Course Completion Requirements
Course registration. Continuing students register for courses online using our web-based system known as WINDOW (Wheaton Information Delivered over the Web). In order to maintain the faculty/student advising partnership, every student must meet with their faculty advisor to obtain a new registration PIN in each advising period preceding course selection week. Students away from the campus at these times will be contacted by the Office of the Registrar and may follow different procedures for course registration. Students not registered or improperly registered may not receive credit for their work.
Students may change course registrations without penalty or fee within the first seven days of instruction each semester. Specific deadlines for adding courses, dropping courses, and choosing the pass/grade/fail grading option are published in the college academic calendar.
Complete instructions for using the system, processing exceptions and possible late fees as well as the academic calendar can be found on the Office of the Registrar's Web site: wheatoncollege.edu/Admin/Registrar/Registration.html
Integrity of academic work. All work submitted for evaluation in a course must be completed in accordance with the standards of academic integrity in the college’s Honor Code. All dependence on the ideas or language of others in a student’s written work must be properly acknowledged and documented; students should consult their instructors whenever they are unsure of their responsibilities toward the Honor Code. The code also means that a student may not give or receive aid in completing laboratory assignments, computer programs or other work assigned in courses. The Honor Code also precludes a student from submitting the same assignment in two or more classes.
Examinations and quizzes are normally unproctored—completed without faculty present. Students are on their honor to refrain from giving or receiving aid during an exam or quiz, and are obliged by the Honor Code to report any allegations of academic dishonesty, either to the College Hearing Board chair or the dean of students’ office. Regulations governing the administering of final examinations are available in the Office of the Registrar and distributed each semester to all students taking final examinations.
Students are required to acknowledge in writing the integrity of all work submitted and all exams or quizzes completed.
Class attendance. Students are expected to attend classes regularly and are responsible for all work conducted or assigned in classes they miss. Individual instructors may set individualized attendance policies and enforce them. In certain classes, it may not be possible to pass the course once a student exceeds the number of allowed absences, no matter how valid the reasons for the absences. Accommodations for students who have missed classes, examinations or quizzes, labs, or deadlines for written work will be made only at the discretion of the instructor, who may require the student to have medical or other external confirmation that the accommodation is justified by circumstances beyond the student’s control.
In addition, according to Massachusetts state law, any student whose religious beliefs prevent class attendance or participation in any examination, study or work requirement on a particular day shall be excused from any such requirement. The student will also receive an opportunity to make up any examination, study or work requirement that may have been missed because of such absence on a particular day; however, such makeup examination or work shall not create an unreasonable burden upon the school. No fees of any kind shall be charged by the institution for making this opportunity available. No adverse or prejudicial effects shall result to any student who takes advantage of the provisions of this section.
Completing course work. All course assignments except for final examinations or work in lieu of final exams must be completed by the last day of classes each semester. All final examinations or work in lieu of exams must be completed by the end of the examination period. No regular course work may be submitted after the last day of classes. Failure to meet these deadlines may, under special circumstances outlined above, be accommodated by granting the grade of "I" (or Incomplete). All Incompletes must be approved by one of the academic deans and require documentation of the circumstances necessitating the Incomplete.
Final exams. Students normally complete their final exams during the week following the last week of classes. Faculty may substitute a final research paper or some other project in lieu of an examination.
Final examinations may be pre-scheduled or self-scheduled, as determined by the instructor. Pre-scheduled exams are offered by the instructor during the final examination time associated with that class, as published by the Office of the Registrar each semester. Once a student’s registration in a class is final, he or she should identify any pre-scheduled final exam times prior to making any end-of-semester travel arrangements. Alternatively, final examinations may be self-scheduled, allowing students to select the date and time during exam week in which they wish to take that course final. Please note: The college cannot reschedule exams to accommodate family plans or holiday travel. The exam schedule is available at the beginning of each semester. Incompletes (I) may be granted only when circumstances are confirmed to be beyond the student’s control; students must receive permission from an associate dean in academic advising and work out a contract with the instructor for the completion of all work before the end of the next semester. Failure to complete work by that date shall result in instructions to the faculty member to submit a final grade, with zero points awarded for the work still outstanding or the award of a grade of “F.”