On Jan. 14, the News & Record wrote a story about why one in four students who are enrolled at A&T during the fall semester are currently on academic probation.On Jan. 17, Dr. Janice Brewington, interim provost and vice chancellor of academic affairs, held a press conference in the Dowdy Administration Building to address these issues.During the press conference, Brewington answered many questions concerning the validity of the findings within the News & Record article.”The numbers are accurate and we’ve done a systematic assessment and analysis of the numbers in relations to our probations, suspensions and dismissals,” Brewington said. “For the past year, we’ve been gathering data in a systematic fashion and when you do that and apply it to the policies and procedures, the numbers would increase.”According to the article and research that was conducted by the News & Record,there was a 376 percent increase of students on academic probation. The increase went from 374 students in the fall of 2005 to 1,779 in the following fall semester. Also, the percentage of students on academic suspension increased 467 percent in the fall of 2006, as compared to the fall of 2005, which went from 138 students to 783.Within the article, A&T was compared to such local schools of similar size as UNC-Greensboro and Winston-Salem State University. They were also compared to Florida A&M University, where A&T’s rate of academic suspension and probation was significantly higher than these three of these institutions.”It’s always a cause for concern when any student isn’t doing well and put on probation, suspension or dismissal. Our goal here as a university is to ensure that we are providing the services that students need. We need to be responsible as an institution, and in turn, the students should be responsible. It is this partnership in learning that makes the difference in terms of what happens to our students,” Brewington said.One thing that must be pointed out is that not all students are on probation due to poor performance in the classroom. Many students may have a great GPA, but may not be taking the recommended amount of hours in a given semester. In other words, many students who previously may have never been caught up in the issue of academic probation have currently found themselves in the midst.To make matters clear, students are placed on academic probation if they fail to pass a certain number of semester hours and meet a required GPA. Students have one semester to improve, or they will be suspended from the university for a semester. “Each student has an obligation to themselves to make sure that they are keeping up their academics,” said sophomore Veronica Harrison, a food science major.There are many reasons why students do not perform at the expected level.”There are a lot of students here that just don’t apply themselves and are here to only have fun,” said junior Joaquin Nelson, a business management major.Harrison also puts in her thoughts of application from students. “All of the time, I see people that go out and party every night and then the next night, they drive themselves crazy trying to study for a test that they have the following day,” she said. “We all have a clear vision of what we want for ourselves. We’re here in college and trying to better ourselves but half-stepping through this process won’t get you there.” Brewington is confident the numbers will turn around. She claims the administration is taking the necessary steps to ensure that it happens.”There could be a number of reasons as to why students may not be doing well, including work, family and personal issues,” she said. “The bottom line is that they are not doing well. We have several task forces in place to review our admissions and probations policies and procedures. This university is here to graduate and retain students. In spite of the numbers, we still have students who are doing well. We are a great institution and just as many positive things are being done here too.”