Attendance
Regular attendance and participation in all classes are important student obligations. Attendance is an integral part of student success.
Attendance at First Class through Census Date
Students must attend the first scheduled meeting of each class in which they are enrolled or risk being dropped by the professor. Instructors shall clear their rolls of inactive students not later than the end of the last business day before the census day (typically Monday of the third week for full-term classes). Students who are dropped or drop themselves by the published, class-specific Add/Drop deadline are entitled to a refund.
Attendance During the Semester/Session
A professor has the right to drop any student who has accumulated excessive absences. Generally, excessive absences are defined as 10% of the total hours of class time or the equivalent of two weeks of a full-term class. The application of excessive absences may vary by department and/or instructor according to the demands of the curriculum. Any exceptions to this policy will be communicated to students by professors in the class syllabus. A student dropped by a professor in error may petition for reinstatement to the class. Following the Add/Drop deadline, students who choose to stop attending class(es) retain the responsibility of officially withdrawing themselves from the class(es).
Dropping and Withdrawing from Classes
Students may drop or withdraw from classes online through mySierra or in person at a campus Admissions and Records office. Students should refer to the website for specific drop and withdrawal deadlines.
Full-term classes dropped by the Add/Drop deadline (within the first two weeks of the semester) will not appear on the student’s academic record. Short-term and summer session classes have class-specific deadlines which can be found on the student schedule/bill, by checking mySierra, or by verifying with an Admissions and Records office. Instructors shall clear their rolls of “no show” and inactive students not later than the end of the last calendar day before the census day. Students who are dropped or drop themselves by the add/drop deadline are entitled to a refund.
Classes withdrawn from after the add/drop period will appear on the student’s record and cannot be removed. It is the student’s responsibility to withdraw from classes that they do not wish to attend and to verify that they are no longer enrolled.
A student may withdraw up until the withdrawal deadline for the class. Students enrolled after the last day to withdraw will receive a grade for the class. Students are limited to receiving a “W” and/or a substandard grade (“D”, “F”, “NC”, “NP”) no more than three times for the same course. After the third such enrollment attempt, students will be blocked from additional enrollment. (Military withdrawals are not included in this limitation.)
Enrollment Status
A common schedule is 15 college units per semester. Successful students spend an average of two hours per unit studying outside of class (reading the texts, reviewing class notes, completing assignments, preparing for exams) per week. Students enrolled in 15 units will spend approximately 45 hours per week both in and outside of class.
For purposes of student enrollment verifications, a full-time student is one enrolled in 12 or more units during a semester. A half-time student is one enrolled in 6–11.5 units and a part-time student is one enrolled in less than 6 units. For the summer session, 4 units is considered full-time; however, this does not apply in the determination of financial aid eligibility. Credit is not given for courses in which a student is not officially enrolled.
Students may not enroll in more than 18 units without submitting an overload request. To be granted an overload of up to 20 units, a student must:
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Have completed 12 or more units with a 3.0 GPA;
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Not be on probation;
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Be eligible for ENGL 0001A by assessment or satisfactory completion of ENGL 0000N, ESL 0030C, or equivalent; and
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Have satisfactorily completed ENGL 0001A, ENGL 0001B, ENGL 0001C, ENGL 0011, ENGL 0000N, ESL 0030C, PHIL 0004, or equivalent.
If a student’s GPA is 2.8–2.9 and all other requirements have been met, the student must have completed 30 or more college units.
Students wishing to enroll in more than 20 units, in addition to the above listed requirements, must have a minimum of 18 units completed, 15 of which must have been completed in a single semester, and obtain counselor approval.
Honors Courses
Many courses offered at Sierra College may, with the instructor’s permission, be taken for honors credit. Students who are interested in a more challenging classroom experience may contract with a willing instructor for honors credit. Completion by a student of the honors contract together with an earned course grade of A or B will result in a notation on the student’s transcript indicating that the course was passed “With Honors.” For more information, visit the honors page on the website.
Illness or Emergency Leaves of Absence
Sierra College does not grant medical leaves of absence. Students who are absent for at least two consecutive weeks due to illness should obtain written documentation from their care provider to give to class professors. Regardless of illness, the student is responsible for all missed assignments and examinations.
Open Courses
It is the policy of Sierra College that, unless specifically exempted by statute, every course offered and maintained by the District shall be fully open to enrollment and participation by any person who has been admitted to the college and who meets such prerequisites established pursuant to Title 5.
Overlapping and Multiple Course Enrollment
Students may not enroll in credit courses which meet at the same or overlapping time. Also, students may not enroll in more than one class section of the same course in the same semester or session. This is also true of courses designated as repeatable, unless the class sections don’t have overlapping time frames.
Prequisites, Corequisites and Advisories
It is the intent of Sierra College to guide students to courses in which they will have the greatest chance of academic success. Therefore, some courses listed in this catalog have either a prerequisite, a corequisite, or advisory preparation. If no prerequisite, corequisite or advisory information is indicated there are no conditions of enrollment. The following are the definitions for prerequisites, corequisites and advisory preparation:
“Prerequisite” means a condition of enrollment that students are required to meet in order to demonstrate current readiness for enrollment in a course or educational program. “C” is the designated minimum grade for prerequisite courses.
“Corequisite” means a condition of enrollment consisting of a course that students are required to simultaneously take in order to enroll in another course.
“Advisory” means a condition of enrollment that students are advised but not required to meet before or in conjunction with enrollment in a course or educational program.
Prerequisite Clearance Procedures
Students who have met a prerequisite in high school or at another college may submit transcripts for review and prerequisite clearance. All documents, including the Prerequisite Clearance form (available online), should be submitted to the Assessment-Placement Center, emailed to assessment@sierracollege.edu, faxed to the Rocklin campus at (916) 630-4513, or faxed to the Nevada County campus at (530) 274-5307. Results are available within 3-5 business days after submission and are accessible online via mySierra.
Prerequisite/Corequisite Appeal Procedures
Any prerequisite or corequisite may be appealed by a student on one or more of the grounds listed below:
- The student has the knowledge or ability to succeed in the course or program despite not meeting the prerequisite or corequisite;
- The student will be subject to undue delay in attaining the goal of his or her educational plan because the prerequisite or corequisite has not been made reasonably available;
- The student believes that the prerequisite or corequisite has been established in violation of regulations and/or the College’s policy and procedures; or
- The student believes that the prerequisite or corequisite is unlawfully discriminatory or is being applied in an unlawfully discriminatory manner.
Prerequisite/Corequisite Appeal forms may be obtained at the following locations:
- Assessment-Placement Center
- Counseling Centers
- Academic Division Offices.
The Prerequisite/Corequisite Appeal form must be submitted to the appropriate academic division office for the prerequisite/corequisite being appealed. The appeal will be reviewed within 5 working days, and the results will be accessible online via mySierra. If approved, the student will be permitted to enroll in the course.
Reference: Sierra College Board Policies/Administrative Procedures Chapters 4 and 5.