Academic Attendance

Students are required to actively participate in their courses and professors are asked to confirm a student’s class participation/attendance through the Course Roster Verification process.

Each professor will determine a class attendance policy for each course and must notify students of this at the beginning of the semester, often by including the attendance requirements on the course syllabus. Class attendance may impact a student’s course grade per the stated policy, a copy of which is kept on file in the department office.

Excused absences, including absences for participation in approved university events, will not result in a penalty, provided that the student makes up missed work as required by the professor.

Student Procedure for Extended Absence Notification (Effective as of March 2, 2020)

The Dean of Student Life provides assistance and support for students who may need to be out of class due to illness, personal or family emergencies. A message will be circulated to professors advising of the absence. Students are still highly encouraged to contact professors for guidance related to any missed work during the absence.

To utilize this service, the student or family member completes an online Student Absence Form at https://esu.guardianconduct.com/incident-reporting. Please select Student Absence the report type. Supporting documentation should be included related to the absence. In some cases, if a student is unable to return to one or more of their classes, the Dean of Student Life or their designee can discuss enrollment options. Students or family members may contact the office at (570) 422-3798 with questions.

Registration Period

When you register for classes each term, you agree to pay the fees and charges assessed by ESU.

Fall/Winter registration takes place in March/April.
Spring/Summer registration takes place in October/November.

Course registration begins at different times for different groups of students.

1. Graduate Students
2. Priority Groups [Active Military, Veterans, ROTC, Honors Program, Student Athletes, etc]
3. Continuing Undergraduates [in order]
4. [Senior] More than 89.5 credits
5. [Freshman] Less than 29.5 credits
6. [Junior] Between 60 and 89.5 credits s
7. [Sophomore] Between 30 credits and 59.5 credits
8. Non-degree/non-matriculated

Please see below for order and visit the Ready . . . Set . . . Register! Webpage for more information

Class Designation/Classification Level

Class designation is determined by the number of credits of work which the student has satisfactorily completed in accordance with the following:

Changes to Academic Schedule

ADD/DROP PERIOD: Calendar Days 1 to 8
During the Add-Drop period, a student may adjust their class schedule by adding and dropping classes. The period provides students with one full week plus the weekend to add or drop courses without receiving a "W" grade. Courses dropped from the student’s schedule will not appear on the student’s transcript for that semester/term.

ADD COURSE: Courses may be added during the first eight calendar days for the Fall and Spring semesters through the MyESU student portal. Please check with the professor before adding a class online to make sure the student will be able to complete any coursework already assigned and to confirm that any course pre-requisites (if any) have been met.

A student attending a course without proper registration and payment of all tuition and fees does not constitute de facto enrollment. The university does not permit retroactive enrollment or payment for any courses once the term in which the course was offered ends.

WAITLISTS:  Final waitlist processing occurs the week before the semester begins and if a student is still on a waitlist after this time there is no guarantee the student will be automatically enrolled in the course if a seat becomes available.

DROP COURSE: Courses may be dropped with no record on the student’s academic transcript during the first eight calendar days for the Fall and Spring semesters through the MyESU student portal.

WITHDRAW PERIOD: Calendar Day 9 to 10^th Week
Students who withdraw from course(s) beginning on semester day nine through the 10^th week of classes will receive a grade of “W” for the course(s) on their permanent academic record. Instructor permission may be required to withdraw from a course.

CHANGES AFTER THE 10^TH WEEK
After the 10th week, a student may only withdraw due to extraordinary circumstances (e.g. illness, death in the family, etc.) and requires the appropriate dean's approval. "W" grade is assigned for courses a student is passing and a "Z" grade is assigned for courses a student is failing.

Any student who discontinues attendance in a course without formally withdrawing will be assigned an "FN" as a final grade which will affect the student's GPA.

 *Except for extraordinary circumstances as previously defined.

CLASS ROSTER VERIFICATION
A student who has not attended a course during the first week may be dropped from the course by the instructor. This is defined as the first five class days for the Fall and Spring semesters or the first two days of a summer session.

“W”/”Z” GRADE CREDIT LIMIT: 16 Credits
A student may withdraw ("W" or "Z") from a maximum of 16 credits during the student's stay at the university. Any course(s) dropped during the semester drop period, for which no grade is assigned, or "W'" grades assigned as a result of a total university withdrawal will be counted toward this limit.

Total University Withdrawal

Students who are withdrawing from all courses for an upcoming semester should contact the Student Enrollment Center at records@esu.edu [with Name, ID, Semester Withdrawing, and Reason] or complete the ESU Total Withdrawal form on the MyESU Student portal.  

Students who withdraw from all courses during the first 8 days of the semester and have engaged in academic-related activity during this period will receive a grade of "W" (withdraw) on their transcript. 

Academic-related activity includes but is not limited to the following:

• Physically attending a class where there is an opportunity for direct interaction between the instructor and students.
• Submitting an academic assignment.
• Taking an exam, completing an interactive tutorial, or participating in computer-assisted instruction.
• Attending a study group that is assigned by the school.
• Participating in an online discussion about academic matters.
• Initiating contact with a faculty member to ask a question about the academic subject studied in the course.

NOTE: Please be aware that add/drop period for the Summer and Winter sessions and quarter courses differs from the information above - see the current academic calendar for specific dates for each period.

Administrative/Unofficial Withdrawal

A student who receives all failing grades, incompletes, and/or W grades will be reviewed by the financial aid office to determine if the grades were earned or if the student stopped attending during the semester.  Faculty will be contacted to determine the last date of academic related activity.  If the last date of academically related activity is prior to the end of the semester the student will be administratively withdrawn and receive a “FN” grade for all coursework.  Title IV financial aid may be returned based on the date provided by the faculty.