Undergraduate Late Drop and Semester Withdrawal

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There are two types of approved late withdrawals: WA and WB. Both show on the official transcript as a “W”.  The symbol “W” on the official transcript indicates that the student was approved to withdraw from the course after the drop deadline. It carries no connotation of quality of the student's performance and is not used in calculating grade point average or progress points.

• What is considered a WA drop/withdrawal?

  • WA is assigned for serious and compelling reasons that a student might have had the opportunity to anticipate prior to the semester drop deadline.

    Undergraduate Students (including Open University and Special Session) are limited to 18 units of WA drops.
    Postbaccalaureate students are limited to 12 units.

• What is considered a WB drop/withdrawal?

  • WB is assigned for serious and compelling reasons that are clearly beyond the student's control, usually emergencies. 

    There is NO unit limit.

We recommend gathering required documentation before submitting any petition to avoid denial/cancellation of request. Open University students need to use the Undergraduate Late Course Drop/Semester Withdrawal forms.

• Instructions and Petition Forms

  • 1. Read the Petition Instructions carefully to avoid delays in processing your petition. 

    2. Attach personal statement addressing: 1) the extenuating circumstance (timeline of events include dates). 2) How it affected your ability to succeed academically. 3) Why was the drop not done before the drop deadline (September 19, 2023), 4) Why are you only dropping a single course or set of course and not withdrawing from the semester (if applicable); and 5) How will dropping one or all your courses help you to succeed?

    3. Attach supporting documentation: related to your extenuating circumstance(s). Documents must show the students name (or family member's name), and dates. Please see FAQ's. All documentation is subject to verification. 

    4. Complete the petition form: available September 19, 2023, to 5 pm on November 13, 2023.  Students must meet with an Advisor after this date, Fall 2023 drops/withdrawals are now considered retroactive and can only be initiated with an Advisor Recommendation . 

     

NOTE: Approval of your late course drop, or semester withdrawal petition does not guarantee a refund of tuition and fees, or financial aid. Please contact the Bursar’s Office or the Financial Aid Office regarding this.  For the Winter and Summer session please contact College of Professional and Global Education (CPGE).

• How to request and initiate a retroactive course drop/withdrawal for a previous semester AND Fall 2023.

  • To initiate a retroactive course drop/withdrawal petition, students must first meet with an academic advisor (see directory) to discuss their extenuating circumstances and if a retroactive drop/withdrawal from a previous semester is appropriate. If so, an advisor needs to provide a recommendation to Undergraduate Education via Google Form provided to them by Undergraduate Education.

    Advisors can check with their directors or email undergraduate-education@sjsu.edu to obtain the Google Form. The Google form is for Advisor use only and should now be used to recommend retroactive course drops and withdrawals.

    Fall 2023 retroactive course drops/withdrawals will be initiated starting December 22, 2023.

• ** IMPORTANT NOTE: **  Priority of Drops and Withdrawals

  • Priority of Drops and Withdrawals

    Undergraduate Education will prioritize processing ‘late course drops and withdrawals’ that have been submitted by students by the semester withdrawal deadline. 

• Note to Advisors and Students

  • 1. Please verify that the student has evidence/support documentation before sending recommendation to avoid delays/denial of request. 
    2. Please verify that the student is aware of potential impacts to financial aid funds, veteran benefits, living on-campus, visa status, and/or athletic status. 
    3. Dropping second attempt grade forgiveness courses, first attempts grades are restored and recalculated in the GPA. 
    4. Retroactive Forms are initiated in DocuSign.
    5. Two emails are sent to the student; the first email is to inform the student that a retroactive form was initiated on their behalf. The second is an email with a link to complete the petition and attach their personal statement and supporting documentation.
    6. Forms expire in 120 days. It is the student's responsibility to contact Undergraduate Education to extend the deadline should the form be close to expiring or it has expired. 

• What is Not considered a reason for granting a drop/Withdrawal?

  • The following are not considered serious and compelling:

    - anticipating you may earn a low or failing grade

    - non-attendance

    - not being able to handle class workload 

    - deciding to change majors after the deadline to add/drop classes

    - not meeting course prerequisite(s)

    - not being aware of a deadline

    - taking too many units

    - not liking the class

    - not knowing how or when to drop

    - Major/minor does not require course 

    - not eligible for Summer (or Winter) Session financial aid

• If my instructor signed the late drop petition, does that mean the petition was approved?

  • No, the petition is a formal notice of your intent to drop the course and the instructor’s signature is an acknowledgment of your intent to drop the course. 
    
    It is recommended that you talk with or email your instructor about your intent to drop. Alternatives such as an "Incomplete" grade may be possible in certain circumstances. 

• My instructor does not use their SJSU email, what should I do?

  • You should use your instructor's SJSU email when initiating the DocuSign. You can then inform your instructor (via their preferred email or in-person) that the DocuSign petition was sent to their SJSU email.

• What are examples of evidence/support documentation?

  • Supporting documentation must show your extenuating circumstance(s) and must match the dates of the term in which you are requesting the drop/withdrawal. All documentation is subject to verification. 

    Please remove all personal, sensitive information from documentation before uploading it to DocuSign (e.g., Social Security Number (SSN), Medical Record Number (MRN), birth date, credit card info, etc.):

    Medical Related (self or immediate family): letter(s) from physician and/or Healthcare Provider Form [pdf]

    Mental Health: letter(s) from counselor, therapist, psychiatrist, and/or Healthcare Provider Form [pdf]

    Employment Related: letter from employer on letterhead or work schedule (clearly identifying hours, change in schedule, or hiring date)

    Death (in the Family)¹: death certificate or obituary/memorial service card (if certificate cannot be issued)—documents must include dates and personal statement must identify how the individual is related to you.

    Personal/Financial Hardships²: documents identifying hardships (student name and dates must show on the documentation)

    Legal Issues/Divorce: legal documents identifying incident(s), student's name and date must be visible.

    Accidents/Natural Disaster: insurance claim, police report, or legal documents regarding incident(s)

    Administrative Error: letter(s) from university faculty or staff on university letterhead or email

    Military, ROTC duties: documentation from Commanding Officer (CO)

    Primary Caregiver³: A letter is required from: a childcare provider stating services for childcare are no longer available, or a health care provider stating that the level of care needed to care for a sick family member, or newborn.

    ---

    ¹ Family often extends beyond those defined herein. Please identify familial relationship. 
    ² Personal Hardships may include housing instability, food insecurity, or other financial crises.
    ³ Caregiving duties for family members, including parents, spouses or domestic partners, a minor child, an adult child, a child of a domestic partner, grandparents, grandchild, or sibling. 

• What is not accepted as support documentation?

  • NOT accepted as support documentation: a statement from a family member/friend, or your own statement with no other supporting documentation.

• For a course with multiple components (such as lecture, seminar, and lab), which instructor should sign the petition?

  • For courses with multiple instructors, the main instructor signs. For example, if you are dropping CHEM 1A—which has an instructor for the lecture, activity/seminar, and lab—the professor from the lecture would sign the form.

• Who is my College Associate Dean?

  • College	Associate Dean
    Business	Dr. Meg Virick    m.virick@sjsu.edu
    Education	Dr. Marcos Pizarro    marcos.pizarro@sjsu.edu
    Engineering	Dr. Nicole Okamoto    nicole.okamoto@sjsu.edu
    Health and Human Sciences	Dr. Matthew Masucci    matthew.masucci@sjsu.edu
    Humanities and the Arts	Dr. Roula Svorou    roula.svorou@sjsu.edu
    Science	Dr. Shelley Cargill    shelley.cargill@sjsu.edu
    Social Science	Dr. Clifton Oyamot    clifton.oyamot@sjsu.edu
    Undeclared students	Dr. Shonda Goward    shonda.goward@sjsu.edu
    Interdisciplinary Studies students	Dr. Melinda Jackson    melinda.jackson@sjsu.edu
    Open University students, & Special Session students (Professional & Global Education)	Dr. Namrata Shukla    namrata.shukla@sjsu.edu

     

• Do I have to keep attending the course after the late drop petition is submitted?

  • Students are advised to continue attending the course and submitting assignments until a final decision on the petition is received.

• Can I cancel my late course drop / semester withdrawal petition?

  • Yes, students are able to cancel their request any time before it is processed (showing up on your MySJSU account as a "W"). 

    To cancel your request, please email undergraduate-education@sjsu.edu using an email subject line "CANCEL Drop Petition" and provide the following information: Name (as shown on petition), SJSU ID, Term, and state your request to cancel drop/withdrawal petition. For course drops, please include the course prefix and number (e.g., UNVS 101).

• How will a late course drop affect my financial aid for the semester?

  • For financial aid eligibility, undergraduate students must be enrolled in at least 12 units for “full-time enrollment,” 9-11 units for “three quarter-time enrollments,” and 6-8 units for “half-time enrollment”. Dropping below these levels MAY impact on your financial award, depending on the type of aid you receive. Students are advised to contact the Financial Aid Office with any questions about this PRIOR to dropping the course.

• I am requesting a retroactive course drop, but the professor is no longer part of SJSU, who should sign my petition?

  • In cases where the instructor is no longer affiliated with SJSU, the department chair would sign on behalf of the instructor.

• My petition to drop retroactively expired, what should I do?

  • DocuSign forms expired in 120 days.

    Students need to email Undergraduate Education to extend the expiration date or initiate a new form. 

• My petition was denied, can I appeal the decision?

  • Yes, students have 10 business days to appeal the final decision. Please work with an advisor and Undergraduate Education on appeal process. 

Please see the Registrar's website for additional deadlines. SJSU Online Program, please see Dates and Deadlines website.

*date subject to change

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