September 26, 2019Deadline to drop a course is Tuesday, Oct. 8
If you haven't yet done so, now is the time to touch base with your advisees and see how they are doing with their courses this semester. Tuesday, Oct. 8 is the deadline for students to drop a course without receiving a “W” on their transcript. As a result, you may be hearing from students who are struggling with whether or not to drop a course.
Students' first thoughts may be to just drop the course, but there are several reasons to consider dropping the last option. Remind them that often the best route is to improve as they progress through the course rather than close the avenues to learning early on.
As you meet with your advisees, here are a few topics to discuss. - First, check that they will still have at least 12 credits for the semester if they drop the course in question. If not, make sure they have taken steps to find another course to get to 12 credits and are writing a petition for late add. Remind them that they must work with their Class Dean on this process. Class deans have posted resources on the class blogs to help students identify 1-2-credit “short courses” that may not be too late to add. One of the "short
courses" options is offered by the School for International & Public Affairs (SIPA), although not recommended for First-Year students. Search The SIPA Catalogue or the SIPA page of the CU Directory of Classes for 1-1.5-credit courses. Students will need to contact both the instructor and their academic adviser for approval. Chair of Political Science, Kimberly Marten, has reviewed the list of SIPA short courses and approved the ones appropriate for Barnard students on this form: Approved Fall 2019 SIPA Short Courses. The student should forward both approvals to registrar@barnard.edu and a Registrar’s Office staff member will need to manually register the student for the SIPA class.
- Please note that enrollment in fewer than 12 credits is generally only approved as a disability accommodation. Students who believe they have a compelling reason to drop below 12 credits, should consult with the Center for Accessibility Resources and Disability Accommodations (CARDS).
- All students who are taking PE or Dance to fulfill their PE requirement this semester should by now have these classes listed
on their schedule as 1 credit; if any advisees have 0 credits listed where you/they expect 1 credit, please encourage them to contact the Registrar ASAP to address this.
- Ask students if they have been accessing appropriate resources. Have they sought out (free) tutoring through the Dean of Studies Office? Have they been going to office hours? Have they been seeing the TA and/or the professor on a regular basis? If your advisee is interested in securing a peer tutor, ask them to write to peertopeer@barnard.edu.
- You can also ask students if they are enrolled in the wrong level within a subject. For example, if
the student is currently enrolled in Calculus III and needs to drop down to Calculus I, it’s still possible to switch as long as the professors of both courses approve the change. This needs to be done quickly though – so have your students contact the professors as soon as possible, and pick up the section change form from the Registrar's Office.
- Finally, if your students do decide to drop a class, remind them it cannot be done online and that you as their Adviser must sign the form. The forms are available for them to pick up from the Registrar's Office. We know your advisees may just ask if they can drop off a form for your signature or have their Class Dean sign, but as you know, the purpose of the form is to increase the likelihood that the students will have the benefit of your advice in making their
decisions. Your signature is required for the drop course form; a dean’s signature is not necessary. Once you approve the dropped class and have signed their form, students must then return the form to the Registrar's Office. Again, make certain that dropping the course does not take them below 12 credits.
- One final deadline to note – Thursday, Nov. 14 is the deadline for students to withdraw from a course, but the course and a "W" will appear on their transcript. This is also the same deadline for students to elect the P/D/F option for a course this semester. The P/D/F election option in the portal will open on October 1.
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