Students
LAS Student Handbook
- Admission to LAS
- Majors & Minors
- Degree Requirements
- Course Guidelines
- Academic Standing
- Attendance & Withdrawals
- Graduation
- Dates & Deadlines
- Advising & Support
Student Enrichment
Careers and Extracurricular Development
Student Activities and Forms
Adds, Changes, Drops
Adding Courses | Changing Course Sections | Dropping Courses | Repeating Courses | Auditing or Visiting Courses | Holds
Adding Courses
Students may add new courses during the first two weeks of the semester, subject to eligibility, space availability, and the policy governing maximum course load. Normally, students may not add courses after the first two weeks of the semester. The exceptions are 199 or 290 courses, which may be added through the fifth week of classes, and courses taught during the second eight weeks of the semester, which may be added through the ninth week.
Changing Course Sections
Students may change sections of the same course subject to the policies of the department offering the course. Changing course sections should be completed as early in the semester as possible. Section changes are made through the student registration system.
Dropping Courses
Students may drop courses not required for graduation by University or LAS regulations without penalty during the first eight weeks of the semester, provided the drop does not reduce the student's course credits to fewer than 12 hours (see above). For courses less than 16 weeks in length and unless otherwise indicated, students may drop the course until its mid-point without penalty. Course adds and drops are made through the student registration system.
Since ample time is allowed for dropping courses, no exceptions to the midterm drop deadline are granted by the college except by petition and for extraordinary circumstances beyond a student's control (such as medical or other emergency reasons) which can be documented independently. For information on late drop petitions, consult LAS Student Academic Affairs.
Repeating Courses
Students who have earned a grade of D- or better in a course may repeat a course but may not earn additional credit toward graduation by repeating the course. Students who repeat the course and earn a passing grade forfeit the credit previously earned. Students who repeat the course and then earn an F do retain credit earned from the previous attempt. In both cases, the original grade remains on the student record, plus the original and subsequent grades are included in the grade-point average if the course is acceptable toward graduation.
Students may also repeat a course in which they have earned an F. The F is not removed from the record and both grades are used in computing the GPA. For further details, consult the Student Code.
Auditing or Visiting Courses
Students who would like to visit classes as a listener without participating in any of the exercises and without receiving credit must have the approval of the instructor and the dean of the college concerned. Additional information is available in § 3-305 of the Student Code regarding rules applying to registration as a visitor. Written approval must be obtained on an official visitor's permit, available at the LAS Student Academic Affairs Office.
Holds
Sometimes advisor consultation and approvals are required.
- An advising hold may be placed on any student's record if LAS Student Academic Affairs or your department finds it necessary to confer with the student regarding degree status and/or their academic program.
- A College Hold (CH) requires that students seek administrative assistance and meet with an academic advisor or college dean in LAS Student Academic Affairs before making any change in their current course schedule or advance registering for a subsequent semester.
A College Hold placed as a result of an auditing of a student's record at the end of the term must be cleared no later than 4:40 p.m. on the last working day before the next semester begins, or the student risks having classes dropped.