A normal scholastic load for a full-time student is twelve to eighteen hours in a fall or spring term, with nine hours as the maximum load for a summer term. A student may petition for an overload (19-21 hours) at his or her major college advising office; to be approved for an overload, a student must usually have attained a solid scholastic performance (ordinarily a cumulative 3.0, or B, average) based on substantial semesters at the sixteen to eighteen credit level.
Occasionally, a student has questions regarding the fiscal consequences of different levels of full-time enrollment. Current policy establishes a tuition differential for academic loads of 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16 or more hours. For questions regarding fiscal matters, faculty advisors should always refer a student to the Bursar's Office for answers to questions regarding billing for academic loads. If a student is receiving financial assistance, the student should be referred to the Student Financial Aid Office for inquiries regarding course load changes and their ramifications for current and future financial aid eligibility. Students are responsible for obtaining information regarding their fiscal commitments and their financial aid eligibility; informed decisions regarding course load must be predicated on a combination of academic advice, information from the Bursar's office, and from the Student Financial Aid Office, if applicable.
Scheduling in TRACS
Northern Illinois University uses the Touchtone Telephone Registration,
Add/Drop, Class Schedule system (T.R.A.C.S.) as the means of obtaining and
adjusting students' schedules. This system includes a Web-based component,
WebCONNECT. Detailed information regarding the operation of the TRACS system
is included in the current Schedule of Classes, available from the Office
of Registration and Records.
The key to the TRACS system is a combination of the student's social security number and P.I.N. number (personal identification number). Because students are responsible for registrations made by third parties using their SSN and PIN numbers, students should not authorize such activity without being aware of the consequences of being held accountable for all registration obtained in the TRACS system on their be half.
Among the positive features of the TRACS system is open section information.
If a student attempts to add a course section which is closed, the student
will be offered a listing of open sections of the course requested. This allows
a student to elect an alternative section of the course he or she wishes
without having to input each section until registration is achieved.
In WebCONNECT, a student can print his or her schedule from the screen,
giving the student immediate written confirmation of the schedule as of that
time. The student sees the schedule on a weekly planner and as a simple
listing of course work.
Perhaps the fact that an undergraduate student may not drop to zero hours for a term in TRACS serves as an initial source of confusion between the terms 'withdrawal' and 'drop.' If an undergraduate student has dropped all but one course in TRACS, he or she is informed by TRACS that the only way to cease enrollment in that final course is to withdraw from the university by contacting, in writing, the student's major college. (See the section on university withdrawals below.)
Withdrawal From A Course
After the end of the fifth calendar day of the semester, students who
wish to withdraw from a course must request a course withdrawal through the
advising office of his or her major college. A student may initiate such
a request after the fifth calendar day and up to and including the end of
the eighth week of a semester (the third week of a half semester course or
summer session course). If the student's request for a withdrawal is processed
by the student's major college during that time period, the symbol 'W will
appear in conjunction with the course on the student's grade report and transcript.
A 'W is not used in calculating a student's grade point average. Undergraduate
students have a limit on the number of withdrawal hours available; the limit
is determined by the number of semester hours of transfer credit accepted
at the time of the students matriculation here. The chart below explains
the withdrawal limits:
| Transfer Plus Pre-enrollment Hours | Maximum Withdrawal NIU Hours |
| 1-6 | 17 |
| 7-15 | 15 |
| 16-30 | 12 |
| 31-45 | 9 |
| 46 or more | 6 |
A course withdrawal is an option that must be initiated and processed according to the policy outlined in this section. If a student ceases to attend a course for which he or she was registered, that student will receive an F for the course.
Withdrawal From The University
An undergraduate student who wishes to withdraw from the university for
a semester must obtain permission from the dean of the student's major college.
If that withdrawal is approved during the first fifteen days of the semester,
there will be no record of the student's attendance that term. If the withdrawal
is approved between the fifteenth day and the end of the eighth week of the
semester, the student's grade report and transcript will reflect the university
withdrawal by recording all W's for that term. A university withdrawal is
not counted against the limit of course withdrawal hours.
Late Withdrawal From A Course Or The University
After the end of the eighth week of a semester, a student must apply for
a late withdrawal through the major college. Such a withdrawal is approved
only in exceptional circumstances such as serious illness or other major non-academic
personal difficulty. If the withdrawal is approved by the dean, the withdrawal
slip is routed to the faculty member, who indicates whether the student is
passing or failing at the time of the withdrawal. If the student is passing
the course, the withdrawal will be recorded as a W; if the student is failing,
an F will be assigned and that grade will be calculated in the student's
grade point average.
Faculty Role
The primary responsibilities of a faculty advisor regarding Scheduling
are to provide information to students regarding departmental course offerings
and to assist students in planning appropriate schedules. In addition, faculty
should be aware of the withdrawal deadlines in planning a syllabus; where
feasible, the faculty member might consider requiring a substantive assignment
that will be evaluated and returned to the student prior to the withdrawal
date so that the student may make an informed decision. Faculty advisors should
encourage students to talk to faculty about their course performance prior
to withdrawal dates and may wish to urge students to consider past withdrawal
activities in planning subsequent schedules.
Student Role
Prior to registration for a semester, students should read available information
regarding course requirements, both in the catalog and in course descriptions;
this information, weighed in the context of the student's background and employment
and family commitments, should assist the student in making appropriate initial
choices about reasonable schedules. During the semester, students should
meet with their faculty to evaluate their progress and to determine whether
a reduction of course load would be appropriate. Because the date of the
course withdrawal may have ramifications for a possible refund, the student
should consult the semester schedule booklet for withdrawal and refund deadlines.