Faculty should submit a Course Warning if a student is currently earning a grade of “D” or “F,” or it is suspected that a student’s continued performance may result in a final grade of “D” or “F.”

Submit a Course Warning

To submit a course warning, begin by selecting your affiliation with Middlebury (staff, faculty, student). Once you indicate that you are “faculty”, select “Course Warning” under “Report Type” and then continue filling in the remainder of the form. Red asterisks indicate required fields, but not all fields are required.

Who Receives the Course Warning

The information you provide in the course warning form will be emailed to the student, the student’s academic advisors, and the Directors of Learning Resources in the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Research (CTLR) along with an invitation to meet from their Student Life Dean.

Students also receive follow-up information and outreach from the CTLR. While the CTLR is a great source of academic support for students, it is important to note that this office is typically not able to support students this late in the semester as much of the work they do is around creating good academic habits and takes time to see the benefits of.

How Submitting a Course Warning Benefits a Student

Although the word “warning” may feel harsh, giving this feedback to students now is better than waiting to supply it at the end of the semester when it is too late for them to take any corrective action. Many students who receive course warnings improve their performance in the class in which they have received the course warning.

If submitted far enough in advance of the withdrawal deadline, course warnings allow student to make important choices about their academic progress and transcripts.

If a student has no chance of passing, please be clear in conveying this in your narrative.

Incompletes

Incompletes need Student Life Dean approval. One thing you should not promise a student is that you are willing to work with them on an Incomplete unless you have received explicit prior approval from their Student Life Dean. It is both confusing and frustrating for students to receive conflicting information from course instructors and their Student Life Dean about this possibility.

As a reminder, students are only eligible for incompletes in cases of the following:

  • They have been successfully keeping up with their course work throughout the semester.
  • They have encountered an unanticipated obstacle at the very end of the semester.
  • They have secured the approval for an incomplete from their Student Life Dean.

Contact

Submitting Course Warnings: If you have any questions about how to submit a course warning, please reach out to Michelle Audette, Assistant Director for Student Success, at sldeansoffice@middlebury.edu.

Writing a Course Warning and Support Resources: Questions about how to write a course warning or the types of information or support that you can direct a student to can be directed to Jim Ralph, CTLR Director, at jralph@middlebury.edu, or Jennifer Guinn Sellers, Senior Student Life Dean, at jsellers@middlebury.edu.

Incompletes: Questions about whether a grade of incomplete is possible are best directed to the student’s Student Life Dean.