A recent policy change from Carleton’s Senate alters the way dropped courses are marked on student transcripts.
Students who drop courses after Sept. 30, the last official day to withdraw from a course with a fee readjustment, will have the dropped course marked as “WDN,” or “withdrawn,” on both official and unofficial Carleton University transcripts.
A transcript is a copy of a student’s permanent academic record, listing all courses taken and grades earned. Carleton students are able to request a copy of their official and unofficial transcript through Carleton Central.
Prior to this policy change, students could drop courses until the last official day of classes without receiving a notation on their transcript.
The reason for the change, according to an email from Carleton’s enrolment and records associate registrar Dotty Nwakanma, is to ensure students don’t delay in deciding whether to stay in a course.
This change to student transcripts will not be retroactive, Nwakanma said. Students who withdrew from courses during terms prior to Sept. 1, 2017 will not receive a WDN grade on their transcript.
“This is a substantial change to the transcript, and a robust communications plan is underway to ensure that students are given appropriate and fair warning of the change and its impact,” Nwakanma said in the email.
Photo by Angela Tilley
