Managing Courses

Course Title, Code, Credit Value and Description

Each course offered at the University has a unique alphanumeric code, a title and a credit value. The course code consists of four letters that reflect its discipline or field of study, followed by a three-digit number that indicates its level. The title of the course gives an indication of its content. The course credit value consists of three numbers: the first indicates the number of lecture hours per week, the second shows the number of laboratory or problem solving hours per week, and the third gives the overall credit hours of the course. The example below further explains the course code and value information.

Adding/Dropping Courses

Students may add or drop a course, or change a course section at the beginning of a semester during the official Add/Drop period. Such changes are not recorded on the student’s transcript, provided that they are finalized by the end of Add/Drop for graduate courses, as specified in the Academic Calendar. Provisions and guidelines related to course management are outlined in KU Academic Policy ACA 3700 Withdrawal, Discontinuing and Resuming Studies. For policies and processes concerning the College of Medicine and Health Sciences, please refer to the CMHS Medical Student Handbook.

Course Withdrawal

Courses that are dropped after the Add/Drop deadline will be assigned a “W” grade on the student’s transcript, provided that the request is submitted during the official withdrawal period published in the Academic Calendar. The “W” grade will not affect the student’s Grade Point Average (GPA).

A student who withdraws from a course after the deadline for withdrawal has passed will be assigned a grade of “WF” (Withdrew Failing). The “WF” is equivalent to an “F” (0.0 quality points), and is used in the calculation of the GPA (see ACA 3350 Grading System, GPA, and Course Repetition). Upon appeal, this grade may be changed to a WP (Withdrew Passing).

Students should consult their academic advisor before making changes to course registration. Withdrawing from a course may affect the student’s timely progress toward graduation and impact the terms of his/her scholarship. Full-time students must normally maintain a minimum load of nine credit hours in a regular semester, while part-time students must normally maintain a minimum load of six credit hours. Under exceptional circumstances, a student’s credit load may drop below these minimum requirements, subject to approval from the Associate Dean for Graduate Studies at the relevant College and the AVP of Graduate Studies.

Course Restrictions, Prerequisites and Co-requisites

Enrollment in some courses may be restricted. For example, a course may be open to students within a specific program or require that a student has Master’s or Doctoral level standing. In some cases, registration may not be permitted without the approval of the course instructor.

A program of study may also require that courses be taken in a certain order or taken together. A course that is required to be taken before another course is called a “pre-requisite”. Students are not permitted to register for a course with a pre-requisite unless the pre-requisite course has been completed with a passing grade or student has an approved pre-requisite waiver. Approval for a pre-requisite waiver should be obtained from the course instructor, Main Advisor, Department Cahir and the Associate Dean for Graduate Studies at the relevant College.

A “co-requisite” is a course that is designed to be taken together with another course.

• A co-requisite course may be satisfied if the student has previously completed it with a passing grade.
• Students may not drop a course if it is a co-requisite of another course in their schedule. In this case both courses would have to be dropped.
• If a student repeats a co-requisite course in which the student earned a grade of B- or lower, the companion course (if passed) does not have to be repeated.

Repetition of Courses

Students should meet with their advisor before repeating a course, as it may affect the student’s academic standing and scholarship. A repeated course must be taken when it is regularly offered and cannot be taken in independent or individual format. Graduate students may repeat a course subject to the following:

• A given taught course can be repeated only once. Approval of the Dean of the relevant College (or designee) is required if a student wishes to repeat a course in which he/she previously earned a grade of B- or higher.
• A maximum of two taught courses can be repeated during the student’s enrolment in a particular graduate program at the university.
• Degree credit for a course is only given once, but the grade assigned each time the course is taken is permanently recorded on the transcript.
• Only the highest grade earned for a repeated course will be used in calculating the grade point average.
• A student who fails a course/exam twice is subject to dismissal for failure to make satisfactory academic progress (see ACA 3650 Academic Standing Graduate Programs). This rule does not apply to seminar courses.
• A repeat course must be taken at Khalifa University.

Auditing Courses

Subject to availability, admitted degree students in good academic standing may audit graduate courses without credit, with the permission of the instructor and the approval of the Department Chair and Associate Dean for Graduate Studies at the relevant College. Approvals must be obtained prior to registration, and the student must register as an auditor. Registration priority will be given to matriculated degree-seeking students.

Auditors are required to follow the same registration procedures as persons taking the course for credit. Auditors do not receive grades or credits. Participation in class discussion and written work is permitted at the discretion of the instructor. A fee per credit hour will be charged and must be paid prior to registration. The status of Auditor cannot be changed after the course has begun. The University reserves the right to cancel an audit registration if the class size is an issue.

Normally, a student will not be permitted to audit a course if this results in exceeding the maximum allowable credit load per semester. Furthermore, a student cannot use course audit to change his/her study mode (full-time/part-time).

Course Substitution

Graduate students are expected to satisfy all degree program requirements that were in effect when the student was first admitted or most recently re-enrolled as a degree candidate. A student seeking a minor deviation from program requirements must submit a Variation to Academic Program request and if needed, a Prerequisite Waiver request. The student’s advisor, the Department Chair and the Dean of the relevant College (or designee) must approve the request. The course to be substituted must be at the same level as the required course and the student must be in good academic standing when the permission for deviation is requested.

Limitation of Courses Offered

The University reserves the right to cancel any course listed in the Catalog or scheduled to be offered. Notification of a cancelled course will be sent to any affected students at their University email address.

Class Cancellations

On rare occasions, it may be necessary to cancel a scheduled class. Under such circumstances, students will be notified in advance, as much as possible. Alternative course registration options should be provided to the student by the relevant academic department.

Course Feedback

Students are required to give their feedback on all courses at the end of every semester, which ensures the quality of course delivery. Student feedback is further considered during course review and development.