Academic Rights and Responsibilities

Academic Regulations

The essence of a liberal arts education is genuine interaction between faculty and students. Primary to this goal is freedom of expression, respect for all points of view, and a commitment to rational discussion. All persons must strive to create an atmosphere, which encourages learning. This requires personal discipline and scholarly integrity. Students are bound by all academic regulations as outlined in the Guilford College Catalog.

Guilford bases course credit hours on student effort outside, as well as inside, the classroom. This policy stems from the College’s Quaker heritage that encourages students to be active partners with faculty in the learning process. One of Guilford College’s five academic principles, “student-centered learning,” means that Guilford expects faculty members to “serve less as lecturers and more as tutors, resource persons, and critics.” As a result, the College considers student interaction with faculty, other students, community members, and organizations outside the classroom as vital to the learning experience. In addition to standard reading, research projects, and papers, Guilford faculty members who teach courses that yield four credit hours and meet the standard 2.5 hours per week in classroom time are expected to include in their courses active learning activities which may include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Conferences and workshops
  • Experiential and serving learning incorporated into courses (such as Project SERVE which Guilford inaugurated in the 2005-2006 academic year under the auspices of the College’s Initiative on Faith and Practice).
  • Fieldwork and field trips
  • Foreign language conversation tables
  • Group work or cooperative work
  • Journaling
  • On-line discussion groups
  •  Related labs
  • Required attendance at lectures, performances, and film showings
  • Research projects that require substantial work outside of class
  • Sketch groups in the visual arts

Registration Procedures

 

Entering traditional first-year students are mailed registration materials during the summer. They complete their registration with their adviser during August orientation. First-semester, first-year traditional students may not enroll in any of the following:

  • Fast Track I or II courses.
  • courses beginning later than 6:00 p.m.
  • consortium courses.

Current students register via their advisers and BannerWeb for the fall semester during a week in April and for the spring semester during a week in November. At other times, students must register at the Registrar's Office.

Enrolling in Fast-Track Courses. All students (traditional or CCE) seeking to enroll in Fast Tracks must be certified by the faculty adviser providing the alternate PIN number as:

  • having completed a minimum of 24 credit hours of approved college work.
  • having fulfilled the English 102 requirement.
  • being in good academic standing.

Enrolling in Consortium Courses. Guilford College students also may enroll in appropriate liberal arts courses in the Greater Greensboro Consortium, provided that Guilford does not offer the selected courses and that the institution's own students do not fill the enrollment. Credit will be granted and grades and grade points will be applied.

Students must be signed up for an equal or greater number of credits at Guilford before registering for consortium courses. Dual admission and dual enrollment outside of the cross-registration procedures are prohibited, and any changes to consortium registration must be done at Guilford and the consortium school. It is the right of each college or university to allow consortium students to take on-line courses.

Guilford students attending consortium schools are subject to the rules, regulations and deadlines of the consortium school. Consortium schools are under no obligation to give final exams early to allow students to graduate on time. Students must obtain a consortium parking sticker from Office of Public Safety.

Juniors and seniors are not allowed to attend Guilford Technical Community College.

Changes in Registration. Once registered, the student is responsible for all listed courses and may change registration only by delivering to the Registrar's Office an appropriately completed and signed drop-add slip. Students can drop or add courses with just an adviser's approval and signature until the last day to add without a fee. After this date, the instructor's approval and signature is also required. Refer to the on-line academic calendar for specific registration related dates such as the last day for students to add courses without a fee, add courses with a fee, drop courses without a grade, and drop courses with a W grade.

Requests for registration changes are dated according to when the request is received by the Registrar's Office.

Students should check BannerWeb for an updated schedule of classes in which they are registered and report any discrepancies to the Registrar's Office within one week of submitting the drop/add form. Corrections will not be made after one week.

All registration- or transcript-related petitions should be directed to the Registrar whose decision is final.  A denial of a registration- or transcript-related petition may only be appealed to the Associate Academic Dean on procedural grounds.

Late Requests to Add a Course. For late adds made by the last day to add with a fee, the late fee is $50 for each action.  After this date, late adds requested by the student and approved by the Registrar, are each subject to a $100 fee within a semester and $200 for the prior semester.

The only exceptions to this late fee policy are:

  • registration changes mandated by a department to place a student in a more appropriate course level or to balance teaching loads (e.g., moving from one level of language or mathematics to a higher or lower one, shifting students from one course section to another);
  • late adds mandated by a department when it was impossible to know by the deadline whether the student would be enrolled in a given course (e.g., students who receive credit for roles in theatrical productions when tryouts occur after the deadline to add courses).

Late Requests to Withdraw from a Course. After the published dates for withdrawing from a course, a regular grade will be given unless the Academic Dean, Associate Academic Dean, or Dean for Campus Life issues an administrative withdrawal or the Registrar approves a petition for a late withdrawal from a course.  Medical withdrawals are applicable only when a student wishes to withdraw completely from the College (see section entitled Withdrawal from the College below). Petitions to the Registrar for late W’s in courses will not be considered except in the most extraordinary situations.  If a student is concerned that s/he will be unable to obtain the necessary signatures by the last day to withdraw with a W grade, s/he must contact the Registrar before the deadline to arrange for an extension.

Withdrawal from the College. Students who receive a medical withdrawal from the College (Withdrawal Policy above), will be granted grades of W for all courses in progress at the date of withdrawal. After the last day to withdraw with a W grade, students who either withdraw voluntarily or are administratively withdrawn from the College, will be awarded grades of WP (withdrawal with a passing grade, when a student has earned a D- or higher) or WF (withdrawal with a failing grade).