General Regulations and Information

CLASSIFICATION OF STUDENTS

Class rank is based upon the number of quarter hours earned as follows:

NUMBERING OF COURSES

Courses are numbered as follows:

Students may select courses one year ahead of their present status except when otherwise designated. Courses numbered 500 and above are normally designated for graduate students. Senior students may take 500-level courses only with the approval of both the department chair and the instructor of the class. The 500-level courses may be used for undergraduate credit or graduate credit (but not for both). In order to receive graduate credit, the student must be in his/her senior year of undergraduate work and must obtain approval from the Dean of Graduate Studies, Research.

STUDENT LOAD POLICY

The number of credits for which a student is fully registered determines full-time and part-time status. Note that a GPA of 2.8 or higher is recommended for students seeking an overload.

Non-matriculated Students
Non-matriculated status is given to those persons who are not seeking degrees or certificates at CWU. Non-matriculated students do not need to go through the regular admissions process; they may apply through Registrar Services and will be allowed to register on a space-available basis. Credits earned when in non-matriculated status may not be used to satisfy degree or certificate requirements unless the student matriculates, in which case a maximum of 45 credits may be applied toward a baccalaureate degree.

Students who are registering for courses as a non-matriculated student can register for a maximum of 18 credits during the fall, winter, and spring terms. Non-matriculated students may register on the first day of classes. Non-matriculated Application Fee: $40. This fee will be assessed once each academic year (fall through summer quarters) in which you are registered as a non-matriculated student. This fee is non-refundable.

Financial Aid and Veterans Assistance
Undergraduate and post-baccalaureate students must carry 12-quarter credit hours to be considered full-time students. Graduate students must carry 10-quarter credits. Students receiving Veteran GI Bill education benefits must also carry the same credit load to be a full-time student; however, the credits must meet all university degree requirements. Students using the GI Bill education benefits should contact the Veterans Center for further information to be in compliance with VA federal regulations to receive benefits.

REGISTRATION

Only currently enrolled matriculating students are allowed to register during the first registration period. Non-matriculating students may register on the first day of classes.

Eligible students are assigned an Enrollment Appointment on MyCWU that specifies their date and time for registration. See instructions for viewing Enrollment Appointments.

Student employees must register during the first registration period to be eligible for summer employment.

Students are responsible for verifying their enrollment and making any necessary adjustments prior to the end of the change of schedule period. 

Freshman Advising Hold
Freshmen, with less than 40 earned credits, will have an advising hold placed on their account prior to registration. Freshmen must contact the Academic Advising Center or their academic advisor prior to registration in order to receive advisement and have the hold removed.

General Education Basic Skills Hold
Students will have a hold placed on their account if they have not completed the basic skills area of the general education requirements by the time they reach 75 credits. Students must see their major advisor or if they are undeclared, an advisor in the Academic Advising Center, to have the hold removed. This hold will be placed every quarter until the basic skills are completed.

45-Credit Advising Hold
All students will have an advising hold placed on their account the quarter after they have earned their 45th credit. To have this hold removed a student must meet with their major advisor or an advisor in the Academic Advising Center.

90-Credit Advising Hold
All students will have an advising hold placed on their account the quarter after they have earned their 90th credit. To have this hold removed a student must meet with their major advisor or an advisor in their intended major.

Major Declaration Hold
This hold is placed on a student who has 75 or more earned credits and is not admitted into a major or pre-major program.

All of these holds, with the exception of the major hold, can be released by any faculty member or professional academic advisor. All freshmen must go to the Academic Advising Center before next-term registration.

WAIT LISTS

Students should be aware that the system will automatically enroll them in a course for which they have wait listed once a seat becomes available and if they are eligible to enroll. Important information regarding wait lists is summarized below.

1. The student gets on the wait list at the time he/she attempts to enroll in a full course section by checking the “OK to Wait List” check box that will be displayed when enrolling in a class. If the WL is full, the “OK to Wait List” check box will not appear as an option. A student can be moved from the WL to enrolled status in one of two ways:

• Obtain signed permission on an add/drop form from the instructor.
• System intervention: An automated nightly process will automatically move students from the WL to enrollment, but only if the student is eligible.

The wait list process will be run once each night. Notification will be sent to the CWU e-mail account each time the process is run for those who are moved to enrolled status. This will be a general notification alerting students to check their online schedule for details.

2. Students will not be automatically enrolled from the WL for the following reasons:

• They have a time conflict.
• They are enrolled in another section of the course.
• They would exceed their maximum term units.
• They do not meet requirements of the course (e.g., reserved for majors only).
• They have a registration hold.
• They are attempting to register for a non-repeatable class for the third time.
• The class is full.

3. Wait lists will be available through the end of the second day of the Change of Schedule Period. This will allow time for notification to be sent to the student prior to the end of the Change of Schedule Period and allow the student enough time to make necessary schedule changes.

4. Students may not wait list for more than 15 credits at a time.

5. Students are told of their WL positions at the time they are placed on a wait list during their enrollment. They can also view their position at any time by reviewing their online schedule.

6. Students can wait list for multiple sections of the same course. However, once the student is enrolled in an available section, he/she is automatically dropped from the WL for the other sections. The only exception to this would be for courses that are repeatable for credit in the same term.

7. If a lecture course has a zero credit lab, students cannot WL the same lecture section or the same lab section more than once. For example, a student could not WL CHEM 111-01 lecture with more than one CHEM 111 lab section.

8. Once a Wait List is started for a class and a seat opens up, a student who is not on the Wait List will not be able to enroll. However, if all students on the Wait List are ineligible for enrollment, then the class status will change to Open and the next eligible student may enroll.

AUDIT

Provided that space is available and permission is secured from the instructor, students eligible to enroll in a course for credit may enroll as an auditor (except in laboratory courses). Full tuition is assessed for audits and no credit is earned.

When a student class load exceeds nine credits, including the credits of audited courses, regular student fees must be paid. A student enrolled in nine credits or less, including audited courses, pays the credit-hour fees. Instructors may not compel auditors to write papers or take examinations, but may insist upon other course requirements. The instructor may request of the dean that the auditor be officially withdrawn from the course if these requirements are not met.

A student must register for an audited course by the last day of the change of schedule period.

CREDIT/NO CREDIT

Students are urged to use the credit/no credit option as a way to explore academic areas of interest. All students, except first-quarter freshmen and students on academic probation, may select one class per quarter under this option. A maximum of 15 credits earned in credit/no credit courses may be allowed toward the 180 required for a bachelor’s degree.

The courses must be selected from free electives. They must not be courses in general education, major or minor concentrations, or the professional education sequence. Students may designate the course as credit/no credit until the end of the change of schedule period. Courses may not be repeated on a credit/no credit option. Courses may be repeated for a grade.

Credits earned under the credit/no credit option are not included in computing grade point averages. The grade recorded on the student’s transcript will be “CR” if the course grade is C- or above; if below C-, the entry will be “NC.”

REPETITION OF COURSES

Some courses are approved for repetition with credit awarded each time the course is taken and passed. See course descriptions in the university catalog. Full tuition is assessed for all repeated courses. Other courses may be repeated under the following conditions:

• Students are allowed to take a course a second time. Students attempting to take the same course a third time may do so only with permission of the instructor and the department chair. Unless designated as repeatable, courses may not be taken more than three times without permission of the dean of the college and department chair.
• Credit will be awarded only once, the last time the course is taken.
• When a course is repeated, only the last grade earned will be used in the computation of the cumulative and major grade point averages. All grades will remain on the student’s official record.
• Any CWU course repeated at another institution is subject to the following requirements:

1. May be transferred in for CWU credit.
2. Its grade will be used in calculating the CWU and the transfer GPA.

ADDITIONAL ENROLLMENT PROCEDURES

Arranged Course Permits
An Arranged Course Permit is used when a student wishes to register for a class that is not offered on the schedule of classes for the term, providing the class is shown in the current catalog. Any class that is currently being offered cannot be registered for as an Arranged Course. Seminar and workshop courses may not be registered for as arranged courses.

Permits are available at Registrar Services, university center offices, and academic department offices. The instructor, department chair, and dean must approve the Arranged Course Permit.

Individual Study Courses
Forms are available at academic departmental offices, Registrar Services, and university center offices. Permission must be granted from the instructor, department chair, and dean prior to registration. Complete the form, including the descriptive title and course outline. Once the appropriate signatures have been obtained, submit the individual study permit to a registration office to complete the registration process.

Cooperative Education
Cooperative Education Learning Agreement (CLA) forms are available at academic department offices and Career Services (Bouillon 206). Career Services will also mail a copy of the CLA form to the student. It is advisable to allow at least a week in which to obtain required signatures on the bottom of the form. All parts of the form must be completed before registration will be permitted (including approval signatures and complete mailing addresses). Forms must be
submitted to Career Services by the last day of the Change of Schedule Period.

Students are responsible for tuition and fees incurred for units for cooperative education.

CREDIT BY EXAMINATION

The university has published a “Course Challenge List” in the general catalog. Regularly enrolled (full fee-paying) students may challenge for credit any course that appears on the current “Course Challenge List.” To challenge a course, the student may be required to take examinations and carry out procedures according to established-by-department practices.

To challenge a course, the student must first obtain a course challenge form from Registrar Services and follow the specified instructions. Course challenge fees are nonrefundable. The course challenge form must be completed and returned to Registrar Services one week prior to the end of the quarter. Results of the course challenge shall be recorded as “Satisfactory” or “Unsatisfactory” on the student’s transcript and will not be used to compute the GPA. The application for course challenge will be denied if the student has previously received credit for the course at this or another institution, if the course was previously failed or withdrawn from, or if the course was previously unsatisfactorily challenged, audited, or registration cancelled for any reason.

PROCEDURE FOR COURSE SUBSTITUTION AND WAIVER OF COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Transfer
Associate of Arts or Science degrees with direct transfer agreements between the university and Washington community colleges will meet the general education requirements of a bachelor’s degree when students complete additional courses at CWU.

Major or Minor
It is the student’s responsibility to provide Registrar Services with the substitution form to substitute the requirement, signed by the appropriate chair and dean.  Substitution forms are available at Registrar Services or at university center offices.

Teacher Certification Program
It is the student’s responsibility to provide Registrar Services with the substitution form to substitute the requirement, signed by the Department of Educational Foundations and Curriculum chair and dean. Substitution forms are available at Registrar Services or at university center offices.

Basic, Breadth, or other Graduation Requirements
The registrar handles most deviations from the catalog requirements. The general education petition forms are available at Registrar Services or at university center offices. All substitution forms are available by clicking on the forms link on the left index of Registrar Services home page at www.cwu.edu/registrar/.

GRADES

Grades are available on MyCWU three days after the end of the final exam week by navigating to MyCWU > Student > Enrollment > View My Grades.

Students are no longer mailed a hard copy of their grade report unless requested. Students may request to have their grades sent to their home/permanent address by filling out a grade report request form available at Registrar Services, University Center offices, or online by clicking forms at  www.cwu.edu/registrar/. Requested reports will be mailed two to three weeks after the end of finals week.

INCOMPLETES - CWU POLICY

An “I” (incomplete) means the student was not able to complete the course by the end of the term, due to a significant life event, but has satisfactorily completed a sufficient portion of it and can be expected to finish without having to re-enroll in it. An “I” is not used in computing grade point average, but may affect student financial aid. The instructor will set a date within one calendar year for the student to complete the coursework. It is the student’s responsibility to contact the instructor and make arrangements to complete the coursework. If the work is not completed by the date set by the instructor, the “I” will convert to an “F” or “U.”

Students may not re-register for a course in which they currently have a grade of incomplete.

WITHDRAWING

Individual Course Withdrawal Policy
Students may withdraw from an individual class using an uncontested withdrawal form through the end of the Uncontested Withdrawal Period (see calendar). Such withdrawals will be noted on the student’s transcript with “+W.” No refunds will be granted for individual course withdrawals.

Hardship Withdrawal Policy
After the Uncontested Withdrawal Period ends, hardship withdrawals will be granted only for reasons of hardship and then only upon written petition to and written approval of the registrar.

The student must have discussed the reasons for the withdrawal with the affected faculty member and have obtained the faculty member’s signature on the hardship withdrawal petition. Approved hardship withdrawals will be noted on the student’s transcript with “HW.”

No hardship withdrawals from individual courses may be made after the last day of classroom instruction prior to the final exams.

Total Withdrawal from the University
Registrar Services or a University Center office may approve a student withdrawal from Central that is due to illness or other extenuating circumstances at any time prior to finals week. A student may not withdraw from the university during finals week except with approval from the registrar. The official withdrawal form is available at Registrar Services and University Center offices. Withdrawals from the university will be noted on the student’s transcript with “W.”

Students who leave the university without completing the official form may receive failing grades and are responsible for the applicable tuition/fees.

LEAVE OF ABSENCE

Students will automatically be granted one term leave of absence for fall, winter or spring quarter without reapplying for admission as long as they were enrolled in the previous academic term. A student may petition for consecutive terms of leave by submitting a leave of absence form to Registrar Services. The request may be granted if the following conditions are met:

1. The petition must be submitted at least two weeks prior to the start of the term for which the student is seeking leave.
2. The petition demonstrates that attendance would present an exceptional hardship or loss of opportunity for the student.

Students who are on leave are permitted to register for classes as continuing students at the designated time.

A student who attends another college or university while on a leave of absence must submit an official transcript from the school by the end of the term in which they return to CWU.

Graduate students need to contact the Graduate Studies office at 509-963-3103 for leave of absence information.

UNIVERSITY CATALOG

The Official Electronic Catalog (OEC) is the university’s official compilation for all curriculum. The OEC serves as the basis for major, minor, and program requirements for the academic year. For current policy and curriculum requirements refer to the CWU online catalog at www.cwu.edu/registrar/catalogs.

DECLARATION OF MAJOR

Students are required to apply and be accepted into a major or pre-major by the time they have earned 75 credits or they are prevented from participating in their regularly assigned registration appointment.

Students are bound by the major requirements that became effective with the Fall Official Electronic Catalog (OEC) for the academic year in which they are accepted into their major.

If a student does not enroll or submit a leave request for two or more consecutive quarters at Central (excluding summer), he or she will be required to  reactivate his or her major status. Reactivation must be done with the concurrence of the department and in accordance with the department and the OEC requirements current at the time of readmission.

QUARTERLY HONOR ROLL

Undergraduates who complete a minimum of 12 graded credits quarterly and have obtained a 3.5 quarterly GPA are eligible to be on the honor roll. (Post-baccalaureate and graduate students are not eligible for honors.)

The honor roll student list is available online at www.cwu.edu/registrar/honor-roll sorted by last name and by city. City is designated by the home/permanent address that is on file with Registrar Services. Students who have designated a FERPA restriction on their student record will not have their name published on the web or in a hometown newspaper. However, the honor roll designation will show on the student’s transcript.

STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES

Disability Services, located in Hogue Hall, room 126, was established to ensure that CWU students with disabilities are provided equal access to university programs and facilities. Information about disability documentation, classroom accommodations, and program access can be obtained at www.cwu.edu/disability-support/home or by calling 509-963-2214.

SAFETY AWARENESS INFORMATION

The University Police and Parking Services is responsible for reporting crime statistics in compliance with the “Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act.” Central’s annual security report is available at www.cwu.edu/police. The web site contains information regarding crime prevention programs, the law enforcement authority of university police, policies concerning the reporting of crime, crime statistics for the most recent three-year period, and other information about security that is required by law. A paper copy of the information is available upon written request to:

Central Washington University
University Police and Parking Services
400 East University Way
Ellensburg WA 98926-7527

VOTER REGISTRATION

According to RCW 29.07.025, voter registration guidelines will be made available at institutions of higher education. These forms are available at Registrar Services. You can register to vote online at weiapplets.sos.wa.gov/MyVote/#/login.