Friday deadline to withdraw from courses approaches
Kyle Alexander plans to withdraw from ENG 262: Masterpieces of European Literature because he is changing his major and no longer needs the credit.
The St. Charles sophomore will turn in one of about 2,000 individual course withdrawal cards expected to be submitted by 5 p.m. on Friday, when they are due.
“I’m changing my major to entrepreneurship,” Alexander said. “That class is really hard. I don’t want it to lower my GPA.”
Assistant Director of Records Kay Rice said the number is not unusual.
“In the fall semester there were 2,304 withdrawals,” Rice said. “Normally in spring there are a few less.”
To withdraw from a course, students must have their professors sign a withdrawal request card from the Student Services Court or Registrar’s Office. Cards must then be returned to either office.
Amber Loomis, manager of the Student Service Court, emphasized the importance of students speaking with student services advisers before returning their cards.
“It’s very important for a student to inquire as to what their financial aid implications are,” Loomis said. “If they aren’t meeting satisfactory progress, they may go on financial aid probation.”
Meeting satisfactory progress is necessary to receive most federal, state and university financial aid. She said satisfactory progress means completing 75 percent of credits attempted each year, fulfilling degree requirements within 150 percent of the minimum number of credit hours required to complete a program of study and maintaining the required cumulative grade point average set by that program of study.
Students not meeting the standard are warned before their financial aid is affected.
“It’s not an automatic suspension,” Loomis said.
Students receive no refund for individual withdrawals, and a “W” is placed on transcripts in place of a letter grade.
“It shows that the class was attempted, but it does not affect their GPA,” she said.
Rice said students should speak with their professors prior to deciding to withdraw.
“We emphasize that they need to talk to their instructor,” she said. “They could work something out with the instructor to do extra credit to help with their grade.”
