Office of Academic Advising
Academic Advising Handbook

Knowing the Rules

The Undergraduate Catalog contains most of the information relating to policies and regulations that both students and advisors need to know. This section of the Handbook is intended to supplement the information in the Catalog. Further information and clarification is available from the Registrar's Office and from the Office of Academic Advising.

  1. Students' Right to Privacy (The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974)

    Legally, students' educational records are considered confidential. Release of student information is governed by FERPA (also known as "The Buckley Amendment").

    Academic advisors/faculty members are required by FERPA to follow these guidelines:

    • If a parent requests information about a son or daughter, you should first check with the Registrar's Office to determine if the student has declared "independent status." Unless a student notifies the Registrar's Office in writing to the contrary, WPI considers all undergraduate students to be dependents of their parents. However, if a student has declared "independent status," no information can be released to the parent without the student's written consent.

    • Be careful about giving information out over the telephone. It may be difficult to determine the identity of the caller. Therefore, whenever possible, discussions about students' educational records should occur in person. If you must use the telephone, you need to take measures to ensure the identity of the person calling. For example, you could take the caller's phone number, confirm it with the Registrar's Office, and then call the parent back.

    • Grades cannot be posted by student ID number or by name. It is not legal to post grades in this manner.

  2. Registration and Scheduling Procedures

    Because so much of academic advising revolves around developing a plan of courses, advisors need to understand WPI's registration and scheduling process and how advisors, departments, the advising and registrar's offices, and the scheduling officer work together to help students register their courses. The following is an overview of the registration process, followed by some specific comments regarding advisors and the registration function.

    The scheduling and registration process is a joint effort involving departments, through department chairs, and the administration, through the scheduler and the advising and registrar's office. The process begins with the development of the catalog. WPI's catalog contains only the course descriptions, but not the listing of course offerings by term for the next academic year.

    The catalog is distributed at the beginning of C Term in order to be used for Advising Day in mid-C Term, the period when students plan their courses for the entire next academic year.

    After students meet with their advisor on Advising Day, they receive an information card, which allows access to the web-based system for registration. Students who do not meet with their advisor can be blocked from registration if the advisor returns the unclaimed information card to the Office of Academic Advising. When students register via the web, it is a "live" registration. Students need to be advised to use the waitlist process, as this is the mechanism we use to determine the true demand for a course.

    Advisors need to be aware of the following procedures:

    • Overloads: Overloads are not permitted over the web; students must go to the registrar's office. Overloads are not permitted until the first day of classes for the respective term. Students must first obtain the signature of their academic advisor before attempting to register. Check the current catalog for the current overload fees. For project overloads, students must obtain the signature of their academic advisor and must complete the Project Overload Form. Please note that at WPI the students are ultimately responsible for making the decisions about their schedules. Therefore, your signature does not necessarily mean "permission" for overloading, but rather, it means that you have discussed the options with the student.

    • Wait lists: Wait lists for closed courses are established chronologically. Students must claim approved seats during the posted time. Wait lists are discontinued the day before classes start and remaining seats are offered to students on a first-come, first-served basis. The typical advice given to students regarding wait listing courses includes the following:

      1. While you have nothing to lose by putting your name on the wait list, always have an alternate plan in mind in case the wait list process does not work
      2. Never miss a class while waiting for the process to work
      3. Don't drop a class until after you have been approved off the wait list
      4. Be patient and keep checking back -- the process works most of the time!

    • Consortium registration: Consortium registration information and forms are available at the Registrar's office. Students need signatures in both the Registrar's office and Academic Advising before taking the form to the institution during their designated enrollment period. Academic advisor's signatures are not required on the registration form.

    • Late schedule changes: Generally, the week that classes start changes can be made at no charge. Advisees should be encouraged to make all changes by the first day or two of classes. Once the add/drop period has ended, late fees apply. No changes are generally accepted after the fourth week of classes.

    • Project and ISP registration: Registration for all project activity is conducted by the registrar's office using the Project Registration Form. The same late fee schedule applies to project and ISP registrations.

  3. Academic Reviews

    Academic reviews are conducted at the conclusion of Terms B and D. The standard for determining satisfactory academic progress is twofold:
    • 4/3 units of earned credit during the two previous terms

      AND

    • 8/3 units of earned credit during the four previous terms.
    Advisors and parents of dependent students are notified of students who fail to meet these standards.

  4. Financial Aid

    In order to retain financial aid, students must earn at least 8/3 units at WPI (10/3 if full time E term is included) during the academic year. If a student is placed on probation or reclassified for any reason, the student will lose financial aid. Financial aid is ordinarily available for a period of 16 terms. For students whose satisfactory progress toward a degree extends beyond 16 terms, such as those pursuing a double major, financial aid for the extended period will normally be available through loans. Students must petition for financial aid past the period of 16 terms regardless.

  5. Petitions

    Students may petition through the Registrar's Office to the Committee on Academic Operations (CAO) for reconsideration of the academic status of warning, probation, or suspension or for other unusual circumstances warranting special consideration. Petition forms are available in the Registrar's Office. Students are requested, but not required, to obtain the academic advisor's signature.

    Students who have lost their financial aid because they failed to meet the eligibility requirements may, in cases that involve unusual or extenuating circumstances, such as documented medical problems, file a petition with the Financial Aid Office. These petitions are accepted on a rolling basis and handled on a case by case basis by the financial aid review committee.

    Academic advisors may be asked by students to write recommendations or supply supporting letters to supplement their petitions.

  6. Transfer Credit

    The Admissions Office coordinates evaluation of transfer credit earned prior to matriculation at WPI. To obtain transfer credit after matriculation to WPI, students should pick up the Transfer Credit Authorization Form at the Academic Advising Office and obtain the authorizing signatures before registering for the course. Upon successful completion of the activity, the students should request that an official transcript be sent directly to WPI's Registrar's Office.

  7. Advanced Placement Credit

    Advanced Placement credit is awarded to those students who take the Advanced Placement Examinations and score a "4" or "5" on the exam. The Office of Academic Advising will notify students in early August of credit earned through Advanced Placement testing.

    Credit is awarded in the following way:

    • Any Humanities exam will result in credit for HU 1100, the H&A Department's code for all transfer credit. The Sufficiency advisor will ultimately decide if this credit is appropriate for use in the final project.

    • Elective credit for basic science is given for the exams in Biology and the Physics B exam. This credit is posted as BB 1000 or PH 1000, respectively. This credit counts in the distribution requirements as basic science, but does not replace any WPI course. Students who have earned this credit need to be advised regarding "skipping" WPI's first course in the sciences. These students can be referred to the department or the professor who teaches the first course.

    • In Chemistry students who score 4 or 5 on the AP exam will receive credit for CH 1010. Students are eligible to earn credit for other chem courses by achieving scores of 70 or better on course specific exams offered by the Chem Dept.

    • In Mathematics, students who earn credit by taking the Calculus AB exam, are awarded credit for MA 1021 and MA 1022. Those who take the Calculus BC exam receive credit for MA 1021, MA1022, and MA 1023. These exams have proven to be excellent predictors of where a student should start in our Mathematics sequence.

    • If students earn credit by taking the Physics C: Mechanics exam, they receive credit for PH 1110. The Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism exam is equal to PH 1120. Note: students who receive credit for these should not take the PH 1111/1121 sequence as these will be considered repeated courses.

    • Computer Science credit is granted for CS 1000 (elective credit) for the A-level exam; an additional 1/3 unit is granted for the A-B-level exam.

    • In social science, the Government and Politics exam earns credit for SS 1000, which is elective credit. The Micro Economics exam is equal to SS 1110, and the Macro Economics exam is equal to SS 1120.

    Other ways to earn advanced credit include retroactive credit for successful completion of courses in mathematics, computer science, or foreign language. See the Undergraduate Catalog for details.

    Foreign exams such as the International Baccalaureate, the French Baccalaureate, the English A Level exams are eligible for credit and are handled on a case by case basis through the Office of Academic Advising.

  8. Changing Majors, Changing Advisors

    More than one-half of WPI students change majors at least once. Because WPI students are admitted to the University, not to a specific program, changing majors is a simple process. Each year, during B Term, we ask all first year students to discuss their major with their advisor and then submit the Major Declaration Form to the Office of Academic Advising. However, the change forms are available at any time for students who wish to change majors. These forms are also available on the Web. Students who need help declaring a major or who wish to discuss the various options, should be referred to the Major Selection Program in the Career Development Center.

    Students who change their major usually change their advisor. However, students can change advisors for any reason. Conversely, advisors can request that the Advising Office assign an advisee to another advisor for any reason.

    Major and advisor changes are processed on a weekly basis. Students, advisors, and departments are notified by a computerized form. Current advisors are asked to promptly forward the advising folder to the new advisor.

  9. Student Judicial Policies and Procedures

    All advisors, and all members of the WPI community, should be familiar with the policies governing behavior on the campus. The Student Life Office has produced a publication, "The Campus Planner & Resource Guide," which documents WPI's policies and the code of conduct that all WPI students are expected to observe (in addition to providing a calendar, list of campus dates and events, and a guide to campus and community services). This publication chronicles the procedure by which a member of the WPI community may be brought before the various judicial or administrative boards and the sanctions, which may be levied, for infractions.

    The publication contains WPI's Campus Code, the Academic Honesty Policy, the Policy Concerning Students with Learning Disabilities, the Sexual Harassment Policy, WPI Drug and Alcohol Policy, and other policies and procedures advisors may need for reference. Advisors are encouraged to review this publication on an annual basis.

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Last modified: May 31, 2007 10:48:44