ICS Course Enrollment Policies

The Bren School strictly follows the campus policy for adding, dropping, and changing grade option or variable units for its courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

However, instructors will sometimes set earlier add or drop deadlines, so it is important to read the syllabus for each class carefully at the start of the quarter. It is the student’s responsibility to be aware of deadlines and make the modifications to his or her schedule before those deadlines pass.

*See the UCI Catalogue for general campus policies.

The Deadline for any Requests to Policy (which includes Course Time Conflicts and Excess Units) is Friday of Week 1. Requests received after this date will be denied.

Always check the course syllabus carefully for course specific add and drop information. If earlier add/drop deadlines are required by the instructor, enrollment will be controlled by the instructor with authorization codes. It is the student’s responsibility to be aware of deadlines and make the modifications to their schedule before those deadlines pass.
The deadline to add or drop courses and to change grade option or variable units is 5:00 pm on Friday of Week 2.
After Friday of Week 2 an Enrollment Exception request must be submitted through Student Access.
The deadline to submit a grade option change for non major courses through enrollment exceptions is 5:00 pm on Friday of Week 10.

Requests to add or drop are reviewed by the academic advising office of the school offering the course, as well as the school of the student’s major (if different). Requests to change the grade option or variable units require the approval of the academic advising office of the student’s major.

Enrollment exceptions for adds, drops or variable units in ICS are not guaranteed. Exception requests will only be approved for extenuating and documented circumstances outside of the student’s control. It is therefore important to continue attending class meetings and keep up with the assignments until your request is fully processed. Enrollment Exceptions for grade option change requests will only be approved for non major courses. If a course can be applied to your major it will not be approved.

Enrollment Exceptions will be denied if submitted for the following reasons:

You did not know the deadlines
You did not understand the Add/Drop process
You did not know the grade requirements for your degree
The course is not required to meet Major, School, or University requirements
You are doing poorly in the course because of difficulties with the course material
You are doing poorly in the course because of a heavy course/workload
You are doing poorly in the course because of failure to attend

If your drop request is approved, please let your professor know as a courtesy once you have formally dropped the course.

Time conflicts between courses may be approved on a case-by-case basis. Note that a lecture to lecture conflict will not be approved under any circumstances. If a course’s lab or discussion time conflicts with another course’s lecture, lab, or discussion, AND there are open spaces in both conflicting sections, follow these steps:

Enroll in one of the conflicting courses (if the conflict involves a lecture, be sure to enroll in the lecture).
Obtain written email approval from both instructors to allow the conflict.
Fill out the General Undergraduate Student Petition.
Allow ICS Student Affairs 3-4 business days to process the request. You will be notified by email when it has been reviewed.
If approved, use WebReg to enroll in the conflicting section.

The 20 unit max policy is strictly enforced within ICS unless there is an extenuating circumstance. Students can enroll in up to 20 units once the 18 unit restriction is lifted as listed on the Registrar’s Quarterly Academic Calendar
To be considered for a request of more than 20 units student must have higher than a 3.5 Cumulative GPA
To petition for excess units, submit the General Undergraduate Petition. Exceptions are not guaranteed to be approved.
For Summer Session, a maximum of 14 units may be approved, but will be reviewed on a case by case basis

All Bren School Major requirements must be taken for a letter grade unless the required course is designated as “P/NP Only.”
The P/NP grading option may be used for courses that count toward the 180 unit requirement for the Bachelor’s degree, and toward the General Education Requirement.
– No more than two P/NP courses may be applied to any minor on campus.
– An average of 4 units may be taken P/NP per quarter.
– No more than 12 units TOTAL of courses taken as P/NP ONLY may be applied towards graduation requirements during your undergraduate career.
– “Pass” is equal to a grade of C- or better.
– “Not Pass” is equal to a grade of D+ or better.
– Detailed information can be found in the General Catalogue.

Winter 2021 – Present

P/NP policy is based on the UCI Catalogue policy
Major requirements may not be taken for P/NP
We will review enrollment exception requests to change the grade option until Friday of Week 10 at 5 PM.
Please keep in mind that requests are not guaranteed for approval
Change of major (COM) and 2nd bacc courses must be taken for a letter grade
WR 39A, 39AP, and 37 are allowed as P/NP option

Fall 2020

Major requirements may not be taken P/NP
COM and 2nd bacc policies remain the same as Spring 2020 (please see below)
Enrollment exception requests up to week 10 will be considered (not a guarantee of approval)
Academic Probation: Same as below, except major requirements

Spring and Summer 2020

For Spring and Summer 2020, students have the option to change their grade option until end of the quarter even if it is a major course
ICS Major requirements: May be taken P/NP for Spring and Summer 2020 ONLY. GPAs will be calculated based on earned grades.
ICS Change of Major policy: One course may be taken for the P/NP option. GPAs will be calculated based on earned grades.
ICS AP/DQ policy: May take courses P/NP, however all courses must be earned for the Pass option in order to avoid disqualification.
Per the academic senate policy, any P/NP taken Spring and/or Summer 2020 will: not impact the 12 unit P/NP rule, not impact the 2 P/NP course policy for minors, Schools will use existing grades for gpa calculation, and not impact the number of P/NP that can be taken in a single quarter.

A course may be repeated only when grades of C-, D+, D, D-, F, or NP were received. Unit credit for courses repeated will be given only once.
The earned grades will be permanently recorded on your student transcript
The first 16 units of repeated coursework will replace the old grade when calculating GPA. However, after the initial 16 units of repeats, it will take the average of the old and new grade instead.

Taking a course without completing all prerequisites (or currently enrolled in the final prerequisite upon enrollment) is not approved within the School of ICS. All prerequisites must be taken if not then you will not be able to take the course. If you believe you have an extenuating circumstance and want to be reviewed for an exception, you will need to obtain instructor approval and submit the Undergraduate Student Petition. Priority enrollment in the class is given to students who meet prerequisites.