A student may decide to withdraw from an individual course until 4:00 p.m. eleven college business days before the first Reading Day for the semester. The exact date is published by the Registrar's Office and may be found online. A student may use the withdrawal option twice for a total of two course withdrawals during their career at Dickinson.
To officially withdraw from a course, the student must complete the Course Withdrawal Form, which is available in CLIQ. For CLIQ forms, log into the Gateway, click on the CLIQ icon, then choose Registrar’s Office Forms on the menu. BEFORE SUBMITTING ANY CLIQ FORMS, be sure to CONSULT WITH EACH PROFESSOR who you include on the form. Once submitted, you will receive an email and so will the first professor, (ie. advisor or instructor). Once that professor completes their part, the next professor (i.e. new advisor or department chair), if needed, will receive an email. When all approvals are received, the Registrar’s Office will be notified to update your record. When complete, you will receive a final email. You can check the status of these forms on CLIQ at any time. A completed form includes course number and title and the reason for withdrawing. In addition, the form calls for the academic advisor to comment on the student's decision to withdraw. The student is responsible for completing the form by the posted deadline.
A grade of "W" is entered permanently in the student's record to indicate withdrawal from the course. "W" grades do not affect the cumulative grade point average. Generally, the appearance of one or even two "W" grades will not seriously affect a student's record if it is otherwise strong. "W" grades in combination with other indications that the student did not or could not successfully complete normal course work (incomplete grades, light course loads, excessive use of P/F) over several semesters may signal problems. In particular, students need to attend to the percentage of courses that they are able to complete. More information is available in the "Quantitative Standards" section of the Academic Bulletin.
If students need to withdraw (1) after the deadline, (2) from more than the permitted two courses, or (3) for health reasons, they may petition the Subcommittee on Academic Standards. Students should not assume they will be permitted to withdraw, but instead they should continue to participate in the course until the Academic Standards Committee informs them of a decision about their petition.