Got an Early Alert? No cause for concern! An Early Alert is a heads-up issued by your instructor, pointing out areas where a bit more focus or help could come in handy. WCC’s caring faculty use this proactive outreach early in the quarter to give you timely feedback and connect you to campus resources that will help you thrive. The earlier challenges are identified, the quicker you can receive relevant support on your academic journey. Remember, your success is our success: we are here to help you thrive and achieve your academic goals! Let’s navigate this together!  

Offices that Support Early Alert Outreach Efforts:

• Student Success at Orca Central
• Advising and Career Services
• BFET
• CIS/Cybersecurity
• International Programs
• Running Start
• Transitional Learning
• Veterans Services

• Early Alert Issued in Starfish: An instructor recognizes a sign that a student may be experiencing difficulties in class (missing assignment, attendance issues, improvement opportunities, etc.) and raises an Early Alert flag. 
• Supportive Outreach: 
  • Student receives an email informing about the concerns raised by the faculty member. 
  • Student success team (academic advisors, student success coaches) will reach out via email offering help.
  • Alert is addressed with instructor and/or advisor or success coach. Early Alerts are never recorded on an academic transcript.   

• Check your student email! (MyWCC: your student email is accessible on the right side of the screen)
  • Tip: Opt in for text messaging so you’ll never miss our emails.
  • Log into your ctcLink account – Click on “Profile” icon – Navigate to “Contact Details” (left side). – Click where your preferred mobile phone number is displayed and check “Enable Texts.”
• Connect with your instructor and set achievable goals. 
• Sketch out a plan: Reach out to an advisor or success coach in Orca Central to develop a success roadmap. Seeking help is a sign of strength and perseverance! Schedule an appointment On Starfish by finding your advisor in your Success Network, or drop in at Orca Central. For more information on how to navigate Starfish, check out this video. 
•  Reflect a bit: Take some time to reflect on your own academic performance and habits. Are there any underlying factors contributing to the issues mentioned in the alert? Do you need help with time management, study skills, or personal challenges? Review our useful tips to hone your Study Skills. 
• Consider the Early Alert as a learning experience. Use it as an opportunity for personal and academic growth. Reflect on the strategies that work best for you and incorporate them into your routine moving forward. Our WCC Student Success Coaches are standing by to help.

To make academic progress toward your goals, you need to earn A, B, and C grades consistently and complete the courses you enroll in. The consequence of consistently earning Ds and Fs each quarter will eventually be a change in your academic standing. It will also extend the time it takes you to finish your academic goal.

WCC's official Academic Progress Policy exists to ensure that you're making progress toward your academic goals and staying on track to graduate with at least a 2.0 cumulative GPA, which is a C average. This grade demonstrates a certain level of mastery of course content and is required to graduate.

Financial Aid has a separate review process to make sure students remain eligible to receive federal and state grants, scholarships, and loans, which often have more stringent requirements related to passing the courses you attempt with certain minimum grades. Please review WCC's Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress to learn more. In general, earning poor grades or withdrawing from courses can jeopardize your ability to continue to receive Financial Aid and may cause you to owe money back to Financial Aid.

All new WCC students start in good academic standing. After grades are submitted each quarter, Financial Aid and Registration staff review grades and Registration updates academic standing. You'll receive an email to your WCC student email notifying your about changes in both your standing with Financial Aid and changes to your academic standing with the College. We encourage you to check your student email regularly.

If you are on academic warning, probation, or suspension you will always receive email notice the quarter your academic standing changes and a flag will raise in Starfish to indicate your current academic standing. If you have a gap in enrollment, you will receive an email notice when you register for classes. Advisors and Registration can also look up your academic standing upon request.

Below, you will find explanations of different academic standings related to WCC's Academic Progress Policy. International students are bound by additional visa compliance requirements, and their academic standing is calculated separately by International Programs. If you are an international student, visit your International Programs advisor to learn more.

You're likely in good academic standing at Whatcom Community College if you've earned a combination of mostly As, Bs, and Cs, and your cumulative GPA is at or above a 2.0, which is a C average. Only letter-graded courses count toward GPA. Pass/Fail, Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory, I grades, audits, and Ws do not change your GPA and are not factored in to WCC academic progress.

Other scenarios to consider:

• Pass/Fail, Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory, I grades, audits, and Ws do impact Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress.
• International students are bound by additional visa compliance requirements, and their academic standing is calculated separately by International Programs. If you are an international student, visit your International Programs advisor to learn more.

If you're on academic warning, that means you earned one quarter of grades below a C average (2.00 quarterly GPA). In general, you'll meet one of the following criteria:

• Students with a quarterly GPA below 2.00 and a cumulative GPA of 2.00 or higher.
• Students after their first quarter at WCC with both a quarterly and cumulative GPA below 2.00.
• Students who went on academic warning in their first quarter, but have since continued to earn quarterly GPAs above 2.00 remain on academic warning until their cumulative GPA is at or above a 2.00.

If you're on academic probation, that means you've earned below a C average (2.00.) for at least 2 quarters and your cumulative GPA is below a C average. In general, you'll meet one of the following criteria:

• Students with both a quarterly and a cumulative GPA below 2.00 after a minimum of two quarters.
• Students on academic probation remain on academic probation if their quarterly GPA remains above 2.00 until their cumulative GPA is at or above 2.00.

If you're on academic probation, you're unable to complete registration online because we want to make sure you work closely with an advisor or academic coach when you choose your classes each quarter. We encourage you to meet regularly with an advisor or academic coach to set goals each quarter and check in on your progress toward those goals.

If you're on academic suspension, you were previously on academic probation. You earned grades below a C average (2.00) for at least 3 quarters and your cumulative GPA is below 2.0. You meet at least one of the following criteria:

• Students on academic probation move to academic suspension if they earn a quarterly GPA below 2.00 during the quarter they are on academic probation.
• Students remain on academic suspension status until their cumulative GPA returns to 2.00.

If you're on academic suspension, you are unable to register online and you are restricted to taking 5 credits at a time. We put these restrictions in place because we want to maximize your potential for academic success and help you avoid earning low grades consistently and lowering your cumulative GPA any further. It may take several quarters to significantly improve your cumulative GPA and return to good academic standing.

We encourage you to work closely throughout the quarter with a support program, tutor, advisor, or academic coach. When you are ready to attempt more courses in a given quarter and have built Study Skills & Habits to support your ability to earn As, Bs, or high C grades each quarter, you may petition to take more than 5 credits.

You can complete a petition to take more than 5 credits prior to the quarter you will be placed on academic suspension, and at any point during your time on academic suspension. Your petition must be submitted by the last deadline (see back of petition for deadlines) prior to the start quarter in which you're hoping to take more than 5 credits. If you miss that final deadline for each quarter, you will be restricted to taking 5 credits.

When reviewing a petition for readiness to attempt more than 5 credits, the review panel is looking for a change in your life circumstances. They want to see that you've resolved whatever has been leading you to earn Ds and Fs consistently. Our goal is to keep you from lowering your GPA any further by earning failing grades. If you've earned Cs or better during your time on academic suspension, that also increases your chances of getting your petition approved.

 When completing the petition itself, we encourage you to do the following:

• Complete every section of the petition. Include the additional courses you are planning to take. Make sure to work with an advisor or academic coach to determine the classes that will best help you make progress toward your academic and career goals.
• Be detailed in your personal statement. Discuss the challenges you've faced, how you have overcome them or built new strategies to work with persistent challenges, and name and describe specific strategies you are planning to employ to ensure your academic success. To learn more about academic skills and habits of successful students, review our Study Skills page.
• Plan ahead. Submit your petition before the deadlines listed on the campus calendar and included on the back of the petition form.
  • Running Start students may turn in their petition materials to the Front Desk of Orca Central (HNR 201)
  • Transitional Learning Students may turn in their petition materials to the Transitional Learning Office (CAS 167)
  • International Programs students have a separate petition process. Visit International Programs to learn more (SSC 201)
  • All other students may turn in their petition materials to the Front Desk of Orca Central in HNR 201 or email them as attachments to earlyalert@whatcom.edu.

Petition to Take More than 5 Credits (View/Download PDF)

The pathway back to good academic standing will likely involve changing your college-work-life balance, trying out new and better study habits and strategies, and accessing new resources on campus. We encourage you to visit your instructors in office hours, use the Learning Center, and work closely with a specific support program like Student Success Coaching, BFET, or other advising and coaching staff to set goals, evaluate progress, and develop new strategies for academic success. It may take several quarters to return to good academic standing, but don't give up. All worthy goals take time. WCC faculty and staff believe in you. We look forward to collaborating with you as you make progress toward your academic goals.

We encourage you to review our Study Skills and Habits of Successful Students page and work closely with an academic advisor or coach to develop a strong plan for your academic success as preparation to complete your petition or at any point if you find your current academic habits are not supporting you well.