Academic Information and Policy

See the Undergraduate or Graduate Catalog for a complete listing of academic regulations and policies.

Registration Policy and Procedure

1. Schedule an appointment with your academic advisor. He or she has your registration date and time.
2. Once your registration date and time has arrived, you can register for your courses online in VitNet or Student Planning. Detailed instructions are available in the VitNet  Students Menu under "Student Help Documents/Links".
3. You will not be allowed to register online for any class for which you do not meet the prerequisite, for classes that overlap in time, or for classes that are closed. In any of these situations, you will need to obtain the proper signatures on an override form and bring it to the Registrar's Office to register. (See Overrides section on this page for further information.)
4. You may make changes to your schedule in VitNet or Student Planning any time after your initial registration. See Adding/Dropping Classes below for specific information.

NOTE: Summer session registration varies in procedure and registration, please see the Summer Important Dates and Registration Information for information pertaining to Summer session registration. There are not registration times assigned for summer registration.

General Information

Adding/Dropping Classes
Schedule changes (add or drop) may be made via the VitNet Self-Service online system. A class may be added in VitNet through the first week of classes (full semester class) or until the day before a class session begins (compressed class).  A course may be dropped in VitNet through the first week of classes (full semester class) or until the day before the first day of the semester (compressed class).

When students wish to change a section or credit value for a class, they must drop and then add the class. These changes must be completed by the end of the first week of the semester or during the "add" period. Drop dates for half-term and full-semester courses are listed with the fall or spring important dates. For courses offered for time frames other than half- and full-term, see the Registrar's Office.

Please see the Business Office for information about tuition refunds.    

Class Cancellation Policy
Viterbo University's inclement weather plan is invoked only in the most serious times, when conditions make travel to and from campus dangerously imprudent or other events cause serious safety concerns. However, in case of severe weather, conditions throughout the region vary significantly.  Individuals should exercise prudence in determining the safety of a commute from their respective location. If the condition warrants, suitable arrangements between instructor and student will be made to make up for the absence. If students are not able to come to class, they should contact their instructors as soon as possible. In the event that all classes are canceled, the local media will be notified. For information about individual class cancellations, instructors should post cancellations to Moodle.

Credit Load
Full-time credit load is a minimum of 12 credits for undergraduate students during a traditional fall or spring semester. A student may enroll in up to 20 credits, in any format, in any semester (fall, spring, or summer). A traditional or Center for Adult Learning student may be enrolled in up to eight credits in a compressed format at any given time in any semester.

Full-time credit load for graduate students is a minimum of six credits during any academic semester, including summer. To reflect reasonable expectations for successful learning and course completion, a student may not take more than 15 graduate credits per semester.

Experiential Learning: Internships
Internships are available in specific departments each semester. Consent of instructor for internships must be sought prior to registration and the experience must occur during the semester of registration. To register for an internship, complete and return a change of schedule form with the instructor's signature to the Registrar's Office. Internships designated as 287 are for freshmen and sophomore students; those designated as 487 are for juniors and seniors. All internships are graded Credit or No Credit.

Grades
Grades for the fall and spring semesters are due to the Office of the Registrar no later than noon on the Tuesday after the first session and after finals week.  Faculty, however, should submit grades upon course completion. To accommodate faculty submitting grades throughout the semester, grades will be posted to students' official records every Friday beginning mid-semester.  Students may view posted grades in VitNet.  

Graduation
Students graduating at the end of the semester of registration should complete the online Application for Degree form form when they register. This form indicates the intent to graduate and is used to provide information to students concerning graduation, as well as provide Viterbo University with information to order diplomas and caps and gowns. Information concerning graduation will be sent by the Commencement Committee (to the current local address on file) approximately mid-semester. The deadline for the receipt of this form is Jan. 15th for May or summer graduates and Sep. 15 for December graduates.

Incompletes
Do not register for a class to remove an incomplete grade. Once the course requirements are complete, your instructor will submit a grade to remove the incomplete.

Overrides
Refer to the University Catalog for a complete list of course restrictions and prerequisites. Course prerequisites can also be viewed in VitNet Self-Service by clicking on a course section name and title. Course specific restrictions, such as junior standing required, can also be viewed in VitNet on the search results screen. You will not be permitted to register for courses for which you do not meet the prerequisites, for courses that overlap in time, or for courses that are closed. In any of these situations, you must obtain the proper signatures on an override form and bring it to the Registrar's Office to register. These forms are available in the Registrar's Office or online.

Repeating Courses
Except where program or departmental requirements prevent it, students may repeat a course up to three times. Only the last grade is used in computing grade point average. Grades from courses taken at another institution to replace grades earned at Viterbo University will not be used in computing the grade point average.

Textbooks
See the bookstore's Web page for information about purchasing textbooks.

Withdrawal from Viterbo University
A student who wishes to withdraw completely from the university during a semester must complete an official withdrawal form and meet with their academic advisor. The official date of withdrawal is the day the form is received in the Office of the Registrar. This process must be completed prior to the withdrawal period for W grades to be awarded (70% of the course elapsed). Any applicable refunds for courses less than 15 weeks in length are prorated according to the tuition refund deadline dates. A student who wishes to re-enter for any subsequent term must complete a re-entry application form for re-acceptance. Failing grades are recorded for students who do not officially withdraw from the university.