Undergraduate Enrollment

Attendance

Student Responsibilities

Prompt and regular attendance is expected of students for all scheduled courses and laboratory work. Student participation in class discussion, question/answer sessions, and problem-solving is critical to the expected student learning outcomes. Faculty may include explicit attendance requirements and applicable grade penalties in their course syllabi. Students are expected to be aware of such requirements if they exist. Most faculty require documentation for course absences. Students are responsible for providing such documentation if they wish to have their absences excused. Only faculty may excuse an absence. 

Students who stop attending courses before the course withdrawal deadline specified on the academic calendar should immediately withdraw from those courses.  Students who do not officially withdraw from the course they are not attending may be reported to the Registrar by their instructor with the last date of attendance.  When this happens, the student will remain responsible for any financial liability, less applicable refunds they have incurred associated with the last date of attendance reported, and for any academic consequences related to the last date of attendance reported and the assignment of the WN or FN grade. Once a faculty member has reported a last date of attendance, the student can no longer attend or participate in the class. 

Consequences of Non-Attendance

Students who do not attend classes may be issued the following grades:

• A grade of WN (withdrawal for non-attendance) is issued if the last known date of attendance is within the course withdrawal period specified on the academic calendar. A WN grade is treated the same as a W (withdrawal) grade in that it does not affect a student’s term or overall GPA. 
• A grade of FN (failure for non-attendance) is issued if the last known date of attendance is after the course withdrawal period specified on the academic calendar. An FN grade is treated the same as a failing grade in that it is included in the students’ term and overall GPA. 

The grade change resulting from non-attendance can be initiated by faculty based on their individual course attendance policy. It may also result from the university's Last Known Date of Attendance Reporting Policy. This policy is required by the U.S. Department of Education to differentiate between students who fail a class for non-attendance and those who fail based on merit. This information is used for determining financial aid liability and eligibility. The assumption is that a grade of F demonstrates failure based on merit, while FN demonstrates failure resulting from non-attendance. 

Questions:  Contact the Office of the Registrar

Class Attendance Policy Related to Required Military Duty or Veteran Status

Questions on whether an activity is a required military service activity for purposes of this policy should be directed to the Associate Provost. If anticipated absences for a term appear to be extraordinarily numerous or difficult to accommodate, a faculty member may appeal the need for the full accommodation to the Associate Provost.

Absences due to military duty or veteran status must be excused. This includes, but is not limited to, the following:

• Mandatory monthly drill instruction, such as duty completed by national guard members and military reservists (typically this involves a one-day absence in order to extend weekend training).
• Service-related medical appointments where failure to appear might result in a loss of benefits.

Students must give written notice to the faculty member at least one week in advance of the absence unless last-minute schedule changes make this notice impossible. Students are strongly encouraged to inform each faculty member of their known and anticipated absences as far in advance as possible, preferably at the start of the term.

The faculty shall accord students the opportunity to independently make up coursework or work of equal value, for the day(s) the event was scheduled and to take a scheduled exam at an alternate time. The faculty member shall determine alternate exam times and due dates for missed course work. These assigned dates may be prior to the date of the absence.

Students are still responsible for demonstrating achievement of course learning goals, even when absences due to military duty are necessary and reasonable. In situations with many absences or extended periods of military duty (e.g. being called to active duty), it may be most appropriate for the student to withdraw and retake the course in a future term.

Enrollment 

Impact of Non-enrollment 

Students must have a registration in each term for course work, co-op, or the culminating undergraduate experience (CUE) in order to remain in active status.  When circumstances occur where this may not be possible, students may take a Leave of Absence (LOA) or withdraw from a term or the University until the next academic term in which they could be enrolled. (Refer to the "Leave of Absence" and "Withdrawals" sections below for more information.) 

Students with no registrations who do not formally withdraw or take a leave of absence will automatically become inactive (separated) due to non-enrollment.  Inactive students may apply for readmission by submitting an Application for Readmission Form to the Office of the Registrar. Students' cooperative employers are not obligated to continue their agreement with the student if the student status becomes inactive. Students in an inactive status will no longer have access to any campus buildings, the Recreation Center, Kettering email or Banner Self-Service. Inactive students are not eligible to participate in commencement.    

Questions:  Contact the Office of the Registrar

Sections 

Kettering students follow one of the two rotations of academic and co-op terms (A or B section). The A-section students attend classes in the summer and winter, while B-section students attend classes in the fall and spring. Students complete work terms on the off-school terms. Any changes to this school/work sequence must be approved in advance by following the Altering the Academic/Work Sequence Process.  Students may not adjust their sequence without an approval.  This ensures that all relevant university offices are aware of the changes in the students' plans.  As such, arrangements made between students and employers without university approval will result in no co-op credit granted for the term. Students should consult with the Financial Aid Office for information on how altering the academic/work sequence may affect financial aid. 

Questions:  Contact the Academic Success Center

Status

Students may have the following undergraduate enrollment statuses:

Full time: 15 or more credits or co-op or Culminating Undergraduate Experience (thesis)
Three Quarter Time: 12-14 credits
Half Time: 8-11 credits 
Less Than Half Time: 1-7 credits 

Enrollment verifications for medical insurance, loan deferments, employment, or other needs may be obtained through the Office of the Registrar.  Enrollment verifications confirm a student's enrollment status (full-time, three-quarter time, half-time and less than half-time) and expected graduation date. 

Leave of Absence

The Undergraduate Student Leave of Absence (LOA) Policy assists and encourages students to return and complete their degree after up to two consecutive terms of absence from Kettering University.  Eligible students are encouraged to take advantage of the benefits provided by an LOA, e.g., no need to apply for readmission and ability to participate in their regularly scheduled registration/enrollment period upon return to the University.  Refer to the Leave of Absence Request Form for more information and instructions.   

Questions:  Contact the Office of the Registrar

Registration

Course Load

The representative program of courses shown term-by-term for each of the degrees offered indicates what is considered a normal course load. In general, those loads are four courses per term for underclassmen amounting to approximately 16 attempted hours, and five per term for upperclassmen, amounting to 20 attempted hours. Refer to the Tuition and Fees section of this catalog for tuition rates/credit hours.  

Course Overload

Students are eligible to request one additional course beyond the limits if they meet the following criteria:

• Their cumulative GPA is 3.5 or higher, and           
• They have completed a minimum of 16 credit hours with no course withdrawals or failures in both the current term and previous academic term, and
• They are not currently enrolled in college mathematics (MATH 100).

Students wishing to take overloads beyond the standards above will need to request approval by submitting a request outlined in the Request for Overload Procedure.  Only students in good academic standing are allowed to attempt an overload. Students whose performance is less-than-good standing may be required to take a course load less than that represented for their degree program. These students should contact the Academic Success Center (Room 3-322 AB). 

New Student registration  

New undergraduate students (freshmen and transfer) are registered for their first academic term by the Academic Success Center (ASC) after they sign up for their SOAR (Student Orientation and Academic Registration) session, complete the pre-registration form, and once all relevant information (math placement score, AP scores, transfer credits) has been gathered. While registration will be completed as early as possible, schedules are not considered final until the orientation/move-in weekend to allow for unavoidable scheduling adjustments. All new students will participate in SOAR prior to the start of the term. They will sign up for a SOAR session through their New Student Portal where they can also find access to the math placement and pre-registration form. 

All new students must take a math placement exam in order to have their schedule built unless they meet one of the following criteria:

• Students earned an ACT Math score of 31 or higher
• Student earned an SAT Math score of 690 or higher
• Student has college transfer credit for calculus
• Students has Advanced Placement credit for calculus. 

Continuing Student registration

Registration for the next academic term takes place each term beginning in the seventh week. The registration time period is based on the students' current class standing and does not count current registrations or class rank.  Students in each class standing will have a 24-hour window of opportunity to register for classes before the students with the next standing are allowed to register. 

Most students require a PIN to access registration.  Requirements for registration should be clarified with the students' advisors. Students may receive academic advising within the Academic Success Center (ME freshmen and sophomores, undeclared majors) or within the degree department. Students with dual majors should be advised by both degree departments. 

Course Registration during Co-op or with Thesis

All students are automatically registered in their cooperative work experience and thesis terms. Students are allowed to register for a maximum of eight credits of coursework while registered for a co-op or thesis term. To register for coursework during a co-op term, students must complete the Course Selection During Co-op Term Form and submit it to the Registrar's Office. 

Drop/Add

Students may drop and add courses before the drop/add deadline noted on the published academic calendar.  Any student who does not appear on the final roster by the conclusion of the drop/add period will not receive credit for the course.

Repeating a Course

Students may repeat any course taken at Kettering University as long as it is still offered; however, several conditions apply.

Students may repeat a course only two times (for a total of three attempts). Withdrawals are included in the number of repeat attempts; however, the first “W” grade will be forgiven.

ANY repeats for the following courses require the approval of the Academic Success Center, which will be provided only after a one-on-one conversation with an advisor:

MATH-101, 101X, 102, 102X, 203, 203X
PHYS-114, 115, 224, 225
CS-101
CHME-200
CILE-101
LA-201, 489

For all other courses, any repeats beyond one require the approval of the Academic Success Center, which will be provided only after a one-on-one conversation with an advisor. 

 After the second retake (third attempt), students will be required to transfer the course from another institution.

A student on their third and final attempt for a course will be limited to 16 or fewer credits that term. 

All grades will appear on the student record and transcript. The highest grade received is used in computing the term and cumulative GPA values; the lower grade(s) will be excluded from the term and cumulative GPA values. The recalculation of GPAs to account for repeated courses occurs at the end of the term after all grades for all students have been processed. Courses repeated at another institution and transferred to Kettering will not replace any attempts at Kettering. Hours earned in repeated courses may be counted toward graduation only once. Once a degree has been awarded, students cannot repeat a course and have the new grade count towards that degree.  

Questions:  Contact the Office of the Registrar

Terms and Semesters

• Academic term  - an eleven-week period of instruction and evaluation.
• Cooperative work experience term  - a twelve-week  period of supervised employment at an authorized Kettering University corporate affiliate; no credit, quality points, or hours are earned through the work experience.  
• Semester  - a combination of one academic term and one cooperative work experience term for a total of twenty-three weeks.
• Academic year  - a period of two semesters for a total of forty-six weeks.

Undergraduates Taking Graduate Courses

Students taking 500+ level courses are not automatically admissible to the graduate program. They still have to meet all published admissions requirements.  Note:  Courses taken for undergraduate credit at Kettering University may not be repeated at the graduate level and count towards the graduate program.  Furthermore, 500-level courses taken at Kettering University for undergraduate credit may not count as graduate credit except as approved per the BS/MS and BS/MBA policy guidelines.

Undergraduates Taking Graduate Courses for Undergraduate Credit

Students enrolled in an undergraduate degree program at Kettering University may request registration in a Kettering graduate level course (500+ level) for undergraduate credit.  To do this, students must: 

• Complete and receive instructional department and degree department approvals on the Undergraduate Request to take Graduate Course Form and submit form to Registrar’s Office for proper registration.

Undergraduates Taking Graduate Courses for Graduate Credit

Students enrolled in an undergraduate program at Kettering University may request registration in a Kettering graduate level course (500+ level) for graduate credit. Undergraduate students may take up to three graduate courses for graduate credit while an undergraduate student (no more than two per term). 

Students are eligible to take a Kettering graduate level course (500 or above level) for graduate credit if they meet all of the following criteria:

• They are enrolled in an undergraduate program at Kettering University.
• They are in good academic standing.
• They have a minimum of 120 earned credits.
• They are enrolled in no more than 20 credits, unless qualified to take 24 credits.

In order to receive graduate level credit, students must do the following:

• Complete and receive instructional department and degree department approvals on the Undergraduate Request to take Graduate Course Form and submit the form to Registrar’s Office for proper registration.
• The student must earn a grade of "B" or better in the course.

Questions:  Contact the Office of the Registrar

Withdrawals

Course Withdrawal

When circumstances occur whereby a student feels that completion of a course is not possible or in the student’s best interest, the student may withdraw from the course and receive a non-punitive grade of W (withdrawn). The following conditions apply:

• Withdrawals are allowed during the course withdrawal period specified on the academic calendar.  After that period, the student is not allowed to withdraw from the course and is committed to receiving a Kettering letter grade, which may include a grade of FN (failure for non-attendance).  Retroactive withdrawals are not allowed.
• Withdrawals are included in the number of repeat attempts. 
• Refer to the Tuition and Financial Aid sections of this catalog for the refund rate schedule and how withdrawing from a course may affect financial aid.

Medical/Compassionate Withdrawal (After 7th Week)

In extraordinary cases, a medical or compassionate withdrawal request may be made after the seventh week of the academic term.  These cases are severe illness or injury (medical) or a significant personal situation (compassionate) preventing a student from continuing their classes and where incompletes or other arrangements with the instructors are not possible.  

The withdrawal request is for a complete-term withdrawal. All applications for withdrawal require thorough and credible documentation submitted to the Director of the Wellness Center. Withdrawal approval is at the discretion of the Vice President of Student Affairs and Dean of Students. Not all requests are approved. 

No refunds apply to the approved medical or compassionate withdrawals. Requests for this type of withdrawal must occur during the term in which the hardship happens.  Withdrawal requests are due by the last day of classes each term. 

For more detailed information regarding the process to submit a withdrawal request, please refer to the Wellness Center’s webpage on Medical/Compassionate Withdrawals. 

Military Call to Active Duty Withdrawal

Students may withdraw from the University and receive a 100% tuition refund upon presenting original Armed Forces orders to the Registrar. Non-punitive grades of W will be issued. Should the call come during or after the eighth week of the term, an incomplete may be given (with the approval of the instructor) with no reimbursement of tuition. A written agreement must be developed between the instructor and the student to clarify a plan for completion of the course. The student initiates this agreement by completing an Incomplete Grade Agreement form after the incomplete grade has been issued by the instructor.  This form will be filed in the Office of the Registrar an official documentation of this agreement.  

Term Withdrawal

Withdrawing from all courses in a term requires students to contact the Academic Success Center. 

University Withdrawal

Withdrawing from the University requires a completed Undergraduate Withdrawal from University Form.  Complete instructions and information are included on the form.