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Forms & Petitions

Links to forms and petitions, as well as policy and procedure information.

  • Designation of the pass/fail option is available between the third and tenth week of the semester.

    To designate a course pass/fail login to Williams Students Records:

    Student Records tile > Self-Service Forms tile > Pass/Fail form

    Or access to the Pass/Fail form directly.

    It's advised to wait until you have a sense of how you are doing in all your courses before you designate one as pass/fail and not all courses can be taken pass/fail.

    Read the Pass/Fail policy details.

  • A fifth course may be designated in Williams Student Records only during the drop/add period at the beginning of the semester—not all courses can be taken as a fifth course—be sure to check the catalog.

    The course you designate as your "fifth" can be dropped up to the sixth week of the semester.

    To drop a designated fifth course login to Williams Student Records:

    Student Records tile > Self-Service Forms tile > Drop Extra-Graded Fourth or Fifth Course form

    Read the Fifth Course policy details.

  • A petition for Independent Study (e.g., 297, 298, 397, 398, 497, 498) should be submitted before the beginning of the semester in which the independent study will be taken, but no later than the last day of drop/add period.

    Carefully read course descriptions for independent studies—departments may have special criteria or deadlines that should be considered.

    Once independent study plans have been discussed with a faculty sponsor, submit the Independent Study form.

    1. The proposal will be forwarded to the faculty sponsor for approval.
    2. The proposal and faculty sponsor support will be forwarded to the chair for final approval.
    3. Once the Registrar's Office receives final approval, we will register students for a unique section, with the faculty sponsor listed as instructor.

  • Use the Off-Campus Course Approval form for:

    • Making up course deficiencies (for withdrawn students this may be fall or spring courses)
    • Taking a course not for credit but with approval toward major or preprofessional requirements.

    Guidelines for selecting courses.  Courses:

    • must be approved in advance by the Registrar’s Office before you enroll
    • must be taken at a U.S.* regionally accredited 4-year** college or university
    • must be of a liberal arts content such as could be offered at Williams
    • must be at least 3 semester hours or 5 quarter hours credit
    • must be offered in a traditional scheduled classroom setting***
    • cannot duplicate or substantially overlap coursework completed or to be completed at Williams.
    • must be discussed with the appropriate academic department if the course will be used as a prerequisite equivalent or in the field of a declared or probable major or concentration.
    • cannot be used to fulfill distribution requirements.
    • DEADLINES for Summer Courses: All approvals are due to the registrar NO LATER THAN June 30.  Most late summer sessions BEGIN in early JULY with registration deadlines in June so you MUST have approval and register before July 1 in most cases.  Some suggestions for online options include: umass.edu, mcla.edu, snhu.edu, nyu.edu.  There are many others that have summer sessions but look early to avoid problems.  Students required to take summer courses may not use the excuse that they missed the last date to register for summer courses.  PLAN AHEAD!

    Questions about course selection can be addressed to the Registrar at [email protected] or by stopping in to the Registrar’s Office.

    Exceptions to these guidelines:

    • *Courses taken outside the U.S. must be approved by the Committee on Academic Standing. Prepare a statement of why the course must be taken outside the U.S.
    • ** Courses taken at 2-year community colleges will be considered given financial or geographic reasons. The courses must be of a liberal arts (not vocational) content intended for transfer to 4-year programs.  Prepare a statement of why you need to request approval for courses from a community college.
    • *** Online courses will be considered only if scheduled courses have been considered at either a 4-year college or university, or at a community college and those courses are not possible. A request for an online course must be approved via petition by the Committee on Academic Standing as well as by the Registrar’s Office.  The request must include an explanation of why the online course is necessary.  The request must also include details that the course will be structured with interaction with other enrolled students as well as with the instructor.  This information may be available on the school’s site or you may need to request a syllabus from the course instructor.  MOOCs or self-paced courses are NOT acceptable.
    • DEADLINES for Summer Courses: All approvals are due to the registrar NO LATER THAN June 30.  Most late summer sessions BEGIN in early JULY with registration deadlines in June so you MUST have approval and register before July 1 in most cases.  Some suggestions for online options include: umass.edu, mcla.edu, snhu.edu, nyu.edu.  There are many others that have summer sessions but look early to avoid problems.  Students required to take summer courses may not use the excuse that they missed the last date to register for summer courses.  PLAN AHEAD!

    Do your homework.  Collect course descriptions, meeting time information and credit hour information plus any explanations for exceptions before completing the Off-Campus Course Approval form.

  • During the first two years of study, students are limited in the number of courses they may take in one department or subject each semester:

    • First-year students may take no more than one course with the same course prefix, nor more than two in one department, in a semester.
    • Sophomores may take no more than two courses with the same course prefix, nor more than three in one department, in a semester.
    • Sophomores may take no more than three courses with the same course prefix, nor more than four in one department, during the full year.
    • A student may take no more than a total of five courses with the same course prefix, nor more than eight in one department, during the first two years.

    You may request an exception to this policy by submitting the CAS Petition at the time of registration.

  • To audit a course:

    • Contact the instructor during drop/add period.
    • Work out the details of participation; whether or not you should engage in class discussions, take tests, etc.
    • For a formal record of the audit on your transcript, fill out the Audit Validation form before the end of exam period.

    If you cannot continue auditing the course, please tell the instructor. 

  • Students may choose to be known on campus by a name other than their legal name—read more about name options.

    Williams recognizes the importance of respecting personal pronouns. Students may now indicate their pronouns via Williams Student Records.