Schedule Changes

Schedule changes encompass adding classes, dropping classes, withdrawing from courses, and adjusting registration after the initial enrollment period. Each type of schedule change has specific deadlines, procedures, and potential academic and financial consequences. Understanding when and how to make schedule changes appropriately helps you maintain academic progress, manage costs, and avoid negative transcript notations. Always consult with your advisor before making significant schedule changes to understand implications for your degree progress and graduation timeline.

Please refer to your fillable audit form before you do any schedule changes. Review the fillable audit form for the purpose of making an informed decision to add, drop or withdraw from a course.

Types of Schedule Changes

Schedule changes fall into three main categories, each with different procedures, deadlines, and consequences. Understanding these distinctions helps you make strategic decisions about adjusting your course load.

Adding Courses: Adding courses means enrolling in additional classes after your initial registration. You can add courses during the add/drop period without restriction (subject to space availability and prerequisites). After the add deadline passes, adding courses requires special permission from instructors and department chairs, granted only in exceptional circumstances.

Dropping Courses: Dropping means removing a course from your schedule during the add/drop period. Dropped courses disappear entirely from your academic record with no transcript notation. Drops may qualify for full or partial tuition refunds depending on timing. The drop deadline typically falls at the end of the first week of classes. Withdrawing from Courses: Withdrawal occurs after the drop deadline but before the withdrawal deadline (typically mid-semester). Withdrawn courses remain on your transcript with a W grade that doesn't affect GPA but counts as attempted hours. Withdrawals rarely qualify for tuition refunds and have implications for financial aid and academic standing.

Add/Drop Period

The add/drop period at the beginning of each semester allows relatively consequence-free schedule adjustments. This period recognizes that students need flexibility to finalize their schedules after experiencing their courses firsthand. Your advisor will have a pin number for you to begin the registration process.

Duration and Dates: The add/drop period typically extends through the first week of classes for full-semester courses. Courses meeting in accelerated formats (8-week, summer sessions, winter sessions) have proportionally shorter add/drop periods. Check the academic calendar each semester for specific dates, as they vary by term.

What You Can Do: During add/drop, you can add courses with available seats (meeting prerequisites), drop courses you don't want to continue, swap courses by dropping one and adding another, and adjust your total credit hours within allowed limits. These changes require no special permissions and can be completed online through the registration system. No Academic Penalty: Schedule changes made during the add/drop period leave no trace on your official transcript. Dropped courses simply don't appear. This clean slate allows you to try courses and make changes if they don't meet your expectations or needs.

Financial Implications: Check the tuition refund schedule published by Student Accounts each semester. Dropping courses during the first few days typically qualifies for substantial refunds. As add/drop period progresses, refund percentages decrease. After add/drop ends, drops become withdrawals with no refunds.

Prerequisite Form/Overload Request: At times, a course cannot be added because the course is full. This process requires you to download the Prerequisite Form from the Registrar's website and then select forms. Fill in your student information on the Prerequisite Form and then reach out to the professor teaching the course for approval and signature. At which point the Chair of the department you wish to take the course will need to sign off then your Academic Advisor. After everyone has signed off on your prerequisite form you will need to send it off to the Office Administrator for processing and then send to the Registrar's Office. Please reach out to the Registrar's Office after the form has been sent to them for processing about when the course will show up on your transcript.

Withdrawal Deadline

The withdrawal deadline marks your last opportunity to exit courses without earning a letter grade. After this deadline, you must remain in courses through the end of the semester and accept whatever grade you earn.

Typical Timing: Withdrawal deadlines usually fall around the midpoint of the semester, often coinciding with or shortly after midterm exams. This timing allows you to assess your performance before deciding whether to continue. For full-semester courses, the withdrawal deadline is typically 8-10 weeks into the term. For shortened courses, it's proportionally earlier.

Published Annually: Exact withdrawal dates are published in the academic calendar before each semester begins. These dates are firm. Missing the withdrawal deadline by even one day means you cannot withdraw from courses and must accept final grades.

Strategic Timing: Consider withdrawing only after you've exhausted options for improving your performance. Use tutoring, office hours, and study strategies before resorting to withdrawal. However, don't wait until it's too late to withdraw if you're clearly unable to pass a course. Withdrawing with a W is better than failing with an F.

How to Make Schedule Changes Online

VSU's registration system allows you to make most schedule changes independently through the student portal, though some changes may require advisor or administrative approval.

Accessing the System: Log into your VSU student Banner portal (myVSU) and navigate to the registration or course enrollment section. The system displays your current schedule and options for adding, dropping, or withdrawing from courses. To review your fillable audit sheet please log in via the Mass Communications Department website. Adding Courses: Search for courses by subject, course number, instructor, or meeting time. Select the desired section and add it to your cart. The system checks for prerequisites, time conflicts, and credit hour limits before allowing enrollment. Confirm the addition to finalize your registration.

Dropping or Withdrawing: Navigate to your current schedule and select the course you wish to drop or withdraw from. The system indicates whether this action constitutes a drop (during add/drop period) or withdrawal (after add/drop). Confirm your decision, understanding that drops may still allow refunds while withdrawals do not.

System Restrictions: The registration system prevents changes that would violate policies, such as dropping below full-time status when you have holds preventing part-time enrollment, adding courses without prerequisites, or exceeding maximum credit hour limits. If you encounter system restrictions, contact your advisor or the Registrar's Office to determine whether overrides are possible.

Schedule Changes Requiring Advisor Approval

Some schedule changes require advisor consultation or approval before you can process them. These requirements ensure students receive guidance about significant decisions affecting their academic progress. When Advisor Approval Is Needed: Changes that would drop you below full-time status (12 hours) may require advisor approval to ensure you understand implications for financial aid, housing, and other benefits.

Late adds after the add deadline require instructor permission followed by advisor and dean approval. Multiple withdrawals within a semester or across your academic career may trigger advisor consultation requirements. Course swaps affecting major progression or graduation timeline should be discussed with your advisor even if not technically requiring approval.

How to Get Approval: Schedule an advising appointment before making the change. Explain your reasons and ask about implications.

Alternatively, they may suggest alternatives you hadn't considered. Why Approval Exists: These requirements exist to protect you from decisions that could harm your academic progress, financial aid eligibility, or graduation timeline. Advisors help you think through consequences and explore alternatives before making irrevocable changes.

Schedule Changes Requiring Dean Approval

Exceptional circumstances or significant deviations from policy may require dean approval beyond advisor consultation.

Dean-Level Approvals: Course overloads exceeding 18 credit hours require dean approval. Late adds after multiple deadlines have passed may need dean permission. Retroactive withdrawals (withdrawing from courses after the semester ends) require dean and committee review. Appeals of registration restrictions or policy exceptions go through the dean's office.

Process for Dean Approval: Begin with your advisor, who evaluates your request and forwards it with recommendation to the dean if appropriate. Provide thorough documentation and justification for your request. Understand that dean approvals are granted selectively for legitimate exceptional circumstances, not for planning failures or preference.

Financial Implications and Refund Schedule

Schedule changes have financial consequences beyond academics. Understanding the refund schedule helps you make informed decisions about timing.

Tuition Refund Schedule: Student Accounts publishes a refund schedule each semester showing what percentage of tuition and fees are refunded based on when you drop courses. Typical schedules include 100% refund for drops during the first few days, decreasing refunds (75%, 50%, 25%) during the remainder of add/drop period, and no refunds after add/drop ends. Check the current semester's schedule for exact dates and percentages.

Fees and Other Costs: Some fees are non-refundable regardless of when you drop. Lab fees, course materials fees, and certain student fees may not be refunded. Books purchased from the bookstore follow bookstore return policies, typically requiring returns with receipts within a short timeframe for refunds.

Financial Aid Adjustment: Dropping courses may require recalculation of your financial aid if your enrollment status changes from full-time to part-time or if your total credit hours decrease significantly. This can result in owing money back to the university or the federal government. Always consult Financial Aid before making changes affecting your enrollment status. Dropping courses may also hinder your expected graduation date.

Impact on Full-Time/Part-Time Status

Your enrollment status depends on credit hours, and schedule changes can shift you from full-time to part-time or vice versa, with significant consequences.

Status Definitions: Full-time undergraduate status requires 12 or more credit hours per semester. Part-time status is fewer than 12 hours. Three-quarter time is 9-11 hours, half-time is 6-8 hours. These distinctions matter for financial aid, with different eligibility and award amounts for each category.

Consequences of Status Change: Dropping from full-time to part-time affects financial aid eligibility and amounts, on-campus housing eligibility (many residence halls require full-time status), scholarship requirements (most scholarships specify minimum credit hours), student loan deferment (for students on parents' loans), and health insurance coverage (if covered as a full-time student dependent).

Census Date Matters: Your enrollment status on the official census date (typically end of add/drop period) determines your status for that semester. Changes after census date don't affect financial aid already disbursed but may affect future eligibility.

Transcript Notations

Understanding what appears on your transcript helps you make strategic schedule change decisions.

During Add/Drop: Courses added and dropped during add/drop period leave no transcript notation. These changes appear only in your registration history, not on your permanent academic record.

Withdrawal Notation: Courses withdrawn from after add/drop receive a W grade on your transcript. The W grade is permanent, doesn't affect GPA, but shows as attempted hours. Multiple W grades on a transcript can raise questions for graduate schools, scholarship committees, and employers.

No Retroactive Changes: Once grades are posted, you cannot retroactively change them to W grades except in extreme circumstances requiring dean approval. You cannot remove W grades from your transcript once recorded.

Academic Standing Implications

While W grades don't affect GPA directly, patterns of schedule changes can affect your academic standing and progress.

Completion Rate: Satisfactory Academic Progress for financial aid requires completing at least 67% of attempted hours. W grades count as attempted but not completed, lowering your completion rate. Multiple withdrawals can jeopardize SAP and financial aid eligibility.

Major Progress: Withdrawing from required major courses delays your progression through your program and may delay graduation if courses are offered only certain semesters. Repeated withdrawals from the same course suggest you're not adequately prepared and may trigger advisor intervention.

Time to Degree: Withdrawals extend time to graduation if you must retake courses or fall behind in prerequisite sequences. This extends your costs and delays entry into your career or graduate school.

Medical Withdrawal Process

Medical circumstances may require withdrawing from all courses mid-semester through a process different from standard course withdrawals.

When Medical Withdrawal Applies: Serious illness, injury, or mental health crisis that prevents you from completing any courses may warrant medical withdrawal. This differs from withdrawing from individual courses because you're unable to continue the semester at all.

Process: Contact the Dean of Students Office at (804) 524-5350 as soon as possible to explain your circumstances. Provide medical documentation from healthcare providers indicating you're unable to continue classes. The Dean of Students works with you, your medical providers, and the university to determine whether medical withdrawal is appropriate.

Implications: Medical withdrawal typically results in W grades for all courses that semester. Depending on timing, you may receive partial tuition refunds. You'll need clearance from the Dean of Students and potentially medical clearance before returning to classes. Medical withdrawals are noted differently than standard withdrawals in your academic record.

Retroactive Withdrawal

In exceptional circumstances, you may request to withdraw from courses after the semester has ended and grades have been posted. Retroactive withdrawals are rare and require substantial justification.

Valid Reasons: Documented medical or psychological crisis not recognized at the time, severe family emergencies (death, serious illness of immediate family), or other extraordinary circumstances beyond your control that prevented your ability to complete courses or request timely withdrawal. Poor planning, academic difficulty without extenuating circumstances, or simply regretting final grades do not qualify.

Process: Submit a written petition to the dean explaining the circumstances, when they occurred, why you couldn't withdraw during the semester, and what documentation you can provide. Include supporting documentation such as medical records, death certificates, or other verification. The dean reviews your petition and may forward it to a committee for final decision.

Limited Approval: Retroactive withdrawals are granted very selectively. The burden of proof is on you to demonstrate extraordinary circumstances and inability to act earlier. Most petitions are denied.

Strategic Timing of Schedule Changes

Making schedule changes at the right time maximizes your options and minimizes negative consequences.

Early Add/Drop: The earlier in add/drop you make changes, the higher your refund percentage and the better chance of getting into alternative courses before they fill. Don't wait until the last day of add/drop to make changes you know you need to make.

Before Withdrawal Deadline: If you're struggling in a course, don't wait until the withdrawal deadline to seek help. Try tutoring, office hours, and study strategies first. If those efforts don't improve your situation, withdraw before the deadline rather than failing the course. Consult Before Acting: Whenever you're considering dropping or withdrawing, meet with your advisor first. They can help you evaluate whether the change is necessary, explore alternatives, and understand implications. Don't make impulsive decisions about schedule changes.

Limits on Schedule Changes

Universities may limit the number or frequency of certain schedule changes to encourage thoughtful decision-making and commitment. Withdrawal Limits: Some institutions limit the total number of W grades you can receive during your undergraduate career, such as a maximum of six withdrawals across all semesters. These limits encourage students to use withdrawals judiciously rather than habitually withdrawing from difficult courses.

Multiple Withdrawals in One Semester: Withdrawing from multiple courses in a single semester typically requires advisor or dean consultation to understand why you're struggling across your entire course load rather than in just one course.

Repeated Patterns: Patterns such as withdrawing from the same course multiple semesters, withdrawing from courses right before the deadline each semester, or excessive schedule changes may trigger advisor intervention and required meetings to address underlying issues.

Advisor Consultation Before Changes

Even when not technically required, consulting your advisor before making schedule changes provides valuable guidance and may prevent poor decisions. Please notify your advisor whenever you make changes to your fillable audit form on the advising website. Whenever you add, drop or withdraw from a course please enter it into your fillable audit sheet on the Mass Communications Advising website notify your advisor.

Questions to Discuss: Will this change delay my graduation? How does Does this affect my major progression and prerequisite sequences? What are my alternatives to dropping or withdrawing? What support services might help me succeed in this course? How will this affect my financial aid or other benefits?

Advisor's Perspective: Your advisor has experience seeing how schedule changes affect students' trajectories. They can help you think through short-term relief versus long-term implications. They may identify alternatives you hadn't considered, like tutoring, reduced course loads in future semesters, or different course selections.

Questions?

For questions about schedule changes:

Office of the Registrar (for questions about deadlines and procedures) Phone: (804) 524-5275

Financial Aid Office (for questions about how changes affect financial aid) Phone: (804) 524-5990

***Schedule changes are tools for adjusting to challenges and changing circumstances. Use them thoughtfully, with advisor guidance, to support your academic success and timely graduation.