DOCUMENT RESUME

Junior college students on academic probation are as heterogeneous as the college population itself. They range from high-ability students dismissed from 4-year institutions to those with severe visual-motor handicaps. The differences should be more carefully identified so that appropriate help can be made available. Special counseling (required by California law for junior college probation students) must be given so that they can make realistic educational and vocational plans. The single 15-minute interview or the 50-minute group session required by one college does not provide such an opportunity. Changes in penalty grading and probation practices have shown favorable results. Not only do they reduce the number of students on academic probation, but they also switch the college emphasis from punishing inappropriate behavior to rewarding the appropriate. Fears that less punitive grading practices would lead to student irresponsibility have so far proved unfounded. Research on limited study loads, required periods of non-attendance, and other common restrictive sanctions of probation has not shown them to be effective in increasing success among probationary students. The. open-door college has an obligation to all students, but especially to those on probation. For the below-average student, the junior college truly represents his last educational opportunity. (HH