Advising Program & Course Registration
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Each student has an academic advisor whose role is to counsel regarding registration procedures, course selections, academic requirements, and regulations. The student is expected to obtain the advisor’s counsel and approval before registration, withdrawal, election of pass/fail option, and/or change in credit/audit status.
On entering Lebanon Valley College, students indicate that they are exploratory (undeclared) or declare a desired major with approval of the department chair or program director. Exploratory majors must make a formal declaration by the time they have completed 60 credit hours.
Students are classified academically at the beginning of each year. Membership in the sophomore, junior, or senior classes is granted to students who have earned a minimum of 28, 56, or 84 credit hours, respectively.
Students are required to register for courses on designated days of each term. Priority is given to degree or certificate-seeking students. Undergraduate registration occurs in order of class standing to ensure enrollment in courses required to satisfy graduation requirements.
Change of registration, including pass/fail elections, changes of course credit hours, changes from credit to audit and vice versa, must be approved by the advisor. In most instances, registration for a course shall not be permitted after the Add/Drop Period.
Semester registration deadlines. For a 15-week semester, the first week of classes constitutes the Add/Drop Period. Unless indicated otherwise on the academic calendar, undergraduate students must submit registration changes by the close of business (4:30pm) on the first Friday of the semester. Graduate students must submit registrations changes by 11:50pm on the first Sunday of the semester.
Accelerated course registration deadlines. For courses meeting fewer than 15 weeks, students may only add a course after the term start date with permission of the instructor and the Registrar. Students may drop an accelerated course according to the following schedule:
- Courses meeting 5 weeks or more: by 11:59pm on the first Sunday of the term.
- Courses meeting 3-4 weeks: by 11:59pm on third day of the term.
- Courses meeting fewer than 3 weeks: by 11:59pm on first day of the term.
Course withdrawal. With the permission of the advisor, a student may withdraw from a course during the first 10 weeks of a 15-week semester or, for other course lengths, during the first two-thirds of the course. However, undergraduate students in their first semester at LVC (or, for accelerated courses, in their first session) may withdraw from a course at any time through the last day of a class with permission of the advisor. See the academic calendar for specific dates.
A fee is charged for every course added at the student’s request after the publicized Add/Drop Period. A grade of “W” is recorded when withdrawing from a course. Failure to give notice of withdrawal to the Registrar’s Office will result in a grade of “F.” Notifying the instructor does not constitute official withdrawal.
Full-time status for 15-week semester courses. Students who drop below full-time status (below 12 credits for undergraduates and below 9 credits for graduates) during the Add/Drop Period will be re-billed as part-time students. Resident students who drop to part-time must have the permission of the Associate Dean of Student Affairs to remain in campus housing. Other considerations regarding financial aid, academic progress, and health insurance must be made before dropping to part-time status.
Full-time students who drop courses after the publicized Add/Drop Period in a 15-week semester will not have their status changed to part-time. However, consideration must be given to academic progress and future eligibility for financial aid.
Students may register to audit courses with the approval of their academic advisor and the instructor. Courses may be audited on a space-available basis. Audited courses are counted in considering the course load relative to the limit of hours and may result in an overload charge for full-time students. No credit is given for an audited course, but the audit will be recorded on the transcript with a grade of “AU” if the student attends regularly. If the student does not attend regularly, they will be withdrawn from the course with a grade of “W.” A change of registration by undergraduate students from credit to audit or from audit to credit, with the approval of the instructor and the advisor, must be accomplished during the first 10 weeks of a 15-week semester or, for other course lengths, during the first two-thirds of the course. Graduate students must obtain approval of the program director to audit a course and may make this change no later than the last day to add a course.
An undergraduate student may elect to take up to two courses per term on a pass/fail basis; however, only six such elected courses can be counted toward graduation requirements. In addition to courses elected to be pass/fail, students are permitted to count courses designated as pass/fail, which are required within a major or minor. Except for courses that are designated pass/fail, no courses elected by students to be taken pass/fail may be used to meet the requirements of the General Education Program or other programs, the major(s), the minor(s), or secondary education certification. A student may select or cancel a pass/fail registration any time during the first 10 weeks of a 15-week semester or, for other course lengths, during the first two-thirds of a course. Students in their first semester at LVC (or, for accelerated courses, in their first session) may change to or from a pass/fail registration through the last day of class.
Passing with honors will be designated by the grade PH, indicating that a grade of B+ or higher was earned. If a student does not pass the course, the student will receive an F on the transcript. See grading systems, below.
A student may repeat, for a higher grade, a previously taken course, subject to the following provisions: the previous and repeated courses must be taken at Lebanon Valley College, with the credit hours given only one time. The higher grade is computed in the cumulative grade point average. Each term grade report will show credit hours passed each time, but the total hours toward a degree will only factor repeated course credits once. For a course previously passed P/F, the grade received in the subsequent registration for regular grade is the “higher grade.” Each grade received remains on the permanent record and a notation is made thereon that the course has been repeated.
There is no limit to the number of courses that can be repeated by undergraduates, but graduate students may repeat no more than two courses with any given course being repeated only once. Additional restrictions exist for some graduate programs and are stipulated in department handbooks.
A student may take up to 9 graduate credits as part of their undergraduate program. Students must have a cumulative GPA of 3.000 and approval of their academic advisor and approval of the appropriate graduate program director.
A student may petition to the Associate Dean of Academic Success and Registrar for a retroactive withdrawal from a course or from the College (all courses taken during that term), or to retroactively change a course to pass/fail status, if and only if circumstances of a severe and compelling nature prevented a student from completing coursework and further prevented them from withdrawing by the established deadline.
A decision to grant a retroactive withdrawal is independent of a tuition refund decision, which is made according to a separate policy. A request to change a course to pass/fail status must meet the conditions outlined in the pass/fail policy.
Students may be considered for a retroactive withdrawal or pass/fail status change under the following conditions:
- They have documentation of a serious illness that affected their ability to complete coursework after the withdrawal or pass/fail deadline, as applicable.
- They encountered extreme and unusual circumstances that were beyond their control, occurred after the withdrawal or pass/fail deadline (as applicable), and could not have been addressed during the term in which the course(s) was taken.
Retroactive withdrawals or pass/fail status changes will not be approved under the following conditions:
- The student is dissatisfied with the course grade.
- The student neglected or forgot to withdraw from or change the pass/fail status of the course(s) or assumed the instructor or Registrar’s Office would submit a request.
- The student claimed they were unaware of withdrawal or pass/fail deadlines.
- The student changed their major and is working toward a degree that does not require this course.
- The student experiences illness or a crisis early enough in the term to have withdrawn or changed the pass/fail status during the term.
- The student is attempting to receive retroactive accommodation for a disability.
Students petitioning for a retroactive withdrawal or pass/fail status change must provide the appropriate documentation that supports their request. Requests received beyond 30 days of the course end date will not be considered unless students provide documentation demonstrating an ongoing or worsening situation continuing until the petition is submitted. Except in exceptionally severe circumstances, requests will not be considered beyond 90 days of the course end date.
To be classified as full time, an undergraduate student must take at least 12 credit hours in a fall, spring, or summer semester. Seventeen credit hours is the maximum permitted without approval from the student’s advisor and permission of the Registrar. To be permitted to take more than 17 credits, the student should have a cumulative grade point average of 3.000 or higher, or be a senior. Audited courses are counted in determining the course load, but music ensembles and individual instruction courses are not. Students shall pay the prevailing tuition rate for each credit hour beyond 17 (not counting music ensembles and individual instruction).
Graduate students enrolled in 9 or more credits in a fall, spring, or summer semester are considered full-time.
The load for students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate courses will be assessed according to their primary program (whichever degree or certificate program is expected to be completed first).
A student enrolled for a degree at Lebanon Valley College may not enroll in courses at any other institution nor receive LVC credit for such courses without the prior consent of their advisor and the Registrar.