Academic Catalog

Performance/Progress

Attendance and Student Performance

Academic success is closely correlated to student participation and attendance. Accordingly, students are expected to regularly attend all classes. Each course instructor will establish the specific attendance and course requirements. Only students who are currently enrolled in a course for either credit or audit are permitted to officially attend the classes. However, individual instructors may allow an occasional visitor and may allow a student who officially withdrew from the course to continue to attend for the remainder of the semester.

Absences from Class and Failure to Complete Assignments

Students who must miss class due to accident or illness, or due to other circumstances beyond their control should consult the course syllabus and the instructor for guidance. Students may be administratively dropped (withdrawn) from a course due to excessive absences or for persistent failure to complete assignments. In such cases, the Instructor may recommend administrative withdrawal by providing a completed “Student Absence/Lack of Progress Report” form to the Department Chair. If the Department Chair agrees with the recommendation of the course instructor, the student will be withdrawn from the course. Any student who has been administratively dropped (withdrawn) from a class may appeal that decision to the Department Chair where the course was offered within 10 days after notification of the drop (withdrawal).

Any absences due to the student’s requested participation in a college sponsored event (e.g., representing SENMC at legislative session or students attending educational field trips and conferences) will be excused and deemed an “Authorized Absence”. Authorized absences do not relieve the student of the course assignments or responsibilities and instructors may require students to complete course work before the absence. Prior to the student’s absence, the student will provide the instructor(s) with written notice of the dates of expected absence.

Classroom Conduct

Each instructor has the authority to establish and enforce reasonable rules of conduct in their courses. A student who engages in behavior that interferes with the educational environment of the class may be administratively dis-enrolled with the approval of the Department Chair for the course, and with notification to the Vice President of Academic Affairs. Any student who has been administratively dis-enrolled from a class may appeal that decision to the Department Chair where the course was offered within 10 days after notification of the dis-enrollment.

Student Performance Assessment

Individual student performance and learning outcomes in a course are measured and evaluated by the course instructor and reported to the student in the form of grades. Each instructor has the authority to establish assignments and other assessments (such as exams and quizzes) and to assign grades based on the student’s performance on those assessments. Final grades for the course are determined by the instructor and reported to the Registrar as described in grading section of this catalog. Any student who believes that their academic performance has been evaluated unfairly may appeal the grade through the College’s Academic Appeals process as provided in this Catalog.

Academic Program Assessment

Southeast New Mexico College is committed to providing its students with a quality education and a supportive learning environment. Academic Program Assessment is a continuous improvement process achieved by identifying a program’s desired learning outcomes, evaluating the extent to which those outcomes are collectively achieved by students in the program, and then implementing changes to enhance and improve the collective program outcomes. For assessment to be effective, students must be actively aware of and engaged in assessment activities.

Academic Program Assessment requires participation of students who are expected to provide feedback on personal, professional and academic development and to participate in a variety of assessment exercises. Assessment activities may be a part of regular graded course assignments, or may require students to engage in other activities. Assessments may include course projects, exams, exit interviews, standardized tests, surveys, focus groups, etc. Data gathered through these assessments is published only in aggregate form. Learn more about SENMC’s Academic Program Assessment in the Assessment Handbook. 

Exam Week and Final Examinations

SENMC designates the last week of each semester as “Exam Week” during which each course has a single 2-hour meeting time for a mandatory culminating activity which may be a final examination or some other course related activity. The Registrar's Office establishes the Final Examination Schedule for each semester. Examinations are typically held in the course’s usual lecture/lab room. For courses that were not scheduled to meet at the specific times listed under “Regular Class Time” on the Registrar's Office Final Examination Schedule, the instructor and course department coordinate examination dates, times and locations with SENMC’s Registrar's Office (575) 234-9212. Final exams for weekend courses are held at the regular class period on the last day of class.

The final exam or culminating activity must not be rescheduled for a different date, time or location, except with permission of the department chair and the unanimous consent of the enrolled students. During the week before Exam Week, instructors are not allowed to hold examinations lasting more than one class period. Any student having more than three examinations scheduled in any one day may, no later than the week prior to exam week, notify the instructor of the examination scheduled latest in the day to obtain an alternative date for that examination. (If the fourth exam is a departmental exam, the instructor of the third exam will make alternate arrangements for that exam upon request.) Students who believe that their instructor(s) have not honored Exam Week requirements may appeal to the instructor’s department chair.

Developmental Evaluation

The academic skill level of all entering first-time students at the time of registration is evaluated based upon ACT scores, SAT scores, ACCUPLACER scores, and/or alternative placement methods. The student’s eligibility to enroll in college level English and Mathematics courses is dependent upon this evaluation. Students who have not demonstrated adequate preparation for college level courses are required to take developmental courses. Developmental courses are included on the transcript and will be included in the calculation of the GPA, but the developmental course credits do not count towards a degree.

Fresh start for former NMSU-Carlsbad students 

Credits earned by SENMC students who were former NMSU-Carlsbad undergraduate students prior to Fall 2023 or dual credit students prior to Fall 2022 credits with a D- or higher will be entered as transfer credits under the institution name “Southeast New Mexico College formerly NMSU-Carlsbad”. These credits will not be calculated in the student’s GPA at SENMC and are designated with a letter (T) in front of the letter grade. Accepted transfer credits will be considered when financial aid satisfactory progress is reviewed. 

Include in GPA Option 

As a former NMSU-Carlsbad student, the student can request NMSU-Carlsbad courses completed prior to attending SENMC be calculated as a part of the SENMC overall cumulative GPA. These are the consequences of exercising the Include in GPA option: 

  1. All the student’s academic history, including withdraw (W), incomplete (I), failure (F), audit (AU), or no credit (NC), as a NMSU-Carlsbad undergraduate student prior to Fall 2023 or a dual credit student before Fall 2022 will be included. 
  2. These courses will be included on the transcript with a grade and the letter (Y) in front of the letter grade to designated as “Included in the GPA” on the transcript. These credits will now be included in the calculation of the overall cumulative grade point average. 
  3. Accepted credits will be considered when financial aid satisfactory progress is reviewed. 

Academic Forgiveness 

Southeast New Mexico College recognizes that students may have terms in which they find themselves in a situation that is not optimal for their best academic performance. This academic forgiveness policy seeks to provide students with the means to recover from a challenging academic coursework by offering them the opportunity to ask for academic forgiveness for all or part of a previous terms (terms are in fall, spring, and summer). A student may need to exercise this option for several reasons. Past academic courses may have a negative effect on a student’s ability to reach their academic goals. The student may find a program that is suited to their ability, but the previous coursework continues to affect their overall GPA.   

Criteria: 

  1. Students will have the opportunity to retroactively remove all or part of their credit hours from their grade calculation in previous terms.  
  2. Only a grade of C+, C, C-, D+, D, D-, or F may be forgiven.  
  3. Academic Forgiveness can only be awarded once.  
  4. Forgiven courses will be shown on the transcript with a letter (X) in front of the letter grade.  These grades will not be included in the grade calculation.  
  5. Eligible students must be in the process of earning their first associate degree.  
  6. The student must have completed at least 15 credit hours at a 2.0 or higher GPA after the terms to be forgiven to be eligible to make the request. 
  7. Students who leave the college and return are eligible to apply for academic forgiveness but must complete 15 credit hours at a 2.0 or higher GPA.  
  8. Students must be currently enrolled to make the request.  
  9. The student must make the request prior to graduation.  
  10. If the term(s) to be forgiven is the next‐to‐last term completed for the degree, the student must make the request prior to finals week of the final term, and degree conferral may be delayed.  
  11. Only SENMC credit can be forgiven.  
  12. If a student chooses to retake a course that has been forgiven, the forgiven course will count as a previous attempt.  
  13. Students still need to meet Satisfactory Academic Progress for financial aid purposes.  
  14. Courses in which the student has violated Academic Dishonesty policies will not be forgiven.  

Procedure: 

  1. It is recommended that students first discuss the Academic Forgiveness request with their academic advisor.  
  2. If a student chooses to request academic forgiveness, the process is initiated in the Registrar’s Office with the appropriate form.  
  3. The Registrar’s Office will verify eligible classes and process the request.