Summary
Students may adjust their schedules as needed each term during the regular drop/add period. These schedule adjustments are made by students in Wolverine Access. Drops after the regular deadline are possible. They are considered ‘Late’ (see below for details).
Regular Drop/Add Period
The regular drop/add period is approximately three weeks after the first day of classes for full-term courses (two weeks after the start of a half-term course). Please see the Registrar’s Calendar for official drop/add deadline dates (make sure you filter the results for the correct term).
Late Drops
After the regular drop/add deadline, students may request a late drop for a course using Wolverine Access. Before dropping a course, students are encouraged to discuss the consequences of doing so with their instructor and an academic advisor. Late drops require multiple layers of approval, the first of which is the instructor.
Late Drop Eligibility/Timeline
- Taubman College Undergraduate students may submit late drop requests by the Week Nine deadline each term. This is effective as of Fall 2024 to align with the common timeline for undergraduates across campus.
- Taubman College Graduate students may submit late drop requests through the last day of classes for the current term.
Impact of a Late Drop
A ‘W’ (withdrawal) grade will be posted to the transcript for all late dropped courses, regardless of the reason for the drop. W grades do not impact a student’s GPA. Tuition and fees are not reduced even if a student drops below full-time credit status.
Dropping a course may result in extra time and costs to complete a degree. Students should meet with an academic advisor to discuss how their degree progression and time to completion may be affected.
Late Drop Procedure
To submit a Late Drop Request, a student must:
- Go to their Backpack/Registration page in Wolverine Access.
- Select the DROP tab at the top of the screen.
- Select the course to drop, click ‘Proceed to Step Two’.
- On the confirmation screen, verify you selected the correct class and click the ‘Finish Dropping’ button.
- If you are eligible to submit the Late Drop request form electronically, a ‘Request for Late Drop’ button displays to the right of the red ‘X’. Click the button to access the form. Answer the questions and click ‘Submit Request’ at the bottom. Students will receive a confirmation email.
- If you are not eligible to submit a request, an error message is displayed.
- Once your request is submitted it will automatically be sent to the course instructor for approval. Their approval will forward the request to Taubman College Student Affairs for college approval. Finally, the request will be processed by the central Office of the Registrar.
This process may take several days. The time of submission by the student is recorded and is the step that must be completed by the appropriate deadline.
After the Late Drop Deadline
After the late drop deadline, individual courses may not be added or dropped. However, a student with extenuating circumstances may petition to request an exception to the late drop deadline, if they have spoken with their instructor and an incomplete is not possible. Such requests are rarely granted and only in the case of exceptional circumstances. This petition process only applies to undergraduate students since their late drop deadline is in the ninth week (Graduate students would instead pursue a retroactive withdrawal as outlined below).
Petition for an Exception to the Undergraduate Late Drop Deadline
Poor academic performance is not an acceptable reason for a late drop after the drop/add deadline. Late drop exceptions are rarely approved and only in exceptional circumstances. An exception to the late drop deadline may only be considered if all of these conditions are met:
- A serious, documented non-academic event or issue occurred after the late drop deadline.
- The non-academic event/issue prevented the student from finishing the class.
- The student was passing the class up to the point they stopped attending.
- The student can explain why/how the non-academic event/issue impacted the class they are asking to drop but not their other classes.
Petition Process
To petition for an exception to the Undergraduate Late Drop Deadline, a student must complete the form below which requires a rationale for the request (including a detailed chronology of events and explanation of why they could not drop the class by the late drop deadline) and allows for the submission of supporting statements and documentation (related to serious illness or hospitalization, accident or police reports, proof of significant personal dislocation, etc).
Once submitted, Taubman College Student Affairs will contact the course instructor for comments on their experience with the student in the specified course. They will be asked to provide the student’s last date of participation, dates and outcomes for all major assignments, as well as feedback on the student’s attendance, academic standing, contact/communication with instructor(s), and the possibility of an incomplete.
The information gathered by Taubman College Student Affairs will be compiled and presented to the appropriate degree director and/or program chair for review. Taubman College Student Affairs will notify the student of the status and result of their petition.
Dropping All Courses
Students interested in dropping all of their courses at any point in the term would need to request a term withdrawal. A student who terminates their enrollment during the term is required to officially withdraw. The student is responsible for initiating the withdrawal; they should contact the Taubman College Registrar (TaubmanCollegeAdvising@umich.edu). Any refund of tuition and fees is handled in accordance with University regulations and Tuition Refund Policy.
Unofficial Drops
An unofficial drop is when the student does not complete a course and does not obtain permission for a withdrawal. Unofficial drops are recorded on the academic record as an “ED”. Provided the course is taken for a letter grade, an “ED” will be counted as an “E” when calculating grade point averages and no credit is awarded toward the degree.
Retroactive Drop/Add/Withdrawal
A retroactive withdrawal is defined as a request made to withdraw from a course or term after the last day of classes. Any changes to the student’s enrollment record after the last day of classes are retroactive and should be considered an exception to University and Rackham policy. The University has a fiduciary responsibility to maintain an actual accounting of class and student enrollment totals to state, federal and other agencies. As such, at no point after the term has ended will a class be removed from the student record. It will remain on the record with a grade of “W”, if the exception is approved. Any request to retroactively withdraw from the term must be approved by the College and must meet the following conditions to be considered:
- If a student took the final exam or otherwise completed the course, it is not eligible for a retroactive drop.
- Changes will be considered only within twelve months from the end of the term.
- There must be a compelling case with sufficient documentation to support the appropriateness of the exception, which includes a justification for why the student did not seek an incomplete or withdrawal during the term.
- The retroactive withdrawal must apply to all classes in the term unless a physical health problem prevented the student from finishing a particular class.
To obtain Taubman College approval, a student must first contact Taubman College Student Affairs (taubmancollegeadvising@umich.edu). If approved by the College, the request will be submitted to the University Registrar’s Office for review, approval, and processing.