 2.0) would lead to academic expulsion in keeping with the UL Student Handbook,” the UL statement stipulates.

The lists were compiled by the office of Enrollment Management. The first list showed that 5,349 students are on single probation after failing to maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0 or scored grade “C” for the 2nd semester of academic year 2012/2013. Names of students on probation are being concealed. Instead, the public will identify them by their identification numbers or their major courses of study that are already posted on the UL bulletin board.

According to the UL Student Handbook Chapter IX, “A student is placed on Probation…, if his/her GPA for any semester falls below 2.0 or scores “C” at the end of the semester.” Therefore, for students on double probation, the Handbook says, “…he/she may remain at the university if the cumulative average is not less than 2.0 at the end of successive two semesters.”

The double probation list shows that the Business College, with an enrollment of 11,242 students, has 1,955 or 17 percent on probation.

The College of Agriculture and Forestry with an enrollment of 3,551 accounts for 755 or 21 percent on double probation; while out of the 8,000 in the Science College, 1852 or 23 percent of them are being placed on double probation. Liberia College has a total enrolment of 5,524, but 598 or 10.8 percent of them are on double probation.