Two extra weeks and streamlined approval to drop a course
Say goodbye to running around with a small sheet of paper searching for signatures and hello to a streamlined, online process for dropping courses during the semester. The Registrar’s office Add/Drop policy was modified for the first time in 14 years, moving the deadline to drop a class with a ‘W’ grade from the end of week ten to the end of week 12. The Dean of Students worked with the Registrar to streamline the approval process for dropping courses. The new process to drop a course after the census date is completed through the Drop Course card in the Academics tab of Experience. Each drop request will automatically be routed to the appropriate approvers. The online procedure will at minimum require academic advisor approval for undergraduate students and Graduate School approval for graduate students. Additional approvers may be automatically added to provide students with more information on how dropping courses may impact their fulfillment of graduation requirements, scholarships, and student visas.
Dean of Students Kellie Raffaelli said, “the point behind changing [the policy] was to give students more time to make informed decisions.” Raffaelli also cited benchmarking across the state as a motivation for bringing the Add/Drop modification Proposal 33-36 to the University Senate. She initially brought her concern with the Add/Drop policy to the Student Success Council, composed of faculty and staff across campus, and student representatives. After benchmarking, it was found that the week ten deadline was early compared to the week 12 average across other Michigan universities. Raffaelli stated the policy change “makes the process so much more informed, and it protects the student…so, they don’t do something that will hurt them later.” When asked about foreseen challenges with the new drop policy, Raffaelli stated she predicts “getting the word” will be the largest challenge.
The course drop policy modification included the removal of instructor approval for first-year students to drop a course. First-year students now require advisor approval to drop courses beginning the first day of the semester until the end of week 12. All other students require academic advisor or Graduate School approval to drop a course after the census date.
Beyond advisors and the Graduate School, additional approvals may be required. This was an intentional addition to the policy to close knowledge gaps for athletes, international students, and students with scholarships dependent on credit load. Because scholarships can be impacted by course drops, relevant offices will be automatically added to the routing process to ensure no student inadvertently loses a scholarship. Additionally, dropping a course can violate student visas for international students, so additional approvals may be added to ensure students have knowledge of how dropping a course impacts their national status.
Raffaelli said the Add/Drop policy change formed from her goal as the Dean of Students to “reduce the runaround for students.” She encourages students to reach out to her with feedback on processes that create barriers and undue burden that should be investigated and changed. Reach out to Kellie Raffaelli by email at deanofstudents@mtu.edu. For more information on the Add/Drop processes, visit the Registrar’s “Add or Drop a Course” webpage. For further insight on the modifications made to the policy, see the University Senate Policy 301.1 webpage.
