New Transfer Student Guide: Policies and Procedures

Course Load

Students entering as second-year transfers are expected to complete their degrees in six semesters, students entering as fourth-semester transfers in five semesters, and students entering as third-year transfers in four semesters. Summer Session is not counted in your allotted full-time semesters. The number of full-time semesters you are allotted will be noted on the advising sheet you will receive later in the summer. Permission to enroll for an additional full-time semester is not automatic. You should not assume that you will have more than the usual number of full-time allotted semesters.

In order to graduate on schedule, you must carry an average of 15 credit-hours for each of your semesters here unless you enter with more than 30 credit-hours as a second-year transfer or you enroll in summer school to earn additional credits.

If you think you will need an extra full-time semester, you should meet with Mr. Papovich early in the fall. You must always carry at least 12 credits, and, if you attempt more than 17 (recommended only in rare cases and never in the first semester), you must have special permission from Mr. Papovich. In the event of illness, as certified by the Department of Student Health, or if financial hardship requires you to work more than 15 hours per week in order to support your education, your Dean may allow you to adjust your schedule to fewer than 12 credits. Students who, for any reason, fail to earn the minimum number of credit-hours will be placed on Academic Warning. If you fall behind in credits, you will be required to make up the deficit in summer school.

You may take up to 18 credit-hours of "non-College" courses Such courses are noted on your VISTAA evaluation. If you take more than 120 credits for the degree, correspondingly more may be taken outside the College

Verifying Your Enrollments

Once the semester has started, you may change your courses, subject to the following conditions and deadlines:

• All course verifications and changes except course withdrawals are made by using ISIS OnLine.
• Courses may be dropped, with no notation on your permanent record, until September 5, 2008 in the fall semester. The instructor’s permission is not required to drop a course, but it is courteous to inform them so that they may keep their class rolls up to date. If dropping a class takes you below the minimum load of 12 credits, you will need the approval of Mr. Papovich.
• Courses may be added until September 12, 2008. If you are adding into a class via a Course Action Form, check with the department or the Garrett Hall lobby to determine where you should submit the form (most are turned in to departments, some are turned in to the receptionists in Garrett Hall).
• You may withdraw from a course up until October 21, 2008. The instructor’s permission is always needed to withdraw from a class; you cannot drop below 12 credits without the permission of Dean Papovich. If your instructor approves your request to withdraw, he or she will assign you a grade of W (withdrew). This grade is carried on your permanent record. Requests to drop or withdraw after the deadline will not be approved.
• Students who earn fewer than 12 credits in a semester for any reason are placed on Academic Warning.

For information on penalties associated with failure to verify your enrollments, click here.

Always bear in mind the 12-credit minimum course load when changing your schedule. If you wish to take fewer than 12 credits, you must meet with your Dean

Transfer Credit After Matriculation

After you begin your enrollment at U.Va., you may count towards your degree courses at another institution only if you have not already transferred the maximum 60 non-UVa credit-hours. If you wish to take courses elsewhere for transfer here, you must have the prior permission of the Dean and the appropriate departmental representative. Permission forms are available in the Office of the Dean. Permission is not granted unless you have a 2.0 grade point average; a 2.5 cumulative GPA is required for study abroad.

Please note that once you enroll at U.Va., all area requirements must be completed in the College, not by additional transfer credit.

Subject to these restrictions, courses completed elsewhere with a grade of C or better are transferred toward your degree; the grades are not computed in your grade point average, nor are they recorded on your transcript. This rule applies to courses completed both before and after transfer.

Students may not receive more, and may receive fewer, than the number of credits earned at the host institutions.

Good Standing, Academic Warning and Suspension

Full-time students maintain a status of Good Standing if, at the end of a semester they complete at least 12 credits of graded work with at least a 1.80 semester average and with no more than one grade below C-. Students who fail to remain in Good Standing will be placed on Academic Warning and the cause will be noted on their transcripts. Students on Academic Warning must meet with their Association Dean to obtain permission to enroll for the next semester. They are strongly urged to devote more time to their academic work.

Students placed on Academic Warning for two consecutive semesters will be suspended. A student who earns fewer than nine grade points in a regular semester is also subject to suspension, either at mid-year or the end of the school year. One full fall term and one full spring term must elapse before suspended students may return to the College. We will consider applications for readmission when the student presents evidence that the difficulties that led to suspension have been overcome.

To enroll for a fifth semester you must have earned at least 54 credit-hours; to enroll for a seventh semester, you must have earned at least 84 credit-hours. If you fail to earn sufficient credits, we will block your enrollment. We require students who fall behind in the number of credit-hours to make up their work in the Summer Session, in January term, or through part-time enrollment in the School of Continuing and Professional Studies.

To remain in Good Standing, students who have completed four semesters of work must be in a major or have obtained written permission by September 30 from Mr. Papovich to defer declaring a major until the end of their fifth semester. If you are a third-year student, failing to declare or defer by September 30 will result in your access to ISIS being blocked and loss of your course enrollment priority for the spring term. No student may enroll for a sixth semester without a major.

Requests for Exception to the Rules

With nearly 10,000 students enrolled in the College, we must, of necessity, have this rather detailed and formal set of academic regulations.  But situations inevitably arise in which we will consider exceptions to certain rules. If you need to request an exception to a rule due to mitigating circumstances, you should consult Mr. Papovich as soon as possible. He will advise you how to petition formally for an exception. Adverse decisions by the Dean may be appealed to the Committee on Faculty Rules – a independent committee of faculty members who are not Association Deans. Bear in mind that you always have the right to petition about academic matters throughout your career here.

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