Current Students

Memo 6: Warning Notice and Learning Contract

A warning notice is issued for any nursing student who is doing less than satisfactory work in a School of Nursing (theory, seminar, clinical) course. A Warning Notice may be issued at any point in the quarter, but must be used for ANY student who is not meeting course objectives, is in danger of failing and/or who has less than a 2.0 grade (undergraduate students) or 2.7 grade (graduate students) at mid-quarter.

The warning notice has three parts:

  1. Warning notice: Using the Warning Notice form, outline which course objective(s) the student is not meeting and provide examples for each.
  2. Learning contract: On a separate piece of paper, outline what the student must do for the remainder of the quarter to pass the course; i.e., list all of your expectations and provide examples if necessary.
  3. Inform the course coordinator and your department chair of your intent to issue a warning notice.

Process for issuing a warning notice if the student attends an on-campus course

  1. The instructor meets with the student in a private space to discuss the student’s lack of progress in the course, go over the objective(s) not being met, and provides examples.
  2. The instructor presents the Warning Notice and the learning contract to the student.
  3. The instructor and the student review the learning contract.
  4. After discussion, the student signs the Warning Notice and learning contract. (The student’s signature documents that the student has had a chance to read and review the information; the signature does not indicate agreement with the substance of the Warning Notice.)
  5. Instructor and student plan to meet regularly throughout the remainder of the quarter to go over student progress until the student has successfully completed the course or has been informed of course failure.

Process for issuing a warning notice if the student is in an online-only course

  1. The instructor notifies the student via the student’s UW email address that a Warning Notice is being issued to them (with a learning contract) for unsatisfactory performance in meeting course objectives. The instructor is to attach the Warning Notice and contract to an email, copy themselves on the email, and request that the student contact the instructor for a telephone, Skype (or other), or in-person appointment. If the instructor uses MS Outlook for email, the instructor should request “read” and “delivery” receipts* as follows. (Instructors who do not use MS Outlook for email may skip steps 1-4 below and should send the Warning Notice and attached learning contract to the student with a copy to themselves and send the Warning Notice and learning contract by U.S. mail as in step 5 below same day.)
    1. Open MS Outlook as though you are composing and sending a new email.
    2. Go to the “Options” menu on the top row.
    3. Click to check both “Request a Delivery Receipt” and Request a Read Receipt.” (These are free and standard options for users of Outlook.)
    4. Send the email. As soon as you send the email, you’ll see messages bounce back to your email. One will be a receipt that it was delivered to you (when you cc yourself) and that it was read by you (once you open it). You don’t need to keep these receipts. The receipts that you should keep as documentation of delivery to the student are those that come back to your email when the warning notice email is delivered to the student’s email account and then when they read the email. (Please note that there is nothing that requires the student to check the box that acknowledges that they’ve received the email, so you may not get this second receipt if they read the email.)
    5. If the student does not acknowledge receipt of the email and attached Warning Notice within 24 hours, the instructor should send the Warning Notice and the learning contract via U.S. mail to the student’s address on file in the Office of Student and Academic Affairs with instructions to the student to contact the instructor for an appointment to discuss the Warning Notice and learning contract within three days of receipt.
    6. The student’s signature indicates that that the student has had a chance to read and, if possible, review the information with the instructor in person, by phone, or by other media access. The student signature does not indicate agreement with the substance of the Warning Notice, just receipt of same.
  2. The instructor schedules a conference to discuss concerns, get student input, review course objectives, and provide examples of objectives met and not met.
  3. The instructor discusses the learning contract detailing performance expectations and provides examples.
  4. The instructor requests that the student sign the Warning Notice and return it to the instructor via U.S. mail or through electronic means with a copy to themselves.
  5. Instructor and student shall have regular discussions through the remainder of the quarter to go over student progress until the student has successfully completed the course or has been informed of course failure

The instructor and student retain a copy of the original Warning Notice and learning contract. The original signed Warning Notice and learning contract are sent to the appropriate student adviser in the Office of Student and Academic Affairs. The materials will be placed in the student’s academic file. All warning notices and learning contracts are removed once the student graduates; they do not become part of the permanent file.

All students are encouraged to seek support through the Office of Student and Academic Affairs.

Reviewed December 2017