UW-Washington County : Academic Policies

Each course is assigned a number of credit hours. Credit is measured in semester hours. A credit of one semester hour usually represents one hour of lecture or two hours of laboratory or studio per week. You should expect to spend two to three hours each week outside of class in preparation and study for each credit.

Credit Load
Freshmen and sophomores may enroll in up to 18 credits during the fall or spring semester. High school special students will be limited to six credits per semester. Credit restrictions may also be imposed on students who are designated as high risk and/or are enrolled in remedial course work. Students are allowed to enroll in a maximum of nine credits during summer session, whether in an eight-week session and/or any combination of shorter sessions. The maximum credit load for a four-week session is four credits. The approval of the Student Services Office or the advisor is required to enroll in more than the maximum number of credits.

Non-Degree Credit
Some courses are offered for non-degree credit. Examples are Math 081 and 091, which are high school geometry and algebra. Such courses will not be counted toward the Associate of Arts and Science degree and are not used in determining a grade point average for any purpose. However, non-degree credits will count in determining whether a student has completed sufficient course work to maintain satisfactory academic progress, and for financial aid purposes.

Zero Credit Courses
Some courses are offered for zero degree credit. If you take a zero credit course, a grade will be recorded. You are expected to do all assigned work in the course. Zero credit courses count as one credit for fee purposes.

30 Credit Rule
If your scores on the English or mathematics placement tests indicate that you must enroll in remedial course work, UW policy requires that you successfully complete the remedial course(s) before you earn a total of 30 credits. In addition, you may be required to limit the number of credits carried while you are enrolled in remedial courses.

Pass/Fail
You may enroll in elective courses on a pass/fail basis. This option allows you to explore a field or subject without being concerned about the letter grade you earn. Courses to be applied to the Associate of Arts and Science degree core and general education requirements may not be taken on a pass/fail basis. Students undecided about a major should not take courses on a pass/fail basis because these courses might later become part of major requirements. Many universities do not permit pass/fail courses to count toward meeting major or general studies requirements. Instructors assign final grades of S (pass) and U (fail) for courses taken on a pass/fail basis. The results of any pass/fail course will not affect your grade point average (GPA).

A student may take only one pass/fail course in any semester, including summer session. You may elect two such courses as a freshman and two such courses as a sophomore. You must decide whether to take a pass/fail course during the time period allowed for adding a course. You may not change a course either to or from pass/fail after the deadline for adding a course. Instructors in non-degree credit courses listed in the catalog and instructors in lecture forum (LEC) courses in the catalog may grade an entire class on a pass/fail basis. If that is the case, it will be indicated in the campus Course Schedule.

Auditing
You may, with the consent of the instructor, audit a course. As an auditor, you will not take exams nor have any course work evaluated by the instructor. You may not be allowed to audit a course if your presence will result in additional classroom space requirements or increased instruction costs.

Audited courses carry no degree credit, do not count toward your GPA, and do not count toward full-time attendance for purposes such as certification for Social Security or Veterans Administration benefits. They also do not count for purposes of financial aid eligibility.

You may change from audit to credit status during the same period allowed for adding a course, and you may change from credit to audit during the period allowed for dropping a course. You may take a previously audited course for credit.

Repeating Courses
You may repeat courses to improve your grade point average (GPA) or to improve your foundation of knowledge before taking succeeding courses in a discipline. A student may not repeat a course after having completed a succeeding course in the discipline. A ²succeeding course is one that lists the course the student wishes to repeat as a prerequisite. Exemptions to the policy may be granted by the Director of Student Services. There is no limit to the number of times you may repeat a course, but all attempts and the resulting grades earned will appear on your transcript. If you repeat a course to improve your GPA, you must so indicate when registering. In this case, only the most recent credits attempted and the grades earned are used to compute your GPA. Courses repeated at institutions other than UW-WC will not affect a student's UW-WC grade point average.

Students should be aware that some institutions will average the grades of all courses attempted when computing a GPA for transfer admission purposes.

If you do not indicate that a course is a repeat, all credits attempted and grades earned are used to compute your GPA. Ordinarily, courses you repeat will not be counted twice toward the credits necessary to earn your associate degree. For example, if you take HIS 101 twice for three credits each time, you will have earned only three credits toward your degree. Orchestra and Chorus are examples of courses you can take for degree credit more than one time.

Consult the campus Student Services Office if you plan to repeat a course, especially if you are receiving Veterans Administration or Social Security benefits.

Grading System
Semester grades are recorded by letter only. Each letter grade equals a certain number of grade points per credit. For example, a grade of B in a three-credit subject equals nine grade points as illustrated by the following scale of grades and grade points:

Grade Point Average (GPA)
The quality of your work is indicated by your grade point average (GPA). The highest possible GPA is 4.0, representing an A grade in each course attempted; the lowest GPA, 0.0, represents an F grade in every course attempted. Your GPA is determined by dividing the total number of grade points earned by the total number of credits attempted.

Courses in which you received a grade of CO, IA, I, R, S, U or W are not counted when determining your GPA. If you complete a course in which you originally received a grade of I, the credits and points associated with the new grade will be included in your GPA.

Dean's List
A Dean's List is published each semester to honor students with high GPAs. Dean's List Honors will be awarded to full-time students carrying at least 12 semester credits used to determine GPAs as detailed below. Dean's List Honors will be awarded to part time students who have earned at least 15 credits with a cumulative average of 3.5 and who carry a minimum of three semester credits used in determining the GPA, and earn a semester GPA as detailed below. Honors will be awarded to full-time students carrying fewer than 12 semester GPA credits who meet the conditions described for part-time students. Part-time status will be identified on the Dean's List. You may request that your name be deleted from the public announcement of the Dean's List.

Incompletes
An Incomplete (I) may be recorded if you carried a passing grade in a class until near the end of the semester and then, because of substantiated cause beyond your control, were unable to take the final exam or complete a limited amount of term work. It is the student¥s responsibility to request an Incomplete or to consult with the instructor regarding the possibility of receiving an Incomplete.

In addition to submitting an Incomplete, the instructor also will submit a grade to be recorded as a permanent grade in the course if you fail to remove the Incomplete. The tentative grade is recorded by the instructor on the final grade sheet for a class along with the grade of I. You are responsible for consulting with your instructor about the work to be completed. The instructor will file a detailed report of the work to be completed to allow you to finish the course. The format of the report and the filing place are determined by Student Services. You must remove the Incomplete before the end of the next semester. If you and your instructor agree, an exception to the time limit may be made in writing to the campus Student Services Office. If you do not remove the Incomplete within the time limit, it will be replaced by the tentative grade indicated by your instructor on the final grade sheet.

Mid Term and Final Grades
Mid-term grades will be made available through your academic advisor informing you of your progress, usually by the end of the ninth week of the semester.

Final grades must be reported by your instructor within four working days after the final exam. A final grade report will be mailed to you at the end of the semester and/or summer session. Notification of any probationary or suspension action will be on the grade report.

Academic Standing
You are expected to maintain quality standards of academic achievement in your course work. Quality is measured by both semester and cumulative GPA.

Certain exceptions are allowed for part-time students but unless otherwise stated, part-time students are expected to meet the same standards of academic achievement as other students.

Good standing is the status assigned when your semester and cumulative GPA is 2.0 or higher.

Probation and final probation are the statuses assigned when your academic progress is inadequate as determined by semester and/or cumulative GPA.

Academic suspension is the status assigned when your record of achievement is unacceptable to the extent that continued enrollment at UW-BC is not permitted.

For more information on Academic Standing visit the UW Colleges website.

Grade Point Requirements and Actions
The three factors used to determine a student's standing include:

Standing	Guidelines
Good Standing	A semester GPA of 1.5 to 1.999 will result in probation.
Good Standing	A semester GPA lower than 1.499 will result in final probation. Action on a part-time student will be withheld until at least 6 credits have been attempted in the UW Colleges.

Probation	A semester and cumulative GPA of 2.0 will result in a return to good standing.
	A semester GPA of 2.0 or better but less than 2.0 cumulative GPA will result in a continuation of probation.
	A semester GPA of 1.5 to 1.999 will result in final probation.
	A semester GPA of less than 1.5 will result in suspension.
	A student admitted to the UW Colleges on probation must earn a 2.00 GPA on a minimum of 15 GPA credits attempted in the UW Colleges in order to attain good standing.

Final Probation	A semester and cumulative GPA of 2.0 or better will result in a return to good standing.
	A semester GPA of 2.0 or better but less than a 2.0 cumulative GPA will result in continuation of final probation.
	A semester GPA less than 2.0 semester GPA will result in a suspension.
	A student admitted to the UW Colleges on final probation must earn a 2.0 GPA on a minimum of 15 credits attempted in the UW Colleges in order to attain good standing.