May 02, 2024  
2023-2024 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
2023-2024 Undergraduate Catalog

Course Policies


Auditing a Course

Students may be permitted to attend classes as auditors if they obtain written permission from their advisor and instructors in the classes they want to audit. A student who enrolls in any class as an auditor may not, in the same semester, be considered as enrolled in the class for the purpose of obtaining credit.

Auditors are required to complete the regular registration process and pay regular fees. The decision to audit a course must be made during the add-drop period.

   

Course Numbering

Courses for freshmen (1100 series) and sophomores (2200 series) constitute the lower level of curriculum. Courses numbered (3300-4499) are primarily for juniors and seniors. Courses numbered 5000 and above are graduate courses. All Core Curriculum requirements consist of lower-level course options. Students are strongly advised to take at least eight (8) hours of Core Curriculum courses each semester until the requirements have been met.

   

Course Prerequisites

Many major and core curriculum courses have prerequisites (courses that must first be successfully completed). The catalog section which lists all of the core courses also identifies the prerequisites. You can find prerequisite information for ALL courses in the section entitled “Courses” in the catalog.

   

Course Repeat (for coursework earned Fall 2018 or later)

Fairmont State enforces Series 22 of the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission as follows:

If a student earns a grade of “D” or “F” (including failures due to regular and/or irregular withdrawal) on a course taken prior to the receipt of a baccalaureate degree, and if that student repeats this course prior to the receipt of the baccalaureate degree, the original grade shall be disregarded and the grade or grades earned when the course is repeated shall be used in determining the grade point average. The original grade shall not be deleted from the student’s record.

In upper division courses, a student may formally repeat up to eight (8) credit hours of a grade of “C”. The privilege of the “D” and “F” repeat is capped at 21 credit hours including any request for a “C” repeat in an upper division course. The 21-hour cap is firm and shall not be exceeded. Repeat course forgiveness assigned on work earned prior to Fall 2018 (including repeats posted to pre-admission transfer work) is disregarded for this limit. In order to qualify for repeat-course forgiveness, written permission must be obtained from the appropriate dean/department chair of the academic unit where the student’s major is housed.

Once a grade is removed from the GPA calculation via repeat-course forgiveness, it may not be altered further. Students who repeat a previously passed class may have limitations on financial aid eligibility for that class.

Courses completed at Fairmont State with a grade of “D” or “F” may be repeated at any West Virginia public institution, provided the course at the other institution is deemed an equivalent course by Fairmont State and the above stipulations are met. Regularly enrolled students who complete work at another regionally accredited institution must secure written permission from the registrar before attempting such coursework. The transfer grade policy will apply to these grades.

Courses transferred from other regionally accredited institutions that are legally repeated at Fairmont State will be a part of the repeat process, provided the course at the other institution is deemed an equivalent course by FSU and the above stipulations are met.

For coursework earned prior to Fall 2018:

All students currently enrolled, beginning Fall 2018, shall start with a clean slate of 21 repeat credits. Each student shall be eligible for 21 credits of repeated courses regardless of any earlier recorded repeats appearing on the transcript. The student’s grade point average shall be based on the subsequent grade or grades, not the original grade of D or F. The original grade shall not be deleted from the student’s record, and will be removed only from the calculation of the GPA.

Once a grade has been removed from the GPA calculation via repeat-course forgiveness, it may not be altered further.

   

Dropping a Course

Students may drop a course at any time from registration through the add/drop period for that term.  Individual courses dropped after that time will be graded with a “W” and no refund will be issued. Students are advised to know important dates regarding the last day to drop a course.  Adherence to this policy is strictly followed by the Office of the University Registrar.  Those dates can be found on the Registrar calendar.

Students may drop a course(s) with a “W” being recorded up to the Friday during the:

10th Week of a Full Semester

5th Week of the 1st 8 Week Session

5th Week of the 2nd 8 Week Session

4th Week of the 1st 6 Week Summer Session

4th Week of the 2nd 6 Week Summer Session

10th Week of the 12 Week Summer Session

Students may drop a course by logging on to my.fairmontstate.edu and then Felix.