Original Date: 5/5/2020 * Last Revision Effective: 5/5/2020
Policy Contact: Associate Vice President, Student Affairs
Purpose
Bellevue College views student attendance and participation as critical to academic success. This procedure establishes student attendance and participation expectations for the first week of the quarter and creates a process whereby instructors may drop a student from a class if those expectations are not met.
Procedures
Instructor-initiated drops during fall, winter, and spring quarters. Instructors may initiate a drop for students if the request is made on or before the fifth instructional day of the quarter, which corresponds with the last date a student can receive a 100 percent refund of tuition and fees as indicated on the online academic calendar. Instructors may initiate a drop under the following conditions:
On-campus classes
- When a student misses both the first and the second day of an on-campus class (i.e. fails to attend both of the first two class sessions); or
- When a student fails to attend at least 50 percent of class sessions during the first week of the quarter. Note: this applies to all classes, even those that meet only once or twice a week.
Online or hybrid classes
- A student fails to login to an online class and participate either the first or the second day (i.e. a student may miss logging in on either the first or second day of class, but not both days); or
- A student fails to login and participate for at least 50 percent of the overall first week of the quarter. Note: the instructor determines what constitutes 50 percent participation.
Classes starting after the first week of the quarter (late start)
- A student fails to attend the first class meeting for an on-campus class; or
- A student fails to login to an online class on the first day of class.
Note: for a late start class, instructors must request the drop one business day after the class first meets.
Instructor-initiated drops during summer quarter. Summer quarter deadlines are earlier than for the rest of the year. Check the online academic calendar for quarter-specific dates and deadlines.
Instructor-approved exceptions. Students who expect to have attendance or participation difficulties during the first few days of the quarter should contact their instructors prior to or on the first day of class to request an exception to these procedures. Exceptions are made at the discretion of the instructor, and students should be aware that an exception to these procedures does not mean that the instructor will allow the late submission of assignments or that they will accommodate missed activities. Students should understand their instructors’ expectations related to attendance and participation.
Instructor-initiated drops are discretionary. Students who do not plan to attend or participate in the classes they registered for should drop their classes on their own. They should not rely on an instructor to drop them due to lack of attendance in an on-campus class or lack of participation in an online class.
Tuition refunds. Instructor-initiated drops qualify for a full refund of tuition and fees, and there is no entry of the class on the transcript. Applicable regulations apply to students receiving federal or state financial aid; drops during the first week of the quarter may result in a requirement to repay all or a portion of aid received.
Process for instructor-initiated drop requests and student notification. Instructors who wish to request that a student be dropped due to a lack of attendance in an on-campus class or lack of participation in an online class must submit the Instructor Drop Request form located within Instructor’s Briefcase by 11:59 PM on or before the last day published for a 100 percent refund of tuition and fees as indicated on the online academic calendar.
Student Central notifies students of the drop using the student’s BC email address
Definitions
First week of the quarter. The first five instructional days of the quarter. The last day of the first week of the quarter corresponds with the last date to receive a 100 percent refund. Note that the summer refund deadline is usually three business days rather than five business days after the beginning of the quarter.
Revision History
Original date: 5/5/2020
Approved By
President’s Cabinet
Last Updated May 11, 2020