Student Handbook 2010-2011 - Holyoke Community College

out an alternate PIN. For more information, go to MY HCCthen My Online Services during the Priority Registration sign-upperiod.Add/Drop PeriodAdd/Drop is the four-day period at the beginning of eachsemester when course changes may be made without a formalwithdrawal. Courses dropped during Add/Drop do notappear on the student’s HCC transcript. After Add/Drop,students wishing to leave a course must officially withdraw,and the course and withdrawal (“W” grade) are recorded onthe transcript.Students who do not meet the Self-Service registration criteria(see previous section on online services) or have notreceived an alternate PIN from their advisor must receivewritten approval from a college advisor or counselor to makecourse schedule changes. A discussion with an instructordoes not constitute an official course change. Section changeswithin the same course do not require approval. Bothcourse and section changes are subject to availability of seatsin the desired course.Add/Drop for the 2010-2011 academic year will take placeon the following dates: September 7-10, 2010 and January24-27, 2011.WithdrawalWithdrawal from a Course:Students are withdrawn from a course in the following ways: A student may drop a course during theAdd/Drop Period (first four days of the semester)without being recorded as enrolled in that course.Refunds for dropped courses are made in accordancewith the college’s refund policy. Attendance: Instructors will notify the registrar ofany student on their class list who does not attendthe course during the first two weeks. The registrarwill issue a WX grade and consider the student to bewithdrawn from the course. A student who is issueda WX grade is not eligible for any refund for thatcourse. In addition, a student who is issued a WX isnot eligible for financial aid for that course. Excessive Absences: Instructors may dismiss a studentfrom a class due to excessive absences, issuingan AW grade. AW is not calculated into the GPAand may not be removed if the student later withdrawsfrom the course.Course Withdrawal by Student: The student mustbring to the Welcome Center a completed CourseWithdrawal form. For courses that begin before 4p.m., the form must include the course instructor'ssignature. An instructor must honor a student'srequest to withdraw from a course (provided noprevious “WX” or “AW” grade was issued.) For thefall 2010 semester, a student may withdraw from acourse through November 23. For the spring 2011semester, a student may withdraw until April 22.The withdrawal grade assigned is “W” as the student’sfinal grade.Withdrawal from the collegeCollege withdrawals must occur before the last day of classes.Students taking day classes must meet with a college counselor(FR 233) for an exit interview, then bring a completedwithdrawal form carrying the counselor/advisor’s signatureto the Welcome Center. The date the Welcome Centerreceives the completed form becomes the official withdrawaldate. A withdrawal grade for each course is determined inaccordance with the policy for course withdrawals. AW andWX grades that were previously issued in a course remain onrecord, even when a student withdraws from the college.Financial Aid and WithdrawalsA student’s initial financial aid eligibility for each term isgenerally based on the enrollment status at the end of theadd/drop period (usually the first four days of the term). Ifthe student subsequently withdraws from the college beforecompleting 60 percent of the term, the college must applya federal and/or state formula to determine how muchunearned aid must be repaid respectively by the student andthe college. When calculating the unearned aid, the collegemust use the date the student began the withdrawalprocess as the date of withdrawal from the college. This datenormally is the date the student obtained the withdrawalform(s) with the intention of fully withdrawing from school.Contact the Financial Aid Office (FR 201) for more detailedinformation.30