Satisfactory Progress

The 105-credit rule

Students who have completed 105 or more credits but have not declared a major are not allowed to register for the next quarter. Transfer students who enter with 105 or more credits are expected to declare a major before registering for their second quarter at the UW.

Students who are not able to declare a major before accumulating 105 credits must meet with an adviser. If the adviser decides that the student is pursuing a reasonable goal, an extension is granted for a specific number of quarters. Students who have not declared a major when the extension expires must meet with an adviser again.

Undecided students are normally allowed only one or two quarters of extension to come to a decision. An extension will not be granted to any student who continues to pursue a major into which, in the adviser's opinion, the student has no chance of acceptance.

Extended Premajor (EPRMJ)

The quarter in which a student's premajor extension expires appears on the EARS Overview tab and on the SRF310 screen.

Postbaccalaureate students

Students admitted as undeclared postbaccalaureate students are expected to declare a major by the time they have earned 30 credits past their last degree. College advisers may grant extensions beyond the 30-credit limit. Extended postbaccalaureate students should be coded Extended Premajor, EPRMJ. (In other words, there is no separate code for extended postbaccalaureate students.)

The 180-credit rule

A student is expected to graduate with no more than 30 credits over the minimum required, which is usually 180 credits.

Beginning in winter 2011, in the third week of the quarter a registration hold is placed on most students who will have completed 180 credits at the end of the current quarter; there are some exception majors who receive a hold at 210 credits instead (as of April 2011, exception majors are: A A, B NURS, BPRNUR, BIOEN, BIOCHM, CHEM, CHEM E, CIV E, CMP E, C SCI, E E, HCDE, IND E, L ARCH, M E, M SE, MUSIC, MUSAP, NBIO, OCEAN, T C, and all UW-Tacoma majors). Students who have applied to graduate at the end of that quarter will not receive a hold.

To have the hold removed, students must either submit a graduation application or petition to their department/college for an extension. For majors in the College of Arts and Sciences, students must submit a petition including an academic plan, approved by the departmental adviser, to the assistant dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

Each college provides its own petition form and designates a dean's representative to review petitions. There is no deadline by which petitions must be submitted, but a student who has completed more than 180 credits cannot register for the next quarter until either a graduation application is submitted or a petition has been approved.

If a student's graduation plan is approved, the registration hold will be lifted for the quarters indicated in the petition. A registration hold will be placed in the third week of the quarter the student plans to graduate. A student who in unable to graduate at that point will not be able to register for subsequent quarters and must submit another petition to continue, explaining the reasons why graduation was delayed.

There is no appeal procedure. A student whose petition was denied may, however, revise his/her graduation plan and submit a new petition.

Double majors and double degrees

Double majors and double degrees are not prohibited, if the student's program can be completed in a timely manner. Plans that include a second major to which the student has not yet been admitted will seldom, if ever, be approved.

Multiple majors/degrees in one college:A student who wishes to complete a double major or double degree meets with both department advisers and submits one form signed by both advisers.

Multiple majors/degrees in multiple colleges:A student who wishes to complete a double degree in which the majors are in different colleges submits only one petition, to one college. If one major has been completed, the petition should be prepared with the adviser for the major in the other college, and submitted to that dean. If neither major has been completed, it is the student's choice which college to petition.

Minors

Summer quarter

Prior rules

Between spring 2003 and winter 2011, the rule was similar except the hold was placed in the third week of the quarter for all students who would have completed 210 credits at the end of that quarter.

Prior to winter 2003, each spring quarter the Office of the Registrar sent departmental advisers a list of their declared majors who had earned over 210 credits. The adviser was to flag the names of any students whose registration should be held and return the list to the Registrar. The Registrar notified these students of their hold status, and suggested that they apply to graduate. If the adviser did not respond, the Registrar assumed that all the students on the list had the adviser's approval to continue. The 210-credit rule was seldom enforced, and usually only in cases where a student had become a serious drain on department resources.

College and department continuation policies

Many majors have a continuation policy; that is, a satisfactory progress policy for students completing the major. These policies must be approved by the Faculty Council on Academic Standards and should be stated in the General Catalog.

Excessive withdrawal

A few students register and withdraw for many sequential quarters, making little or no progress toward a degree. Students who have repeatedly withdrawn from the University are given an ultimatum by the Office of the Registrar that they must complete the classes they are registered for, or they will be subject to a hold on their registration. A student who has received this notification but continues to withdraw is placed on registration hold. If the student wishes to continue, s/he must meet with an adviser in UAA Advising. The student and adviser will discuss the student's academic plans and goals. If the student has declared a major, the department adviser will becontacted for additional information. The adviser then sends an email summarizing the student's situation to the Office of the Registrar, which makes the final decision whether or not to remove the hold.