Registration takes place during the dates specified in the College Academic Calendar. New students will be informed of registration procedures at the time of application processing or through individual assistance from Student Services or academic advisors and at www.wpcc.edu. Actual registration will be preceded by a conference with a counselor in Student Services or with an assigned faculty advisor for the purpose of selecting courses and program. Registration is not final until all procedures have been completed, including payment of tuition and other financial obligations. Students will not receive credit for any course for which proper registration has not been completed.
Student Classification
The classification of a student depends upon the number of college credits the student has earned or the number of semester hours credit (SHC) in which the student is enrolled.
Full-time
A student enrolled in at least twelve (12) semester hours credit of curriculum classes during the semester.
Part-time
A student enrolled in fewer than twelve (12) semester hours credit of curriculum classes during the semester.
Freshman
A student with fewer than thirty (30) semester hours of earned credits.
Sophomore
A student with thirty (30) or more semester hours of earned credits.
Special
A student enrolled in credit courses but not in a specified program of study.
Academic Year
The academic year is made up of two sixteen week semesters (fall and spring) and an eight week summer semester. Certain courses each semester may be offered on abbreviated schedules. The course schedule for each term will indicate beginning and ending dates for these mini-semesters. Students may enter at the beginning of any semester if students meet the course/program entrance requirements. Some programs may be entered only at the beginning of the fall semester. For specific dates, see the College Academic Calendar published in this catalog.
Credit and Contact Hours
Credit for college work is recorded in semester hours credit (SHC). One SHC is awarded for one contact hour of classroom work, two or three contact hours of laboratory, three contact hours of clinical/shop or ten hours of work experience per week for a term of sixteen weeks or the equivalent. A contact hour is the actual class time that students attend class, laboratory, clinical, or shop per week. This information is given for each course in the Course Descriptions section of this catalog.
Registration Changes (Schedule Adjustments)
Necessary changes in registration may be made during the schedule adjustment period. Schedule adjustment periods are published in our Semester Guide, located on our website at Class Schedule>Semester Guide>Schedule Adjustment Procedures.
Students must complete the schedule adjustment card for all courses or course sections changed. The form is not official until all procedures have been completed, including payment of additional tuition and/or other financial obligations. A course dropped during the add-drop period does not appear on student transcript.
Program Changes
Curriculum students considering a program change are encouraged to discuss objectives with his/her advisor or a counselor. A Change of Program Form must be completed by students and returned to Student Services. When students change from one program to another, any course taken in the first program which is applicable to the new program will be carried with the grade earned in that course. These course grades will be used in the calculation of the program GPA.
The courses allowed for transfer into the new program will be determined by the coordinator of that program in consultation with the student and the Director of Records and Registration. This policy shall also apply to students who change from a “Special Student” to a program major. Veterans must receive approval from the Veterans Affairs Office on campus to change programs.
Multiple program changes can cause a student to lose financial aid. It is recommended that students consult with Financial Aid before making a change to his/her program of study.
Program changes are processed through the Office of the Director of Records and Registration and are completed at the end of the current semester in which the student made the request.
Course Substitutions
Core course substitutions may be made only for courses in the arts and sciences discipline areas. All other substitutions must be approved by student petition or course substitution form. In no case shall the combined total of any transfer credit hours, credit by exam hours and course substitution hours represent more than one-half of the specified number of hours required for the degree or diploma toward which students are applying those credits.
Schedule Overloads
The minimum number of semester hours credit required to qualify as a full-time student is twelve (12). No student may take more than twenty-one (21) semester hours credit without written permission. Students enrolled in a condensed semester must obtain written permission to register for more than fourteen (14) credit hours.
Students requesting to take overloads must meet the following criteria:
- Students cannot register into an overload status in his/her first semester at Western Piedmont Community College,
- Cumulative GPA must be at least 3.0; and,
- Students cannot be taking developmental courses during an overload status.
Students must complete a “Curriculum Overload Approval Form” with his/her academic advisor. The form must then be approved by the Vice President for Academic and Student Success and forwarded to the Office of the Director of Records and Registration. If this form is not completed, and submitted as required, the student’s schedule may be adjusted by the Director of Records and Registration in order to drop the total credit hours below overload status.
Withdrawal from Courses or College
Students may withdraw after the ten percent point of the semester, or after the official refund period of the term, by contacting the instructor of the course, either in person or via email. The instructor will process the withdrawal information through WPCC’s electronic forms process, sending the information to Student Services.
Students who violate the attendance policy of a course may be withdrawn from that course by the instructor. All obligations to the College must be met by the withdrawing student. The College reserves the right to withhold records and to deny registration until all obligations are met.
A grade of “W” or “IW” will be recorded if withdrawal is on or before the fifty-percent point of the course, regardless of the procedure used for the withdrawal. After the fifty-percent point, a “W” or “IW” grade will be recorded if students were satisfactorily achieving the course objectives at the time of withdrawal; otherwise a grade of “F” may be recorded.
Students contemplating withdrawal from the College are encouraged to talk with a counselor or a faculty advisor before completing the withdrawal process.
No student-initiated withdrawals will be processed the last week of the term.