While it is the responsibility of the student to drop/withdraw from courses not being attended, St. Cloud Technical and Community College reserves the right to administratively drop/withdraw a student from enrolled courses.
Administrative Drops
The purpose of administrative drops during the first week of the term or the first business day after the course begins (whichever is later), is to limit the financial liability and academic consequences for the student and the financial liability for the institution. By the end of the add/drop period, faculty shall submit the names of students who have not attended class the first week to their division support staff. Faculty are not able to drop students on their own thus all drops are processed through the dean’s office or through records and registration. Students will be dropped in compliance with federal financial aid regulations.
For courses that begin after the first week of the semester, the names of students who have not attended must be submitted by the end of the first business day after the course begins.
Administrative Withdraws
After the drop deadline, upon notification by faculty of a student’s failure to attend, administrative withdrawal will be initiated. Failure to attend is defined as the following:
- Missing all scheduled meetings of a class within a two week timeframe (or equivalent) without contacting the faculty member.
- A period of two weeks (or equivalent) in a distance/internet course in which the faculty member has not received any communication or assignments from the student
Faculty will indicate the last date of attendance (LDA) via e-services as soon as possible after the two weeks have elapsed. If the last date of attendance falls after 80% of the instructional days of a course, no LDA shall be entered. The following grades will be system assigned when an LDA has been processed.
FN – Failure due to non-attendance. This grade is awarded to a student who never attended the course, but did not drop the course prior to the drop deadline. This grade does not affect GPA but does affect earned/attempted credits.
FW – Failure due to unofficial withdrawal. This grade is awarded to a student who did not officially withdraw from the course but stopped attending prior to the end of the term. This grade does not affect the GPA but does affect earned/attempted credits.
Students will receive a grade of W only for student initiated withdrawals. FW grades can be changed to a W if the student requests and if it is within the 80% withdraw period. However, the date entered by faculty will remain unchanged.
The student will remain responsible for any financial liability, less applicable refunds, they have incurred and for any academic consequences due to this administrative withdrawal. This requirement is based on regulations from the U.S. Department of Education governing financial aid and Return to Title IV funds. Students should consult with Financial Services for questions.
Policy References:
- S3.6 Add, Drop, & Withdrawal
- S3.21 Assigning and Changing Grades
- S3.29 Withdrawal from SCTCC