Summer School Procedures Manual Chapter 11: Student Academic Information

This document provides information for students wishing to take Summer School classes at UNC-Chapel Hill. Topics addressed include: admissions, advising, course load, class attendance, auditing, drop-add, and withdrawals.

11. Student Academic Information

A. Admissions

1. UNC-Chapel Hill students currently enrolled do not apply to Summer School. They are automatically eligible to register when registration for summer opens in late March.
2. UNC-Chapel Hill students who expect to graduate in May and wish to continue course work during the summer are considered visiting students and must apply and be admitted through Summer School using its online application. 
3. Visiting students who are regularly enrolled in other colleges or universities must apply and be admitted through Summer School using its online application. After their application is processed, it may be three-to-five business days before students can register. Determining residency for tuition purposes can extend the process. Before registering, visiting students should consult with their own home institution to ensure credit will transfer as needed.  Deadlines for applications are strictly enforced. See the Summer School website for deadlines.
4. International students who send queries to units about studying during the summer ONLY should be directed to the Summer School website. They must follow specific procedures to be admitted.
5. Students with questions concerning teacher certification should consult:
   • the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Education's Office of Student Affairs, 103 Peabody Hall, telephone 919-966-1346;
   • an officer in the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction in Raleigh; or
   • the equivalent department of the state in which certification is being sought.

B. Advising

1. All visiting students should obtain information on routine matters from Summer School by calling or emailing the office at 919-966-4364 or summer_school@unc.edu.
2. Students in degree programs at UNC-Chapel Hill have assigned advisers in Academic Advising or members of their dean's staff that they can consult for information and advice.

C. Course Load

1. Two courses of three or four credit hours each constitutes a full course load in a session. A one-credit hour activity/performance course (such as in Music or Lifetime Fitness) may also be taken, but the maximum load is eight credit hours per session, including Maymester in First Session.
2. A course load of more than eight hours is considered an overload and requires the approval of the student's dean. Only highly motivated and excellent students should consider an overload as an option, and even then only in exceptional circumstances.
3. Students are allowed to enroll in only one Maymester course. Students enrolled in Maymester should not take a course in First Session.
4. At least four semester credit hours must be taken to constitute a full academic load for an undergraduate student and at least three semester hours for graduate students in one session.
5. The UNC-Chapel Hill Office of Scholarships and Student Aid may require current UNC-Chapel Hill students receiving summer funds to register for a minimum number of hours per term to meet federal definitions to qualify for aid.
6. High school students may only enroll in second summer session and are limited to four credit hours.

D. Class Attendance

1. Students are expected to attend class regularly beginning on the first day of classes.  Students must follow the University Class Attendance policy found on the University Catalog website as well as the attendance policies set by individual instructors.
2. Students are responsible for all work, including tests and written assignments, and for all class meetings and the final examination for each course for which they are registered. Students follow UNC-Chapel Hill exam policies.

E. Auditing

1. Students may audit during Summer School under the following conditions:
   1. Auditing of courses is permitted only in lecture-based courses and never in courses that include laboratories or performances. Auditing is not permitted in independent studies courses, internships, special topics, directed readings, or similar courses.
   2. Permission to audit is limited to those classes with space available.
   3. Visiting students who want to audit do not apply to Summer School and do not register through Summer School.  If a visiting student is registered for a class for credit and then decides before classes start to change to an audit, please contact the Summer School academic director at summer_school@unc.edu
   4. Prospective auditors must obtain permission of the instructor and the approval of the school dean or department chair.
   5. Rising high school senior visiting students are not eligible to audit classes.  
2. Students officially registered for other courses in the same summer session may audit a course without paying a fee. These students will need to obtain written permission to audit and must bring that documentation to the University Registrar to complete the registration process. Persons not registered for courses must obtain written permission, pay a $20 fee to the University Cashier, and then bring the permission and receipt to the University Registrar to complete the registration process.
3. A copy of the registration transaction will be given to the student to provide to the course instructor at the beginning of the summer session.
4. Auditors are required to register for any course that they have been approved to audit and that they attend. This requirement is in part for security reasons as well as for instructors to verify course attendees. Auditors will appear on the instructor's class roll but may not request grades. No transcript of record will be issued, and no grades accepted by the University Registrar.

F. Drop-Add and Withdrawals

1. Procedures for registration, course changes, and withdrawals are the same in the summer term as in the fall or spring term. However, deadlines occur more promptly due to the condensed summer schedule, which is one-third as long as a semester. See the Summer School calendar for dates.
2. Deadlines for schedule changes and for reduction in course load occur quickly in the condensed summer session, particularly in Maymester. A course cannot be added for credit after a deadline without written permission of the instructor and approval of the student's dean. Exceptions or extensions should be rare and for well-documented and reasoned cases, not for reasons of poor academic performance. Only the dean of the student's respective school or college can approve such exceptions.
3. UNC-Chapel Hill students obtain the approval of their dean for exceptions to deadlines and for withdrawals. Visiting students must receive approval from Summer School.