Skip to main content

Registration, Enrollment & Attendance

2023-24 Academic Catalog Page

 

 

STUDENT RESPONSIBILITY: While the senior audit, program evaluation, academic support resources, as well as academic guidance from faculty and advisors are all available to every student at no additional cost, these resources are provided for use in planning only. It is the responsibility of the student to maintain an accurate schedule at all times and pay for all tuition and fees associated with their registration in accordance with all published fees and deadlines. Students must report any printed schedule error to the Office of the Registrar within two semesters. The responsibility for understanding and meeting degree requirements rests entirely with the student.

DEADLINES: It is the responsibility of the student to check and maintain a current and accurate course schedule at all times by reviewing the official schedule on Arches. Students are expected to do this as they register for the next semester and immediately after an official enrollment change has been made within the published deadlines and according to published college policies. Students should plan ahead with registration when Arches is open or completion of on online add/drop forms to obtain all required approvals prior to the deadlines. Petitions may be required for missed deadlines and approval to add/drop after deadlines are made only under rare and exceptional circumstances (fees apply.) Only Arches reflects the official enrollment with the college. All published dates and deadlines are strictly enforced to meet compliance standards. No unregistered student will be permitted to register for the semester after day five. Academic Programs and access to Arches for unregistered students will be promptly ended after the published deadline and students must vacate campus housing immediately. 

Attendance policies

Students are expected to attend classes for which they have registered, and any exceptions to this rule will be made explicit by the instructor at the first class meeting. Any individual who is attending a course section must be properly registered and attending the course by 4:30 pm day five of the semester (day two for 7-week courses and day two for J-term). No student will be permitted to register or attend the term after this deadline. Individuals not properly registered for a course should not be permitted to further attend the course and their name should be reported immediately to the Office of the Registrar. Exceptions to the section attendance policy include college-approved guests, such as prospective students who are officially scheduled through the Office of Admissions, college employees approved in advance by the instructor, other non-student guests not in regular class attendance as approved in advance by the Registrar, instructor, department chair and when necessary, the Office of Campus Security and Public Safety. These guests should be limited to attending one or two class meetings. Visits exceeding this amount require registration and tuition payment.

Student Attendance Expectations and Responsibilities:

  • register for no more than 5 credits of non-standard length classes (less than 14 weeks) in any semester (see policy below);
  • attend classes regularly and participate fully in class activities. 
  • familiarize themselves with the instructor’s attendance policy and abide by it.   
  • if necessary, request an excused absence during the first week that course meets (or as soon as possible if the activity is rescheduled) in order to participate in a pre-scheduled, college-sponsored activity. 
  • recognize that there are courses that place significant weight on in-class participation and in-class projects, for which missing class for any reason could have an impact on the grade.
  • in the case of illness or family emergency, notify instructors as soon as they are able about the length of time they will be absent from a course.
  • provide written verification to the instructor for extended or irregular absences (e.g., from the Coordinator of Medical Support, the Dean of Students office, etc.)
  • assume responsibility for work missed during absences.
  • understand that faculty members are not obligated to accept late assignments or to permit late examinations resulting from unexcused absences.  
  • recognize that they must occasionally make choices between competing priorities, and take responsibility for those choices. 

 

Excessive Absences

In the event a student has experienced, or will experience, excessive absences, the college attempts to counsel students appropriately in order to protect their grade point average, financial aid and their future enrollment. Students who have excessive absences, regardless of reason, may need to consider a withdrawal from the term or semester. The college will follow this guidance:

  • It is reasonable that students may miss up to 10% of a course due to college-sponsored activities, verified illness or family emergencies without academic penalty. Students assume the responsibility for notifying instructors prior to these events.   
  • It is expected that students make a case (documentation may be required) for absences beyond 10% of the course. Academic penalties may result from missing anything above 10% - 20% of the course. 
  • Missing over 20% of the course may be considered excessive and could result in significant academic penalty (failing a course), being asked to drop the course or counseled to withdraw from the term. 

While the above guidance will generally be followed, individual faculty will determine the attendance policies for each course they teach and will publish policies and expectations to the course syllabus. Students who choose to remain enrolled after they are counseled to withdraw will risk failing grades in their coursework and may be required to return any federal funds to the Department of Education.

Endorsed as a principle by Faculty Senate on 3/4/16

Deregistration for Non-Attendance

Students are expected to be on campus and attending on the first day of each term. Students not in attendance at the first class meeting are responsible for finding out on their own the instructor’s policy regarding attendance. Instructors may elect to drop a registered student from their course roster for non-attendance on the first day of the semester. However, in most cases where a student has attended a section, dropping coursework from the student schedule is the responsibility of the student. 

Students who have exceptional circumstances that require late arrival on day two or day three of a semester must communicate their circumstances and provide documentation of the emergency to the Office Academic Affairs prior to the start of the term (academicaffairs@augustana.edu). Students who do not report to their courses by day five of the semester (day three for J-term) will not be permitted to attend for the term regardless of circumstances. Late start for J-term beyond day three is not allowed under any circumstances. Failure to report to campus and attend registered courses will result in:

  • automatic deregistration of current coursework
  • dining hall and library card deactivation
  • the student being required to vacate campus housing
  • potential additional late processing fees

Students who fail to attend individual courses during a term will not be dropped from courses by the college. Students are responsible for keeping a current and accurate enrollment each term. Changes to enrollment requested after published deadlines will involve a petition process and, if approved, late fees. See the sections below on Change of Registration and Student Schedule

Students who have been deregistered for the semester must reapply to the College to return to student status in subsequent terms.

Religious Holiday Policy

Augustana College celebrates the importance of religious expression in the lives of our students and “offers every student the opportunity to develop a life-shaping spirituality." (See also The Five Faith Commitments of Augustana College). Consistent with our commitment to creating an academic community that welcomes and respects religious diversity, we commit ourselves to making every reasonable effort to support students in observing major religious holidays without academic or co-curricular penalty.

Students are required to notify their instructor in advance that they must miss class in order to observe a religious holiday and must make prior arrangements with the instructor to complete work missed during their absence. Faculty and/or students who seek college support in this process should contact the Registrar well in advance of the anticipated holiday. Final exams or other exam week requirements that may overlap with a religious holiday must be petitioned using the Exam Week Policies standards adopted by the faculty.

The Office of Campus Ministries will maintain on its website a calendar of the most important holidays in major religious traditions. While the college encourages students to celebrate any cultural customs and traditions that hold personal significance, we are not able to excuse students from class attendance or participation in course requirements for cultural observations.  

Questions that arise in carrying out this policy should be addressed to the College Registrar or the Office of Academic Affairs.

Approved by Faculty Senate 12.4.08

Registration

New students

New students entering in the Fall semester register on designated days in during the summer or just prior to the start of classes. Students entering of Spring semester register during Spring Welcome event prior to the start of Spring semester. The Admissions Office communicate the exact dates to students. 

Continuing and former students

See the Academic Calendar for the current registration dates and times.

Courses numbered at the 300 and 400 level are intended primarily for students who have earned junior or senior classifica­tion, though sophomores may enroll in upper-division courses with the approval of the academic advisor. First-year students may enroll in any sequential course(s) for which they have already established qualifications.

 

Special Registration Arrangement Policies

In general all students will follow the registration priority assignment policies and procedures outlined by the Office of the Registrar. However, there are a few exceptions to those protocols as well as a few specific guidelines regarding limitations on registration noted here. 

Enrollment for SportsThe same registration expectations and policies exist for HEPE courses as published for all coursework. Students are exclusively responsible for registration.

  • Priority Registration: NCAA rostered student-athletes will not be provided priority registration and shall register with their cohort as assigned, with one exception. When practice facility space is at a premium, the college will institute priority registration for one rotating NCAA varsity athletic program for Spring semester. Implementation will be coordinated annually between the Office of the Registrar, Advising, and the Athletic Department. Registration procedures will be communicated to the designed student-athletes from the Office of Advising and the Office of the Registrar.  Rostered student-athletes on the designated team must adhere to all other registration policies and procedures, including required advising meetings and clearing all registration restrictions in advance of their priority registration. This will be extended only to rostered, eligible student-athletes in the designated program.
  • Credit for Varsity Sport or Club Sport: Student athletes may register for their varsity sport for credit one time to fulfill one of the required HEPE (PEA) requirements for graduation. Other students participating in club sports may check to see if their club sport is eligible for HEPE (PEA) credit. Each student must take the responsibility to register themselves for their course during the semester it is taken and it may not be added for a previous term or academic year. Students who do not make a varsity team, leave a team or club sport, become injured or cannot successfully complete the season or stop attending are required to drop the course. While the instructor should report attendance or enrollment irregularities to the Registrar immediately, student are responsible for accurate enrollment. The enrollment and drop process will not be handled by the Registrar, the advisor or the athletic department. As is the case with all credit-bearing coursework, it is the responsibility for the student to assure proper registration. 

Enrollment for First-Year Plus Students: Registration times after the first term of enrollment for FY+ students are determined by the number of pre-enrollment credits earned prior to first enrollment with the college and as outlined in the Registration Priority Assignment Policy. First-Year Plus students are determined by meeting the following requirements: 

  • Are first-year, degree-seeking students, whose most recent educational experience prior to first enrollment at Augustana was in high school
  • Have completed 45 or more transferable credits of dual enrollment coursework (does not including testing credit) 
  • Has official transcript(s) including 45 or more transferable credits on file in the Registrar’s Office prior to the first day of classes of their first term of Augustana enrollment.

While the Augustana degree is designed by faculty as a 4-year (8 semester) degree path culminating in the 8th semester, the college does not prohibit students from graduating early if they make best use of their credits to do so. However, the college does not guarantee early graduation for FY+ students and will not waive faculty policy to enable early graduation. 

Enrollment for Students with Approved Accommodations: Students who have an approved priority registration accommodation will be provided priority registration one day prior to the students in their cohort for the first registration window of each enrollment cycle. Only the Office of Disability Services will approve a priority registration accommodation. Students with accommodations who wish to make changes to their enrollment after their first assigned time, will not be provided priority registration in successive enrollment windows, and will need to use the standard enrollment times published on the Academic Calendar

Enrollment in Non-Standard Length Courses: Most Augustana courses are 14-weeks in length and considered "standard length."  Full-time students may not enroll in more than 5 credits of "non-standard length" coursework in a given semester. 

Enrollment in Overlapping Coursework: Department of Education regulations stipulate that students may not enroll in courses with overlapping meeting times. Regardless of the type of educational experience (lab, lecture, lesson, ensemble, internship, field experience, etc.), instructional modality (online, face-to-face, synchronous or asynchronous) number of credits (credit or no-credit) or grading type (graded, audit, pass/no-credit), students cannot be in two places at one time, which would truncate their required seat time, and therefore this is prohibited. 

Concurrent Registration: Registration with another institution is also prohibited for full time degree-seeking students. See policies on Advanced Standing.

Cabinet adopted February 2019

Authentication of identity and registration for summer online courses

Students will register for online summer school courses through Arches. Faculty teaching an online summer course will use Moodle as the learning platform. Students are required to authenticate their identity by logging in to Moodle by using their college-assigned username and password. Students are reminded they should never share their username and password. As a condition of continued enrollment, students have signed the Communication and Technology Acknowledgement form and have read the Honor Code and signed the Honor Pledge.

Auditors

Degree-seeking students should not enroll for coursework as an auditor as it will not count toward full-time status and is not eligible for financial aid or scholarships. See Course Repeat and Replacement Policy for details on repeating coursework. An audited course does not factor in the grade-point average. Non-Augustana students who wish to audit a course must apply using the Special Student Application available on the website and will pay the full tuition fees associated with the coursework. (See Schedule of Student Charges for tuition and fees.) These additional parameters apply to audited courses:

  • Once enrolled in a course for audit, a student is not permitted to change that enrollment status to a credit bearing status.
  • Students enrolled in a course for credit are not permitted to change to audit status once the term has started.
  • Students enrolled for an audit need not complete course assignments or tests unless their home department needs that assessment information for their prerequisite purposes.
  • Audited courses do not serve as prerequisites for other Augustana courses.
  • Audited courses do not count toward full-time status or financial aid calculations, but do count toward calculating tuition credits.
  • A final assessment of the assignments, tests and overall performance will not be available for the student for any courses taken as an auditor. 

 

Enrollment limitations and restrictions

An enrolled students is defined as an individual who has credits on their official schedule with the college for the defined term.  During the academic year, students must carry a credit load above zero credits in order to be considered and counted as an enrolled student. If a student enrolls in a zero credit experience, they must also enroll in additional coursework that carries credits during that term. During the summer term, student may carry a zero credit load. 

Students are not permitted to register for courses that meet during the same time block/period. In rare and unusual circumstances, when no other arrangements can be made and the student is in a hardship situation, a student may request permission to register for courses that have a small overlap in start and end times if both instructors consent. Prior permission from both instructors and the College Registrar is required. 

The college may restrict students from enrollment in any coursework for future terms for a variety of reasons:

  • Failure to adhere to academic or administrative policies or incomplete paperwork
  • Behavioral/disciplinary reasons
  • Medical/health reasons
  • Outstanding financial obligations

Students will be notified in writing (hard copy and/or by email) of the above restrictions in time for students to make arrangements to clear the hold in the appropriate administrative office prior to registration. While this is not an exhaustive list, some of the most common requirements for continued enrollment include:

  • Final high school and/or college transcript on file
  • Updated emergency contact information
  • Declaring a major at the point of 60 credits earned
  • Current immunization records on file
  • Signed honor pledge on file
  • Signed communication agreement on file
  • Completed "Alcohol Edu" online program
  • Completed sexual assault awareness training
  • Completed the "Diversity" on-line program
  • Meeting with an academic advisor
  • Financial Aid documents complete
  • Tuition and fees paid
  • Required service hours complete (as assigned by Dean of Students)
  • Application to graduate complete (for those with senior standing or near-senior status, see email reminders)
  • Student is in good academic and social standing with the college
  • Student is deemed to be in good physical and mental health (as determined by the Dean of Students Office)

                                                                                                                      Approved by EPC 10.14.15

Registration Term Credit Limit Policy and Registration Surplus Requests

Students may register for up to 18 credits per semester and one 4-credit J-term experience through Arches. Students seeking to register for a surplus (more than 18 credits in a single term) are required to make a Registration Surplus Request to the Committee on Advanced Standing and Degrees (AS&D) with support of their academic advisor.

Students who have music coursework (MULS, MUEN, MUCH) courses that will take them above 18 credits for the semester do not need to seek a registration surplus approval. The student should contact their advisor and the Office of the Registrar at the time the online add form is submitted at registraroffice@augustana.edu in order to enroll in these additional sections. Forms will be deleted after 10 days if no support is provided.

Students enrolling in Summer Session are limited to one 4-credit course. In rare instances, students may request to take a summer internship that begins after the Augustana summer session ends for a total maximum of 12 maximum credits across the summer. Summer surplus beyond those limits are not approved. Only petitions from students with a strong academic record will be considered. First-year students require the approval of the Director of Advising. Students will be notified by email of the results within five business days. If approved, students are responsible for understanding and monitoring their annual credit limits and, if term surplus approvals take them over the caps noted below, they will be responsible for any overload fees incurred. Completed forms are due prior to day two of the term of anticipated enrollment surplus. Forms are available online. 

                                                                                                                                     edited for clarification 2.22.19

Overloads

Please see the catalog section of Registration Course Load and Tuition Overload Policies for detailed information. See also the Schedule of Student Charges for overload fees.

Change of registration

Enrollment changes happen during published registration periods when Arches is open, or when add and drops may be performed by online form. Generally, if a late add/drop is approved, late fees starting at $80.00 are applied after the add/drop period is over, including $20.00 per week after the deadline has passed. A change of registration may be made with the approval of the student’s academic advisor and the instructor, and is valid only when completed and submitted by the student and approved by the Office of the Registrar. Students must consult the Academic Calendar for all add/drop/withdrawal deadlines. Students may request an exception to these policies only under rare and exceptional circumstances beyond the student's control, but within the requirements of the college auditor and accreditor regulations. To petition, see the Academic Policy section of the catalog.

Students who wish to petition a change in registration from a previous term due to clerical error must petition the change within the same academic year. Petitions received after this deadline will not be accepted in order to meet regulatory requirements. See also Credits and Registration & Attendance policies on this page. Late fees apply for missed deadlines (see Schedule of Student Charges .) Requests for changes in enrollment from a previous academic year are strictly prohibited. 

In accordance with state regulations, students who drop any coursework after the published deadlines will have a "W" (withdrawal) grade marked on the transcript.

Anyone terminating attendance in a course without approval and without following specified procedures will receive an “F” grade in the course.

Students accused of academic dishonesty in a class will not be permitted to drop the course involved until they have either been cleared of the allegation or have the permission of both the instructor and the Dean of Students.

In accordance with accreditor and regulatory guidelines, students must start and complete all coursework within the published start and end dates of the term of enrollment as defined on the college Academic Calendar. Students may not extend coursework beyond the term, except under the explicit guidelines outlined in the Incomplete Grade Policy. Students must enroll for coursework during the term the work is completed. This includes all credit-bearing and non-credit bearing, graded and ungraded, senior inquiry, internships, service learning and all modalities and instructional delivery methods. Credit will not be earned if they fall outside of these parameters. 

Student schedule

Students will have academic advising assistance available to them in the weeks prior to registration. The college requires all students seek out their academic advisor prior to registration. Arches is available 24 hours a day and displays the student schedule with a secure login. With the exception of a required remedial course required for some student enrollment or courses required for scholarship, the college will not automatically register students for coursework. Adding and dropping courses within published deadlines is the responsibility of the student. The responsibility for registering for appropriate classes for satisfactory progress toward the degree within all published enrollment deadlines and maintaining an accurate class schedule each term rests entirely with the student.

 

Important dates and deadlines for the term

See the Academic Calendar for exact add and drop deadlines. Students submitting electronic add/drop will be routed to advisor and instructor for support. Incomplete enrollment forms will not be processed. 

For information about open courses please consult Arches, the official online catalog or the academic department.

After submitting enrollment permits, students should check Arches the same day to see that their schedules are correct. It is the responsibility of the student to check and maintain a current and accurate course schedule. If you see inconsistencies, please contact the Office of the Registrar immediately.

All drops must be processed in Arches or by a properly completed form and submitted by the published deadline. Instructors may drop you from the roster for failure to attend the first two class meetings and allow another student to add. However, it is the responsibility of the student to check and maintain a current and accurate course schedule.

A complete list of dates and deadlines appears on the Academic Calendar.

Full-Time Status

As always, consult your academic advisor and your financial aid package before dropping courses that may impact your billing, campus housing eligibility, financial assistance and NCAA eligibility. To maintain full-time status at Augustana, you must have a minimum load of 12 credits per semester.

Special Policies Related to J-term Enrollment

January-term (J-term) is designed as a single, unique and intensive learning opportunity for our entire campus community. To meet that objective, students may only register for ONE J-term experience. In nearly all cases, that experience is a 4-credit course (some study away experiences have a different model in J-term). Students may not combine a J-term course registration with an internship, research or directed study experience.  

A comprehensive list of J-term all academic and administrative policies and procedures for J-term may be found HERE