Changing your course schedule can adversely affect your full-time status, financial aid eligibility, and ability to graduate in a timely manner. Please consult your academic advisor before making changes. You alone are responsible for knowing and following the policies, procedures and requirements in the University Bulletin.

Dropping and Adding Courses

Once you register for courses for a given semester, you can modify your class schedule through the end of the drop/add period (see the academic calendar for dates). A course that is “dropped” is removed from your schedule. The deletion is permanent. Your record will not reflect in any fashion that you were ever enrolled in a course that is dropped. Further, the dropped course has no impact on your grade-point average or the
semester hours attempted for the semester in question. There is no charge for a course that is dropped.

Dropping a course (without simultaneously adding one) has the potential for turning a full-time student into a part-time one; this can impact both your financial obligations and financial aid situation. A course that is “added” is, from that point forward, appended to the list of all other courses for which you have registered for the semester in question. Courses that are added (and not subsequently dropped) will (like all courses for which you register) show up on your transcript from that point forward, ultimately with some sort of grade attached.

Adding a course (without simultaneously dropping one) has the potential of creating an overload situation, for which approval is required and for which there will be an additional charge. The procedure for dropping and/or adding courses is very similar to the process of registration. Students who have been cleared for online registration should log on to Oasis and then select “Register and Drop Sections.” If you have not been cleared for online registration (including all students who are entering Oglethorpe for the first time) you should obtain and then fill out a drop/add form. The completed form must be submitted to Enrollment Services in the Hub by the close of business on the last day of the drop/add period.

Cancelled Courses

Occasionally courses may have to be canceled. While every effort is made to do this prior to the start of the semester, it sometimes happens that courses are cancelled after classes have begun. Any class cancellations are guaranteed to occur near the outset of the semester, so that there is ample opportunity for you to use the remainder of the drop/add period to make appropriate adjustments to your schedule for the given semester.

Withdrawals

For purposes of our withdrawal policy, the duration of any term is defined to be the number of days between the first day of classes and the last day of classes, excluding any reading (or “dead”) day and dedicated final examination days. The “withdrawal period” of the term in question is defined as the first 60 percent of the duration of that term.

Withdrawal from a Single Course

Once the drop/add period concludes, no additional courses can be added to your schedule. The only way to eliminate a single course is to withdraw from it. Unlike a dropped course, a course from which you withdraw will appear on your permanent transcript, accompanied by the grade of “W” (withdrew). Withdrawal from a course during a regular (fall or spring) semester necessarily means you remain registered for one or more other courses during the term in question. You are urged to consult with your primary academic advisor before withdrawing from courses.

From the conclusion of the drop/add period through the withdrawal period of the term, students wishing to withdraw from a course must complete and sign a withdrawal form. The signatures of your advisor, the instructor for the course, a financial aid officer and the registrar are all required (the latter two may be obtained in the Enrollment Services Hub); in certain cases, other signatures may also be needed. The completed and signed form must be returned to enrollment services in the Hub by close of business on the final day of the withdrawal period of the term.

In this case,you will receive the grade of “W” for the course. The “W” grade does not adversely affect your grade-point average. No credit is given for the course. Students who simply stop coming to a class without having executed the proper course withdrawal form within the mandated timeframe have not withdrawn from the course. All such students will be assigned a letter grade (“A” through “F”) for the course at its conclusion, and will not in any case be eligible to receive the grade of “W.” There is no reduction in tuition or fees associated with withdrawing from a single course. Course withdrawal forms received after the conclusion of the withdrawal period will neither be accepted nor processed. You may not withdraw from a single course after the conclusion of the withdrawal period.

For all official registration policies, please consult the university bulletin.