Parts of Term (P.O.T.) Frequently Asked Questions
Students
Where do I find information on part of term courses?
Part of term courses, within a semester, have different start and end dates than regular full-semester courses, and the drop/add and refund deadlines are different than the deadlines for regular full-semester courses. You can find part of term course offerings within Schedule Wizard or Banner Self-Service Course Summary Search.
Will we continue to have two graduation dates for summer?
Students may complete program requirements in the first half term of a summer semester, but graduation will be processed at the end of the summer semester.
What part of term course offering time periods are available?
Each fall, spring, and summer semester has a first half and second half session where shortened courses may be offered. Additionally, the summer semester offers even shorter quarter term courses.
Can I use grade replacement within a part of term?
Yes, grade replacement can be used within a part of term, as long as the grades were earned at UNC Charlotte.
Can I use Schedule Wizard to view part of term offerings?
Yes, Schedule Wizard has a dropdown selection to filter on part of term.
What are the payment due dates for sessions that don’t start at the beginning of the term?
All parts of term that start before the beginning of the standard term will be required to pay by the first payment due date.
What are the add/drop dates for sessions that don’t start at the beginning of the term?
Add/Drop for all sessions remains seven days from the start of classes. For more specific dates, see Duration & Deadlines.
Can I enroll in a payment plan if I enroll in a session that begins after the start of the term?
Yes, if you are not already enrolled in a payment plan for the current term, you can enroll in a payment plan before the respective add/ drop deadline for your part of term. Visit this site for more information about payment plans.
Are new and re-enrolling students able to apply for admission to any part of term?
Students can apply for the full or first half term of fall or spring. During summer, new freshmen and transfer students can only apply for the second half term. This pertains to graduate and undergraduate applications for admission. Undergraduate re-enrolling students applying to return in summer are able to register in full summer, first half or second half.
Faculty/Staff
What is the benefit?
Part of term course schedules originated as a request from academic departments. These course offerings allow students to complete multiple requirements within one overall term. As a result, courses can run end-to-end and final grading is available prior to the end of the overall term. Additionally, grants were awarded by the UNC System for developing courses with shortened schedules.
How does summer operate with one term?
Currently, the 11-week summer semester has full-term courses as well as two half-term course sessions.
Is my course appropriate in a shortened part of term time period?
Courses with a high rate of D, F, or W grades may not be appropriate for a part of term course format.
I have traditionally taught in Summer I or Summer II. Can I still teach in each summer session?
Yes. From an individual course perspective, there will be no change.
- Summer I in the former schedule design is the same as the new Summer First Half.
- Summer II in the former schedule design is the same as the new Summer Second Half.
Do contact hours still apply to courses offered in a part of term?
Yes. For every 1 credit hour, 750 contact hours are required. A typical 3 credit course would require 2,250 contact hours.
I currently teach in an altered schedule format now. How do I move to a recognized part of term?
Assuming you have approval to teach in a part of term from your department chair, you will need to notify your departmental schedule builder of your interest. Your departmental schedule builder will enter the requested part-of-term for your course, prior to student registration. Altered schedules outside of the recognized parts of term are not recommended.
What campus resources are available to me, if I were to condense my course content into a shorter part of term?
Assuming you have approval to teach a part of term course, you may want to use this brief teaching guide, Part-of-Term Courses: Condensing Course Content, to assist with your planning.
How do I request a shortened part of term for my course?
It is important to look at course demand and pedagogical needs when making this decision. In consultation with your department chair, submit a justification and requested start/end dates. For summer courses, submit this request to the Summer School Office and for fall/spring courses, submit this request to the Office of the Registrar.
Currently, most students register for 12-15 or 16 hours per term. Will the maximum number of credit hours a student is able to enroll per semester increase? Will departments make the decision to allow registration above 18 hours or will this be approved by the Registrar/University?
A course load of 15-18 credit hours will continue to constitute a normal semester load for undergraduates during fall and spring. The undergraduate max credit hours per term for fall and spring will remain at 18 hours. For summer, a proposal has been submitted to faculty council to edit the summer term policy to reflect a maximum course load of 14 credit hours. This summer policy will also include a recommendation that students do not enroll in more than 7 hours per half term. Exceptions to the 18 & 14 credit hour maximums will still require Associate Dean approval. The intent is to ensure students can successfully handle the additional course load, and only those who know the student best can make that decision.
The Graduate School has put forth a course load proposal of 9 credit hours in fall or spring and 6 credit hours in summer. The policy proposal further dissuades students from registering for more than 12 credit hours in fall or spring and 9 credit hours in summer.
Currently, undergraduate students are allowed a maximum of 16 withdrawal hours, while seeking their degree. Would the maximum number of withdrawal hours change if they are allowed to take more classes in one semester?
No. The 16 withdrawal hours limit is applicable to the student's entire undergraduate career, regardless whether courses are taken in a full-term or in half terms.
What impacts would this have on financial aid regarding WD/R2T4, SAP, etc?
Would allowing students to take more hours in a term increase their cost of attendance or will it still be based on the current full-time COA (12 hours)?
What happens if students don't pass a prerequisite course and they have already registered or started a post-req? This would negatively impact a student in multiple ways (FA, Billing, etc.). Would students be allowed to start taking a post-req, while still completing a prerequisite since the sessions overlap?
Students may have already registered for a post-required course in the second half, however, the Office of the Registrar will have dropped the course if the required pre-requisite course has not been successfully completed. It is unlikely that the student will have started the subsequent course if they had not successfully completed the prerequisite course. This process is no different than other more traditional terms except that the window to perform this drop is smaller and there is less opportunity for the student's advisor to intervene.
For study abroad courses, where the student earned an F grade and because we bring the course back as institutional credit, how does the last day of attendance or participatory activity get reported? This is a foreign instructor, who may not take attendance, and would not be bound to the federal aid policy.
The Office of Financial Aid would contact the student requesting they turn in any documentation (graded work, etc.) showing attendance or participation.
A student is having trouble registering for the second course in a sequence (ie, Registrar 1 and 2) in both half terms. How do I resolve?
Do not provide an override. Doing so will prevent the Office of the Registrar from identifying whether the student successfully completed the first course in the first half. The Office of the Registrar runs a prerequisite check between the two half terms to ensure students are adequately prepared for the second half. Contact the Office of the Registrar for an individual or complete course solution. The Office of the Registrar is working with departments to allow concurrent registration within the single term (both halves) and removing that allowance after add-drop registration has concluded. This solution will allow the Office of the Registrar to perform a successful prerequisite check between the two half terms. For more information, contact Monique Wilson (Monique.Wilson@charlotte.edu).
Do you have a quick reference guide for faculty/staff to refer to?
Yes. You can download the PDF here.
Financial Aid
When is a student considered to have withdrawn for financial aid purposes in parts of term?
When a student ceases attendance at any point prior to completing the payment period unless the school obtains written confirmation from the student at the time of the withdrawal that he or she will attend a session that begins later in the same payment period.
The most important part of determining a withdraw is the timing.
Scenario : Full Term : 8/19 - 12/12; First Half Term : 8/19 - 10/10; Second Half Term 10/17 - 12/12.
The student has 6 hrs in Full Term, 3 hrs in First Half Term and 3 hrs in Second Half Term = 12 hrs total.
Example 1 - Student withdraws from 6 hrs of Full Term on 9/6. The student completes First Half Term but drops Second Half Term on 10/12. The student is a withdrawal for financial purposes even though First Half Term was completed. At the time the student dropped Second Half Term, the student’s intent was to complete both First Half and Second Half Terms.
Example 2 - Student withdraws from 6 hrs of Full Term on 9/6. The student drops Second Half Term on 10/10 and completes the First Half Term. Since the student was still in First Half Term at the time of the Second Half Term drop, the student is not considered withdrawn. The student’s intent at the end of the First Half Term was only the First Half Term.
If a student ceases attendance between half terms but is enrolled in Second Half Term, will this confirm their intentions for Second Half Term?
No, federal regulations indicate a student must provide written/email confirmation on attending a future part of term. An email communication will be sent to the student, from the Office of Financial Aid, to collect a statement on future attendance.
If a student ceases attendance between half terms, but the student paid in full for Second Half Term enrollment, will this confirm their intentions for Second Half Term?
No, federal regulations indicate a student must provide written/email confirmation on attending a future part of term. An email communication will be sent out to the student, from the Office of Financial Aid, to collect a statement on future attendance.
If a student ceases attendance between sessions, can a parent email in confirming a student’s intention of attending a future part of term?
No, it must come from the student.
If a student is enrolled in 9 credits (¾ time) at census and then later enrolls in 3 additional hours after census, will Pell be disbursed at full-time?
No, Pell locks on census and will only disburse for the hours that were locked on census.
(Swapping courses after census) If a student locks at full-time, then drops Second Half Term and adds the same number of hours after census, the Pell will not adjust down since the hours stayed the same.
If a student is enrolled in 12 hours at census and drops 3 hours in the Second Half Term before it begins, will the student's aid be adjusted?
The student’s cost of attendance (COA) will be adjusted to ¾ time. If the student has Pell, it will be prorated down to ¾ time. If the student is over the new COA or new need, the aid will be adjusted down further.
If a student is only enrolled in Second Half Term, when will financial aid be disbursed?
Aid will disburse 10 days prior to the start of the Second Half Term start date.
What will happen to the student’s financial aid in the scenarios below?
The student withdraws from First Half Term on 09/03/xx and clean drops from Second Half Term on 09/03/xx (never began attendance).
Answer: Student’s grant aid will be prorated based on 9 hrs. since the student never started Second Half Term and COA will be adjusted accordingly.
The student withdraws from First Half Term on 10/03/xx.
Answer: NO adjustment is needed since the student is still enrolled in Full Term unless the student withdraws from all courses in Full Term at a later date OR fails to earn passing grades in Full Term (which is an unofficial withdrawal).
The student withdraws from all courses in Full Term on 10/03/xx, but remains enrolled in Second Half Term.
Answer: An email communication is sent from the Office of Financial Aid to the student to confirm Second Half Term enrollment intent and to confirm participation in Full Term courses.
- If the student confirms intent of enrollment for Second Half Term – NO Return to Title IV (R2T4) calculation is performed.
- If the student does not confirm their intent of enrollment for Second Half Term – an R2T4 calculation is performed on all 12 hours.
- If the student does end up attending the Second Half Term, the R2T4 calculation is undone at that time.
If we do receive the intent of enrollment for Second Half Term and then student never attends or drops the Second Half Term courses – the R2T4 calculation is performed using the original w/d date from the Full Term.
The student completes First Half Term with passing grades and drops all courses in Second Half Term on 10/16/xx.
Answer: The COA is adjusted accordingly to only include First Half Term and financial aid is prorated to 6 hrs. prior to R2T4 calculation. R2T4 calculation is performed using the First Half & Second Half calendar since the student did not drop the course prior to the end of the First Half Term.
The student withdraws from Full Term on 9/4/xx. The student then drops Second Half Term on 9/5/xx and then adds another Second Half Term course (3 hrs.) on 9/6/xx. The student then withdraws from First Half Term on 9/7/xx.
Answer: The Cost of Attendance (COA) is adjusted accordingly to only include Full Term and First Half Term, and financial aid is prorated to 9 hrs. prior to Return to Title IV (R2T4) calculation. R2T4 calculation is performed using the First Half Term calendar.
- Timing is key to figuring out the R2T4 calendar to use. Since the student withdrew from Full Term before withdrawing from First Half Term, the intent was only to finish First Half Term.
- 9 hrs. of financial aid are still used in the calculation as long as the student successfully confirms participation in Full Term and First Half Term courses.
Since the student dropped the Second Half Term course before it started, only 9 hrs. would be counted for financial aid purposes.