College of Fine and Applied Arts

Individual study is a special provision where a student makes a contractual agreement with an instructor to complete a course on a different time schedule or without attending class regularly.  Anyone wishing to pursue an individual study must be a candidate for a degree at Appalachian or working toward teacher certification.

Independent Study is a special course, not listed in the regular curriculum, in which the student designs a project and then pursues it under the guidance of a faculty member who serves as a consultant for the student during the course of the study. The faculty member who will direct the student’s work, the chairperson and the Dean’s Office must approve the Independent Study.  Anyone wishing to pursue an Independent Study must be a degree candidate at Appalachian or working toward teacher certification.

A course may be added after the published Drop / Add period only for extenuating circumstances and requires the written permission of the instructor,  department chairperson and associate dean.

Student must complete the Late Drop / Add Form identifying the reason for the late add and have all of the required signatures before submitting it to the Dean's Office for final approval. 

Students may freely drop and add courses during the first five days of the fall and spring terms without using any Withdraw credits. From the sixth day until the end of the ninth week of the fall and spring semesters, students may withdraw from 16 hours in their entire academic career at Appalachian. These are called withdrawal credits.

You may use up to 16 withdrawal credits directly in Appalnet. No form is needed:

Yes, click on the Class History link in DegreeWorks at the top of the audit.

Incomplete grades are assigned only because of sickness or some other unavoidable cause, not because a student fails to complete assignments in the course. An “I” becomes an “F” or “U” if not removed within the time designated by the instructor, not to exceed one semester, except that all incompletes must be removed at the time of graduation. 

A student may repeat up to four courses and have Grade Forgiveness applied. Grade Forgiveness removes the initial grade AND the earned hours from the calculation of the grade point average (GPA). All courses will appear on the transcript. Grade Forgiveness will be automatically applied for the first four courses the student repeats. 

In rare circumstances, a late or extra drop may be requested if documented extenuating circumstances beyond the student's control occurred after the official drop date and prevented the student from completing a course. Students may review the Request for an Exception to the Drop Policy form on the Registrar's Office website for more information.

In exceptional cases, credit can be awarded for prior non-college-based learning if the credit sought is related to the student's degree program (i.e. general education, major or licensure requirements). Assessment of prior learning can commence only after a student has been admitted to the university and has declared a major.