Sunday, March 22, 2009

About withdrawal

We hope your classes are going very well. Sometimes a class, however, does not go well. Maybe your circumstances have changed since the semester began, or you found a course much harder than expected. What are a student’s options in such situations?
As advisors, we urge the student who is not doing well in a course, to do everything possible to salvage it. The obvious starting place for help is the instructor. We have discussed the fine support services for online students in earlier newsletters. When a student realizes a course is not a proper fit, EICC provides for limited refund of tuition, usually until the end of the first or second week of a term.
The student unable to pass may withdraw from the course before a set deadline, to avoid a failing grade. For spring semester, the last day to withdraw from an online class is:
For 16-week classes – April 24, 2009
For second 8-week classes – May 1, 2009

Such withdrawals, while they are displayed on a transcript, do not affect grade point average. Withdrawals after the deadline are not permitted.

MERELY ENDING PARTICIPATION IN A COURSE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE WITHDRAWAL, and is probably the worst thing a student can do to his or her academic record, as the student remains financially responsible for a failed course. Proper withdrawal from a course can only be done through an Eastern Iowa Community College academic advisor.
According to federal guidelines, any course a student has registered to take is considered an attempted course. Students must successfully complete 67% of their attempted courses to remain eligible for financial aid.
Financial Aid department asked me to also issue the following reminder for students attending school in the fall:
FILE FAFSA NOW

Class registration

For accuracy’s sake, any matter as important as registration should not be done by phone.

Registration for Fall Semester, 2009, begins April 14. The date is fast approaching.

Recommended options for registering are:

1. Come to your local campus to register. Academic advising is also available by appointment.
Clinton area (563) 244-7004
Muscatine area (563) 288-6001
Scott area (563) 441-4181

2. Register yourself online through the e-bridge function of our website.

3. Send a letter or email, indicating your full name, date of birth, student identification number (or SSN), phone number, and the class to be added or dropped.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Backup your stuff

All assignments and correspondence should be backed up with an electronic copy, at least until you have received your final grade. You might find, for example, the need to offer proof of a completed assignment.

USB flash drives are notorious for losing data. To believe any computer disk is infallible could mean disaster.

To backup a file, right click on it and click copy. Then go to the storage location on your computer, again right click, and click to paste.