Registration Exception Appeals Policy
The University is committed to fairness, consistency, and transparency for students requesting to withdraw, add, change grading basis, or change credit hours after the published deadlines.
Policy Overview
Late Registration Definition
A request shall be considered “late” if submitted after the final published deadline for the course session to occur via the student information system. For half-term or session courses, a request shall be considered “late” if submitted after the final published deadline applicable to that specific half-term or session.
Allowable Considerations
Registration exception appeals will only be considered for documented, non-academic, extenuating circumstances beyond the student’s control, such as the occurrence of an unanticipated significant personal event, preventing the student from completing the requested registration action within the published registration time period.
Appeals Committee
Registration Exception applications will be reviewed by the Registration Exception Appeals Committee. The committee consists of representatives from a variety of university offices, including:
- The Registrar’s Office
- The Bursar’s Office
- The Financial Aid Office
- Student Affairs
- Faculty
- Colleges
Eligible Circumstances
All Registration Exception requests must be properly documented. Applications and appeals without proper documentation will not be reviewed by the committee. For each circumstance listed below the application narrative should address not only that a circumstance occurred that was out of the student's control, but why that circumstance requires the student to take action outside of the published registration dates.
These circumstances mirror those necessary for a Tuition Refund Appeal. If a Registration Exception for a late withdraw is approved, and the student marks on the Registration Exception Appeal that they wish for their application to be considered for Tuition Refund Appeal as well, the two committees with work in tandem. The student will not need to submit a Tuition Refund Appeal unless explicitly asked to do so.
The following circumstances are eligible for consideration by the Registration Exception Appeals Committee.
An acute medical condition is an illness or injury that significantly impacted the student’s physical and/or mental health that required the student to withdraw the term or course.
Documentation Requirements
- Medical Documentation Form
- Signed letterhead from the attending physician from the impacted term containing:
- nature of illness/injury
- dates
- severity of illness
- your inability to take registration action due to the condition
- the date the physician recommended the student stop attending classes
- Completed Add-Drop Form with student signature, instructor signature, and College Approver signature. Further instructions on how to complete the Add-Drop Form can be found on the Registration How To Guide.
A chronic or recurring medical condition that worsened during the term is an ongoing illness or medical condition that significantly impacted the student’s physical and/or mental health and required the student to withdraw the term or course. The application and documentation should show how the student's condition worsened after the drop deadline to be considered under this basis.
Documentation Requirements
- Medical Documentation Form
- Signed letterhead from the attending physician from the impacted term containing:
- nature of illness/injury
- dates
- severity of illness
- your inability to take registration action due to the condition
- the date the physician recommended the student stop attending classes
- Completed Add-Drop Form with student signature, instructor signature, and College Approver signature. Further instructions on how to complete the Add-Drop Form can be found on the Registration How To Guide.
A significant illness, injury, or death of immediate family member is the death, significant illness, or injury of an immediate family member that required the student to be unable to make the requested registration action by the published deadline.
An immediate family member is defined as: grandparents, brother, sister, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, daughter-in-law, son-in-law, father, mother, father-in-law, mother-in-law, grandparent-in-law, spouse, domestic partner, child, grandchild, legal guardian or other person who stands in place of a parent (in loco parentis).
Documentation Requirements
Death of a Family Member
- Death certificate or obituary notice
- Completed Add-Drop Form with student signature, instructor signature, and College Approver signature. Further instructions on how to complete the Add-Drop Form can be found on the Registration How To Guide.
Ill/Injured Family Member
- Documentation from the attending physician or hospital containing the nature of your relative’s illness/injury, dates, and severity)
- Completed Add-Drop Form with student signature, instructor signature, and College Approver signature. Further instructions on how to complete the Add-Drop Form can be found on the Registration How To Guide.
Military service is required military duty, deployment, training, activation, or other service obligation that prevented the student from completing the requested registration action by the published deadline.
Documentation Requirements
- Official military orders that include the student's name and dates of service
- Completed Add-Drop Form with student signature, instructor signature, and College Approver signature. Further instructions on how to complete the Add-Drop Form can be found on the Registration How To Guide.
A victim of a crime or traumatic event is an incident that substantially disrupted the student’s physical, emotional, or psychological well-being and interfered with academic obligations.
Documentation Requirements
- Related documentation, such as a police report or court record, that substantiates the circumstance requiring withdrawal
- Completed Add-Drop Form with student signature, instructor signature, and College Approver signature. Further instructions on how to complete the Add-Drop Form can be found on the Registration How To Guide.
A university error is a situation in which student is unable to complete term or take registration action by deadline because of error by UC staff member.
Documentation Requirements
- Letter of support from faculty/staff member detailing error and impact on term completion or other documentation that student was misadvised
- Completed Add-Drop Form with student signature, instructor signature, and College Approver signature. Further instructions on how to complete the Add-Drop Form can be found on the Registration How To Guide.
An other circumstance is any other circumstance not listed above that prevented the student from taking the registration action within the published deadline.
Documentation Requirements
- Related documentation that substantiates the circumstance requiring withdrawal
- Completed Add-Drop Form with student signature, instructor signature, and College Approver signature. Further instructions on how to complete the Add-Drop Form can be found on the Registration How To Guide.
Term Limitations
Any registration action from terms that ended more than one year ago cannot be considered for any circumstance.
Example: If it is currently Fall 2026 semester, only registration activity for Fall 2026, Summer 2026, Spring 2026, and Fall 2025 will be considered.
Circumstances Ineligible for an Appeal
Circumstances not sufficient to support a Registration Exception include, but are not limited to:
- Inability to pay, lack of financial aid, or loss of external funding
- Dropping courses to avoid low grades
- Dissatisfaction with the instructor or course
- Dissatisfaction with course mode of instruction
- Nonattendance or lack of participation
- Not being aware of add/drop deadlines*
*Complete refund information for students for every class can be found on the student’s Catalyst portal (My Academics tab > View My Schedule). General refund information is published on each term‘s academic calendar.