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Academic Advising and Registration


ACADEMIC ADVISING

For the most up-to-date advising information, students should refer to the Academic Advising website at http://www.uww.edu/advising/

ADVISING PHILOSOPHY

Advising is most effective when it is viewed as an ongoing process in which students and advisors work as partners. Students must conscientiously work with their advisors in order to develop comprehensive academic plans that lead to successful career planning. Ultimately, students have the responsibility for their own educational plans and for monitoring all requirements for graduation.

ADVISING RESPONSIBILITIES

STUDENTS are responsible for developing their educational plans by

ADVISORS are responsible for providing guidance to students by

THE UNIVERSITY is responsible for guiding students to achieve their academic goals by

ADVISING STRUCTURE

All students who are new to the campus (new freshmen and new transfers) must participate in an Orientation, Advising and Registration program. At this program, students will be advised for their first term at UW-Whitewater.

Students admitted under the “special student” classification and online-only students are not required to attend the orientation program or to seek advising assistance.

Readmitted students should contact their assigned academic advisor or the appropriate advising location.

For ongoing advising, freshmen students (students with less than 24 units) and students who have yet to declare a major will be assigned advisors at the Academic Advising and Exploration Center. (Freshmen, transfer, and continuing students in the College of Arts and Communication majoring in Art, Music, Theater/Dance, or Multimedia Digital Arts will be assigned a faculty advisor in their major department.)

After reaching sophomore status (24 units), students who have declared a major will be assisted by advisors within their college or by a faculty advisor within their major department.

Students should contact their advisors for help with course selections, managing academic concerns, and career planning. Students are encouraged to discuss program options such as study abroad, as well as internships or other related work experiences.

Advising Locations:

Arts and Communication (Center of the Arts 2029, 472-1934)

http://www.uww.edu/cac/resources/students/advising.html

Business and Economics (Hyland 4300, 472-4900)

http://www.uww.edu/cobe/undergrad/advising/index.html

Education & Professional Studies (Winther 2003, 472-1585)

http://www.uww.edu/coe/advising/undergrad/

Letters and Sciences (White 122, 472-1550)

http://www.uww.edu/cls/advising/

Minority Business and Teacher Preparation (Hyland 4302B, 472-3216)

There are many services to assist students with both academic and non-academic concerns. Please review other sections of this Catalog, or visit the UWW website at http://www.uww.edu/students/.

ADVISING INFORMATION

The Advisement Report (AR) is the official advising instrument. The AR includes an unofficial transcript followed by a match of a student’s academic course history against a prescribed set of degree program requirements. These requirements are based upon the requirement term on a student’s record, which is based on the date of declaration, and the requirement term of the requirements on the curriculum file. Students can access their AR on the UWW WINS Student Administration System.

Although the AR will match courses to requirements, it may not monitor all policies related to a student’s academic program. Students are responsible for understanding the policies that affect their degree by consulting the University Catalog and by working with the academic advising services as listed above.

DECLARING OR CHANGING A MAJOR OR MINOR

Students with fewer than 24 units (except Art, Music, and Theatre majors), as well as all undeclared students, process major changes at the Academic Advising & Exploration Center in Roseman 2054.

Students with 24 units or more (declared majors) and all arts majors should begin the process at the department office of their major and then take the form and advising file (if available) to the department office of the new major. (The AAEC in Roseman 2054 is the department office for undeclared students.)

Business majors, except freshmen, start at the Assistant Dean’s Office in the College of Business and Economics (Hyland 4300).

REGISTRATION

Official registration for any session is accomplished only after students have (1) been admitted and granted permission to register, (2) obtained advising as determined by the major department, and (3) completed the process via the WINS Registration system. Students may not attend a course/section without properly registering for it or adding it to their class schedules.

ACADEMIC LEVEL

A student’s academic level is determined by the cumulative number of units satisfactorily completed, as follows:

	      Freshman	       0 -23.9 units
	      Sophomore	       24-59.9 units
	      Junior		       60-89.9 units
	      Senior		       90 units or more

SCHEDULE OF CLASSES

Published each term by the Registrar’s Office, the Schedule of Classes includes all policies, procedures, courses offered with their requisites, and other information pertinent to registration.

ADD/DROP

Students who participate in priority registration may make schedule changes via the online WINS Registration System through the deadline dates. The last day to add a 17-week course is the sixth day of classes. The last day to add a short course (or 8-week course) is the second class period. Students must have written approval of the dean of the course to add a class after the deadline has passed. Additionally, the University reserves the right to close registration before the deadline if its enrollment capacity has been reached.

Students may drop courses through the sixth week of the Fall/Spring term. Short-term courses may be dropped through Friday of the week in which 33% of the course is completed. Drops must be done through the WINS Registration System. Note the fee reduction schedule for dropped courses in the Schedule of Classes, as there may be a charge for any course dropped after the first week of classes.

A “W” grade will appear on student academic records (transcripts) for all courses dropped after the tenth day of instruction. This “W” grade notation will also appear on the records of students who withdraw from the University after the tenth day. The fifth day of classes will be the deadline for short-term courses and for Summer term courses.

Students will be held responsible for the completion of all courses for which they are registered unless they officially withdraw from the University or officially drop the course(s) by the proper procedures. Students who never attend or stop attending a course are responsible for dropping that course.

COURSE REQUISITES

Prerequisite (prereq): Requirements that need to be met before taking a particular course. For example, ENGLISH 101 is a prereq of ENGLISH 102.

Corequisite (coreq): A course that must be completed prior to, or during the same term, as another course. For example, BIOLOGY 120 has a coreq of MATH 141.

Unrequisite (unreq): A course for which credit cannot be earned because the content overlaps with the specified course. For example, HISTRY 355 has an unreq of RELIGST 355.

ACADEMIC LOAD

The average minimum course load to graduate in eight Fall/Spring terms is 15 unit hours. A maximum of 18 units may be taken if students are in good standing. There is a 12-unit maximum for all students in Summer term and a 6-unit maximum for special students without credentials during the regular terms. Students will be limited to 15 units per Fall/Spring term if they have less than a 2.00 grade point average or are admitted on probation. Permission of the dean of the college in which students are enrolled must be received before they can carry more than the maximum units allowed according to their academic standing.

UW SYSTEM STANDARD FOR WORK PER UNIT

The UW System standard for work per unit (credit) is that students are expected to invest at least 3 hours of combined in-class and out-of-class work per week for each academic unit (credit) of coursework. Thus, a 3-credit course will typically require a minimum of 9 hours of work per week (144 hours per semester).

EXCESS CREDIT POLICY

The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents Excess Credits Policy requires that resident undergraduate students who earn more than 165 credits toward their first undergraduate degree pay a surcharge for all credits beyond 165. The surcharge will approximately double the tuition that resident undergraduates pay and will be applied to students in the term following the one in which they reached the earned credit limit .

The Excess Credits Policy covers all earned credits from UW-Whitewater as well as earned credits from other UW System schools or Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS) schools that are accepted toward the first baccalaureate degree. Credits transferred from other colleges outside the UW System or the WTCS do not count toward the 165-credit limit. In addition, advanced placement, retroactive credits, credits by examination, and remedial credits do not count toward this limit.

COURSE REPEAT POLICY

UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS

The privilege of repeating coursework allows students to retake courses in which they initially encountered difficulties. A course can be repeated only once. Students may not take the same course for credit and grade replacement more than once unless the course is identified in the Undergraduate Catalog as “Repeatable.” If a course is identified in the Catalog as repeatable, the limitations on the number of times or maximum number of credits may be applied to the major/minor, degree or graduation credits will be indicated.

UW-Whitewater does not guarantee the right to repeat any course. Courses may be deactivated, discontinued, or offered on a different schedule.

Repeating Courses for Grade and Credit Replacement

A course in which a grade of C- or below (C-, D+, D, D-, F or NC) was originally earned may be repeated once for grade and earned credit replacement. The grade and credits earned for the repeated course will replace those earned in the initial attempt when calculating grade point average and credits toward degree. For example, if a student repeats a course in which a grade of D was earned and receives a B in the repeat, only the B and the credits earned in the repeat will be included in the GPA and credits toward the degree; if the student receives an F, only the F will be included in the GPA and the student loses the credits for the course. Students may not repeat for credit or grade replacement any course in which they earned a grade of C or higher, or S (see REPEAT FOR NO CREDIT explanation below).

The following conditions apply to repeats for grade and earned credit replacement:

  1. Unless the repeat courses are offered S/NC only, all repeats must be taken on a conventional grade basis.
  2. Courses taken initially at UW-Whitewater may be repeated only at UW-Whitewater. They may not be taken at another institution to replace the UW-Whitewater grade and credit.
  3. Students may repeat a C- grade or below that was earned at a transfer institution if the course has a direct UW-Whitewater equivalent and the course was attempted only once prior to transfer to UW-Whitewater. Students who repeat a transfer course will receive UW-Whitewater course credits regardless of the number of credits the course carried at the transfer institution; for example, a student repeating a 4-credit transfer course with a 3-credit UW-Whitewater course will receive only the 3 UW-Whitewater credits. All other repeat regulations apply.
  4. A student may not repeat a course if the student has received credit for a higher level course in the same department for which the course to be repeated is a prerequisite or corequisite. For example, a student who has received credit for English 102 may not repeat English 101.
  5. In courses in which there has been a change in the number of credits awarded, a repeat for grade replacement will replace the credits and grade from the first attempt with the credits and grade for the repeat. For example, in a course that had changed from 5 credits to 4 credits, a 5-credit D would be replaced by a 4-credit B.
  6. If a student officially drops or withdraws from a repeat course, the original enrollment attempt’s grade and earned credits will be reinstated or remain in the student’s term and cumulative calculations.

All attempts of repeated courses, including the grades, remain on academic records and transcripts even though they may not be included in the GPA calculation or earned credits. Students should be aware that graduate schools and other institutions to which they might wish to transfer may not accept repeats and may include all grades in calculating GPA for admission.

Student athletes, veterans and international students should check with the appropriate UW-W school officials before repeating courses as it may affect their eligibility or financial benefits.

Appeal for Third Attempt of a Course

Students who wish to enroll in a third attempt of a course must file an approved university appeal. Contact the Registrar’s Office ((262)472-1570 or registrar@uww.edu) in Roseman 2032 for information about the appeal process.

Repeat for No Credit

Under certain circumstances, students may need to repeat courses in which a C grade or above was earned. For example, a student may need to repeat a course if a grade of B is required for the student to proceed to a higher level course or to remain in a major. In such cases, repeat grades will be considered only as qualifying students to continue, and the repeats will not be counted for grade replacement or earned credit. All enrollment attempts will be recorded on academic records and transcripts, with the non-credit attempts identified as No Credit.

GRADUATE STUDENTS

Graduate students are allowed to repeat at most two courses in their degree programs. Courses may be repeated only once. When a course is repeated, the original course and grade remain on the transcript; however, the last grade and units earned replace the original and are the only ones used in computing the overall grade point average and the grade point average in the major or emphasis. Students who have been dropped from a degree program may not use the course repeat process to gain readmission into that degree program.

A course taken for undergraduate credit may not later be changed to graduate credit. Courses taken for undergraduate credit may not be taken for graduate credit, although exceptions may be granted by the degree program coordinator when the field of knowledge has changed to the degree that the course content has changed substantially from the first time the student took the course to the present. Graduate courses may not be retaken unless indicated otherwise in the Graduate Catalog.

AUDITING COURSES

Students who wish to audit courses must obtain the audit registration form from the Registrar’s Office, acquire the instructor’s written approval (and, in some cases, the department’s), and return the completed form to the Registrar’s Office by the published deadline to add classes. Students registering for audit courses may do so on a space-available basis and cannot change the courses to graded basis during the term of enrollment. Off-campus courses, College of Business and Economics courses, and Distance Education courses cannot be audited. Auditing of Department of Art and Design courses may be limited.

For purposes of audit, there are two categories of students per UW-System policy: (1) students who are taking courses on an audit-only basis, with no courses for credit, and (2) students who are taking a combination of courses for credit and courses for audit.

Audit-Only Enrollees

Students who are auditing courses only may do so under the following stipulations:

  1. Wisconsin residents (Wis Stats 36-27 (2)) will pay 30% of the normal per unit resident academic fee, and non-residents will pay 50% of the normal non-resident fee per the fee chart. No audit fees will be assessed disabled Wisconsin residents who are receiving federal old age survivors and disability insurance benefits (OASDI) under 42 USC 401 to 433, or Wisconsin residents age 60 or over.
  2. Students will register on a space-available basis with departmental permission in the week immediately prior to the start of classes. Remedial English (ENGLISH 090) and mathematics (MATH 040 and MATH 041) may not be taken as audit-only.
    Note: Auditing of Department of Art and Design courses may be restricted. See department for restrictions.
  3. Any special course fees other than the normal tuition charges will be assessed and paid by the student.
  4. Students registering under this option cannot change their courses to a credit grade basis during the term of enrollment.
  5. An audit (X) symbol will be recorded on the academic record provided the instructor reports satisfactory attendance.
  6. A fee of approximately $2.50 per unit will be assessed for required texts.
  7. Access to University services will be limited to the library and to non-segregated fee funded activities of the University Center. A special identification card will be issued for auditors which will permit this limited access.
  8. Regent, University, and Student Government regulations applying to other students will apply equally to audit-only enrollees.

Audit and Unit Combination Enrollees

Students who are taking a combination of courses for regular credit and for audit will pay the regular fees for all units based upon the fee chart. The following stipulations will also apply:

  1. The decision to audit must be finalized and recorded by the tenth day of classes for 16 or 17-week courses and by the end of the second class day for shorter courses.
  2. No units will be granted for the audit course, but an audit (X) symbol will appear on the academic record, provided the instructor reports satisfactory attendance.
  3. The audit course may be repeated for units in another term.
  4. Audits do not count as units for either veteran benefit certification or financial aid consideration.

SENIORS TAKING GRADUATE COURSES

UW-Whitewater undergraduate students with senior status may be allowed to complete up to 9 graduate units at UW-Whitewater, provided they have completed at least 90 units with at least a 2.75 overall grade point average (or 2.90 over the last half of their course work), have the written recommendation of the department chairperson of their undergraduate major, and have a graduate application on file in the Graduate Studies Office. Students may download this form at http://www.uww.edu/gradstudies/application.php.

Eligibility for this privilege must be established with the Graduate Studies Office and is not available to seniors at other institutions or to students who already possess a bachelor’s degree. Seniors may not use graduate-level units to satisfy requirements for the bachelor’s degree, and undergraduate fees will be charged for their graduate-level work.

LATE ADDS/DROPS

An undergraduate student with extenuating circumstances that merit an appeal for a late add or late drop may petition for such at the department of the course. The approval of the course instructor, the chair of the course, and the dean of the college of the course is required for a late add, and the approval of the course instructor, the chair of the course, and the dean of the college of the student’s major is required for a late drop (Important note: for a late drop, if the student is a veteran, international student, or a student athlete, related signatures as noted on the form are required). The Late Add and Late Drop forms are available at the department offices.

WITHDRAWAL FROM THE UNIVERSITY

Students who find it necessary to withdraw from all courses and leave the University during a term or session should contact the Registrar’s office to initiate a withdrawal. The contact can be done in one of the following three ways: