To: Students on the Quarter System (except School of Law)
From: N. John DiNardo, Ph.D., Vice Provost for Academic Affairs
Subject: Academic News and Key Policy Reminders for the Fall Quarter
Date: 21 September 2009

Key Reminders for Students: Fall 2009-2010

Welcome to the Fall Quarter at Drexel!

Please review news, key policies, and dates for the upcoming quarter. For other important information and resources, please visit www.drexel.edu/blueline

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS
   • Convocation 2009
   • DegreeWorks – Powerful Degree Audit Tool
   • H1N1 (Swine Flu) Information
   • Military Veterans
   • Wait-Listing Implementation

CRITICAL DATES
   • Course Add/Drop/Withdraw
   • Closed Section Override
   • Holds

IMPORTANT POLICY REMINDERS
   • Absence from Class
   • Audit Option
   • Class Cancellation due to Unexpected Instructor Lateness or Absence
   • Classes During Co-op
   • Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) Policy
   • Final Examinations
   • Grade of Incomplete (INC)
   • Grade Not Reported (NGR)
   • Late Add/Drop/Withdraw Form Submission After Week 6

KEY PRACTICES
   • Code of Conduct and Academic Honesty Policy
   • Disability Accommodations
   • Religious Observances
   • Promoting a Diverse and Fair Learning Environment

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Convocation 2009

Drexel University's Convocation is scheduled for Friday, October 2, 2009. Convocation celebrates the beginning of the academic year. The Convocation ceremony is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. in the auditorium of the Main Building at 3141 Chestnut Street. John Lombardi, President of the Louisiana State University System, will be the keynote speaker (http://jvlone.com/).

Classes will be cancelled from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on the Main Campus only to allow members of the Drexel community to attend this important function. Students in the Health Sciences and School of Public Health must check with their Program Directors for class schedules on that day.

All faculty and students are strongly urged to attend Convocation. For more information, including viewing locations, please visit the Convocation website.

DegreeWorks - Powerful Degree Audit Tool

The University has implemented DegreeWorks, a web-based academic advising system for degree audit and course planning.    DegreeWorks is a powerful tool to assist students in reaching their academic goals and better understand degree requirements.  All undergraduate students entering the university in September 2006 or later have access to DegreeWorks.
  
Students, faculty and professional advising staff access DegreeWorks through Banner Self-Service.  There are graphic advising worksheets within DegreeWorks allowing students to review how their completed courses apply to the requirements for their majors, helping students and advisors to determine academic progress and providing information to help with registration decisions.   Students contemplating major changes can run what-if scenarios to see how completed courses apply to other majors.

DegreeWorks provides access to multiple services through hyperlinks:  SRC, Drexel BlueLine, Term Master Schedule, AskDrexel, DegreeWorks help, catalog pages and lists of Writing Intensive Courses. 

For more information, please reference the Student DegreeWorks Manual or email askdrexel@drexel.edu.

H1N1 (Swine Flu) Information

All students are encouraged to review information and recommended practices regarding swine flu (H1N1) at www.drexel.edu/swine/.

We also encourage students to review the Medical Notes Policy, established by the Office of Student Health and Wellness.

Military Veterans

Veterans seeking information regarding the Yellow Ribbon Program are encouraged to review the services and supports available on the Student Resource Center's Yellow Ribbon Program site.

Veteran information regarding readmission standards as established by the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) should review the policy here.

Veterans seeking a late add/drop/withdrawal due to active duty service should coordinate with their academic advisors accordingly. For a list of academic advisors, please visit http://www.drexel.edu/provost/advising/advisors.html

Wait-listing Implementation

The wait-listing capability in Banner was implemented for the summer term and has been piloted by IST and LeBow. It is now available for everyone to use in the Fall '09 term. Colleges can identify courses for which they want to implement wait-listing. When students register into a wait-listed course which has reached capacity and those courses are at full enrollment, they will be placed on a waitlist and will be notified by email of their placement on the waitlist. As more students are added to the list, a new section may be created at a time that best accomodates student schedules. Students will be notified that they have indeed been added to the newly created course by email. This capability will enable departments and colleges to better anticipate and plan for course schedule needs each term.

CRITICAL DATES

Course Add/Drop/Withdraw

Quarter Term Courses
Course Add/Drop

• Friday, October 2nd by 5:00 PM with Academic Advisor Assistance
• Sunday, October 4th by 11:00 PM via DrexelOne

Course Withdrawal

• Friday, October 30th by 5:00 PM

Students should have an assessment of their performance by the end of Week 5 and before the course withdrawal deadline.

Accelerated Courses
Course Add/Drop

Term A

• Friday, September 25th by 5:00 PM with Academic Advisor Assistance
• Sunday, September 27th by 11:00 PM via DrexelOne

Term B

• Friday, October 30th by 5:00 PM with Academic Advisor Assistance
• Sunday, November 1st by 11:00 PM via DrexelOne

Course Withdrawal

Term A

• Friday, October 9th by 5:00 PM with Academic Advisor Assistance

Term B

• Friday, November 13th by 5:00 PM with Academic Advisor Assistance

Saturday Scholars
Course Add/Drop

Term A

• Friday, September 25th by 5:00 PM with Academic Advisor Assistance

Term B

• Friday, November 6th by 5:00 PM with Academic Advisor Assistance
  

Course Withdrawal

Term A

• Friday, October 9th by 5:00 PM with Academic Advisor Assistance

Term B

• Friday, November 20th by 5:00 PM with Academic Advisor Assistance

Closed Section Overrides

In the event that a course has reached its maximum capacity as established by the Office of the University Registrar and the Department offering the course, a student must appeal to be added into the course, that is appeal to override the established maximum capacity for the course section. Authorization to add a student to a section that has exceeded maximum enrollment capacity must be secured by Thursday, October 1st.

The appeal to be overridden into a course must be advanced to the collegiate advisor/Dean's Office/Graduate Studies office. The appeal will be reviewed against established criteria for override consideration (click here to review criteria for override consideration). If the student meets the Criteria, he or she must then complete an Add/Drop/Withdraw form and obtain the instructor's signature for the course.

The instructor's signature on this form is provided as an indication that the addition of the student will not negatively impact his/her ability to achieve learning goals for the course and that the seating capacity of the room has not been exceeded. An instructor's signature is not final approval.

Once the instructor's signature is obtained, the student must return the Add/Drop/Withdraw form to his/her Advisor.

Please note that a student who has not registered for a course by the add deadline will not be permitted to attend that course after the end of the second week. Accordingly, students must resolve all "holds" on their accounts by the deadline. Please review the hold policy.

Holds

Those students whose accounts have been placed on hold are prohibited from sitting in courses for which they are not registered. Students placed on hold cannot add courses or participate in co-op until the circumstances contributing to the hold are resolved.  Students on hold have until Friday, October 2nd at 5:00 PM to resolve their holds in order to add courses or participate in co-op by the deadline.

"Being on hold" during the adjustment period is not considered an acceptable reason for a late or retroactive add.

To resolve a financial hold, students are encouraged to visit the Student Resource Center in Main Building, Room 222.

IMPORTANT POLICY REMINDERS

Absence from Class

Please be sure to review the detailed information and protocol regarding the University's absence policy, which include absences for University-sponsored activities, religious observances, medical illnesses, and extended absences. Please review the full Absence from Class Policy.

Please note that the Drexel Health Center will not provide notes to excuse absences for students missing class due to their visit to the Health Center, or to excuse class absences due to most common illnesses.  The Health Center will also not provide notes to excuse absences for medical conditions which were not treated at the Health Center. Please be sure to review the Medical Notes Policy, which includes criteria for excused absences.

Audit Option

The Audit Option provides undergraduate and graduate students the opportunity of attending a course, but carries no credit and no standard letter grade.  Participation in the course will be evidenced by the "AUD" grade designation on the transcript. The "AUD" grade designation does not affect a student's GPA. Please review the full Audit Option Policy.

Class Cancellation due to Unexpected Instructor Lateness or Absence

On rare occasions, instructors may be delayed or unable to attend a class due to unforeseen circumstances.  In the event that an instructor does not appear in class due to an unexpected delay and has not notified class of his/her expected arrival time, class is cancelled after 15 minutes of the scheduled start of class. Please review the full policy here.

Classes During Co-op

The Classes During Co-op policy affords students on co-op the privilege of taking one course (up to four (4) credits face to face) at no charge. Registration for the fall term opens on September 14th and remains open until the end of the add/drop period. It is important to understand the guidelines that apply to the policy so that you do not incur additional charges to your bill.

For more information on the policy and guidelines, please reference the Classes During Co-op policy and contact your academic advisor.

Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) Policy

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act ("FERPA") affords a student certain rights with respect to his/her Education Records.

Please take a moment to review the FERPA policy.

Final Examinations

During finals week, no student is obligated to take more than two finals on any given day. The Final Examination policy states that students may appeal to the Office of the Provost for accommodation at least three (3) days before the examination date. Students may download the appeal form and submit it to the Provost's Office in Main 308.

• For the Fall 2009 term, courses instructors for those courses with the highest course number will be asked to give a special exam.

Please take a moment to review the Final Examinations policy.

Grade of Incomplete (INC)

At the discretion of an instructor, the grade of "INC" (Incomplete) may be reported in place of a letter grade for any course in which the instructor deems that the work has not been completed and that the student can complete the work within an agreed upon time (which must be in accordance with University policy and the statute of limitations governing grade changes). A grade of "INC" may be entered for a student at the time grades are submitted for the course. The conditions and terms for the completion of the course are at the discretion of the instructor and are to be mutually agreed upon by the instructor and the student. It is recommended that a written agreement be developed between the student and instructor to clarify expectations and process. If the grade is not submitted within one full academic year, the "INC" will turn into an "F" on the student's record and be reflected in the student’s GPA. The grade of "F" will be considered a permanent grade.

Grade Not Reported (NGR)

An NGR is recorded when an instructor does not report a grade normally. Typically, this should only be used if the student is known not to have attended the course.

This is not a grade, but a temporary indicator that requires prompt resolution leading either to the removal of the course from the student’s record or the assignment of a grade.

If a final grade is not reported by the end of the following term, an administrative grade of F will be reported and recorded on the student’s transcript. If the "NGR" notation is left unresolved by the last day of classes of the next term immediately following the term that the original NGR was reported, it will become an F. This grade will be calculated as a failure in the student’s GPA and is considered a permanent grade.

Late Add/Drop/Withdraw Form Submission After Week 6

All Add/Drop/Withdraw or late appeals should only be advanced in the event of exigent circumstances.  All submissions after Week 6 must be coordinated with the student’s academic advisor.  All form submissions after Week 6 should be sent by the advisor to the Office of Academic, Advising, Retention, and Diversity in Main 308.

Exceptional consideration is afforded to military veterans that are called upon for active duty. Military veterans called to active duty should coorinate with their academic advisor accordingly. For a list of academic advisors, please visit: www.drexel.edu/provost/advising/advisors.html

KEY PRACTICES

Code of Conduct and Academic Honesty Policy

Undergraduate Students
We encourage students to review and abide by the University policy on Academic Honesty. The Academic Honesty policy is written in support of the University's strong commitment to high academic standards and integrity and has been endorsed by the Undergraduate Student Government Association (USGA). The Academic Affairs Committee of the USGA has authored a Statement of Honor, which furthers these ideals; the Statement of Honor was approved by the USGA on August 4, 2006.

As members of the Drexel University undergraduate student body, we seek to uphold a learning environment that embraces preeminent standards of education, integrity, and community. We strive to conduct ourselves in a manner that is beyond reproach, adhering to the University's Code of Conduct and Academic Honesty policies. Devoted to the principles of mutual respect, equality, and honor, we assume an obligation to serve one another.

Graduate Students
As a Drexel University graduate student and aware of the University’s mission, I commit myself to excellence in research, teaching, and service. In furtherance of that aim and because I understand that my actions affect all members of the Drexel community and my profession, I pledge to conduct myself with the highest integrity, honor, and respect in all my endeavors.

Disability Accommodations

It is the University's policy to provide a learning environment that provides all students with the opportunity to realize their full potential. To this end, the goal of the Office of Disability Services ("ODS") is to assist students with disabilities in becoming self-sufficient, independent, and successful members of the University's community and to provide students with disabilities with equal opportunity of access to University courses, programs, facilities, services, and activities.

Students seeking reasonable accommodations for their disabilities must first register with ODS. The staff of ODS will work closely with students to review medical documentation, assess their individual needs, and link them with the services necessary to ensure them the opportunity to participate fully in college life. The Office of Disability Services website can be found at http://www.drexel.edu/ods.

Religious Observances

The University is committed to promoting an environment that supports cultural and spiritual diversity.

It is essential that students contact their instructors at the beginning of the term for religious observance accommodation requests.

For more information, please review the Office of the Provost Statement on Religious Observances

Promoting a Diverse and Fair Learning Environment

The mission of the Office of Equality and Diversity is to promote, support, and sustain a living, learning and working environment of diversity, equality, fairness, inclusion, and respect. The Office of Equality and Diversity is responsible for ensuring equality of opportunity and compliance with University policies and federal, state and local laws prohibiting discrimination based upon race, color, religion, gender (sex), marital status, pregnancy, national origin, age, disability and veteran status. University policy and the City of Philadelphia also prohibit discrimination based upon sexual orientation, identity and expression. The Office of Equality and Diversity investigates and attempts to resolve complaints of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation.

Students, faculty and staff with questions about or complaints concerning discrimination, harassment, and/or retaliation should contact Michele M. Rovinsky, J.D., Executive Director of Equality and Diversity at 215-895-1403 or mrovinsky@drexel.edu. The Equality and Diversity website can be found at www.drexel.edu/oed.

			Office of the Provost  |  3141 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104  |  215-895-2200 This message to Drexel Official Mail was approved under the authority of Dr. Mark Greenberg, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs