The Steering Committee has established the following policy reflecting grade standards:

      1. In order to count as successfully “passing” a course, a student must earn a minimum of a B. A grade of B- or below is considered failing and must be remediated in some way.
      2. Students must maintain a “B” average across all coursework. Any student whose GPA drops below a 3.0 is automatically placed on academic probation by the program and by both graduate divisions. A student may not remain on academic probation for more than one year.
      3. Any time a student receives two grades below a B (i.e., a “B” minus or lower, or No Credit) Steering will formally review that student’s progress and make a determination of whether or not the student will be allowed to continue.

Remediating an Unsatisfactory Grade

A student who earns an unsatisfactory grade in a course (i.e., a grade below a B) must do the following:

      1. Immediately inform both Co-Directors in writing; email is an acceptable method to do this.
      2. Contact the professor who gave the “below B” grade and request a written statement regarding the nature of the poor performance; this statement should provide the specific areas needing remediation. Remediation options may include auditing or re-taking the course that was failed.
      3. Prior to Advancing to Candidacy, students must demonstrate remediation for each course in which a B minus or below was received. Such demonstration must be to the satisfaction of the Co-Directors and is not a prerogative of the Guidance Committee.

Each student is responsible for keeping his/her Guidance Committee apprised of his/her classroom performance (i.e., grades), so that the committee can best assist if any modification or remediation is needed. Specifically, a grade of B- or below must immediately be brought to the attention of the Guidance Chair and a guidance committee meeting must be scheduled.
Students who elect to take additional courses (other than JDP requirements) at SDSU should note the following:

    1. The grade in any class (graduate or undergraduate) taken at SDSU will be included in the official doctoral GPA. There are no exceptions to this rule.
    2. Graduate students are not allowed to replace a failing grade with a higher grade by taking the course a second time.
    3. Students seeking the M.P.H. should be cognizant of this as they complete that program’s requirements as well.