Enrollment Policies

Full-Time and Maximum Enrollment

Full-time enrollment for public health students is nine credit hours during the fall and spring semesters and four credit hours during the summer sessions. For students appointed as a Graduate Assistant, Graduate Research Assistant or Graduate Teaching Assistant, full time during the fall and spring semesters is six credit hours and three credit hours during the summer session (see also the Policy on Graduate Assistants section of this Bulletin). Students may not carry more than 16 credit hours per semester or more than nine credit hours per summer session without the permission of the Dean or his designee.

Health Sciences Center Students Enrolling in Norman Campus Courses

To enroll in Norman campus courses, Health Sciences Center (HSC) students must receive permission from their HSC College. The HSC College will contact the OUHSC Office of Admissions and Records in order to process the Norman campus enrollment.
 
All Norman Intercampus enrollments – adding, dropping, cancelling, or withdrawing courses – must be processed by the HSC Office of Admissions and Records. HSC students should not use the Norman Online enrollment system to process Norman enrollment.

Norman campus will bill for all tuition and fees that are to be paid to the OU Bursar, located in Buchanan Hall. The HSC Bursar will bill for all tuition and fees that are to be paid to the HSC Bursar, 865 Research Parkway, Rm 240, Oklahoma City. Norman campus courses will be listed on the HSC student’s transcript.

Faculty and Staff Enrollment

To prevent a conflict of interest between the role of student and the role of faculty or staff, the following policy applies to all OUHSC faculty and staff enrolled in coursework and programs. A faculty member may enroll in coursework as a Special Student. If the coursework is in a department in which the faculty member has an appointment, the faculty member must enroll for audit. A faculty member may not enroll for credit and cannot be admitted into a degree program in a department in which he/she holds a faculty appointment or in an academic area of his/her faculty expertise. A full-time faculty member cannot be paid as a public health student or receive a student grant.

Staff may enroll in coursework as Special Students according to the admission requirements of the course or program. A staff member may not enroll for credit in a course that is taught by a faculty member who has supervisory authority over the staff member’s employment. An exception can be made by the Dean for a required course taught only by the faculty supervisor. If a staff member is admitted to a degree program within the academic unit in which he/she is employed, the following conditions must apply:

  1. The staff member’s work and responsibility as an employee must be different from his/her work and responsibility as a student;
  2. If the staff member is employed for research effort, the research activity for which the staff member receives payment as an employee cannot be used to meet thesis, dissertation, or field experience requirements;
  3. The faculty member with supervisory responsibility for the staff member as an employee cannot serve as the staff member’s student advisor;
  4. The criteria for the evaluation of the staff member as an employee must be identified and differentiated from the criteria for the evaluation of the staff member as a student;
  5. The evaluation of the staff member as a student must not be made by any person with supervisory responsibility over the individual as an employee; and
  6. A full time staff member cannot be paid as a public health student or receive a student grant.

Auditor

Audit enrollment is for non-credit and used by students who want to take a class for information, not to count toward a degree. A student enrolling as an auditor must meet guidelines as outlined below. Enrollment as an auditor is permitted in all courses, subject to the approval of the instructor(s) and the Dean or his designee of the College in which the course(s) is offered. Enrollment as an auditor must be completed by the last day of enrollment in any term.

Enrollment as an auditor is indicated with an AU or W grade on the student’s permanent academic record and no credit/clock hour values designated. Fee charges and refund policies for audit enrollments are the same as for credit enrollments. Students enrolled “exclusively” as auditors may withdraw only during the fee return period and the enrollment will be canceled. No entry will be made on a permanent academic record.
 
In accepting a student as an auditor, it becomes the responsibility of the instructor to make clear to the student the instructor’s requirements for the audit enrollment. For example, if the student is required to attend regularly, to participate in specific class exercises, perform experiments, take tests, etc., these expectations must be relayed to the student at the time permission is given to enroll as an auditor.

Satisfactory completion of the audit enrollment is identified as an AU grade. An instructor, at his/her discretion, may assign a W grade to an auditor who, in the instructor’s opinion, did not perform according to the specific requirements as identified at the time of enrollment.

A student enrolled exclusively as an auditor may change their enrollment to “credit”, providing the student gains admission to the university during the first two weeks of classes of a semester or the first week of classes of a summer session with the approval of the instructor(s) and appropriate college dean.

A change of enrollment from “credit” to “audit” may be made no later than the end of the sixth week of classes of a semester or the end of the third week of classes of a summer session, providing the student is passing and receives the approval of the instructor and the appropriate dean. A change of enrollment to audit supersedes the original enrollment for credit, and no withdrawal from the credit enrollment is posted to the student’s permanent record. For more information, contact Admissions and Records, BSEB 200, (405) 271-2359 or email admissions@ouhsc.edu.

Class Attendance

Only those students who are officially enrolled (either for credit or as an auditor) may attend class. Each student is responsible for meeting the requirements of courses in which he or she is enrolled. Specific policies concerning attendance requirements and announced and unannounced examinations are the responsibility of the individual instructor. If absences seriously affect a student’s class work, the instructor is required to report this fact to the appropriate dean, who will transmit the information to the Office of Admissions and Records. Classes are not to be dismissed or rescheduled for extracurricular functions.

Religious Holidays

It is the policy of the University to excuse the absences of students that result from religious observances, unless such an accommodation would clearly cause undue hardship to the educational and/or university process. In accordance with the procedures stipulated by each college to accommodate varying clinical and educational differences, requests for accommodation of religious holidays must be made within the first week of the term in which the course is offered. Accommodations will be provided without penalty for the rescheduling of examinations and/or required clinical, lab or class work that may fall on religious holidays.

Request for Leave of Absence

Students may request a leave of absence from their graduate studies for up to but not to exceed 12 consecutive months (three consecutive academic terms). The request must be approved by their advisor, the department chair, and Dean or his designee. Students on probationary status, if granted a leave of absence, will resume their probationary status upon return from their leave. Students receiving financial aid may be required to return a portion of the aid. They must check with their financial aid officer.

Withdrawing and Dropping Courses

Students should contact the Office of Student Services to initiate the withdrawal or drop procedure. “Withdrawing” from the Health Sciences Center refers to withdrawing from all enrolled courses for a given term. “Dropping” refers to the dropping of one or more courses while remaining enrolled in at least one course for a given term.

Students must consult the academic calendar for grading regulations and deadlines relative to withdrawals and drops. Withdrawing or dropping courses may require students receiving financial aid to return a portion of the aid received. Students must check with their financial aid officer.

Administrative Withdrawal

An administrative withdrawal (AW) may be assigned to indicate that a student has been involuntarily withdrawn by the institution. Students may receive an AW for disciplinary reasons, financial reasons, or inadequate attendance. Such institutional penalties must follow formal institutional procedures. Administrative withdrawals are GPA neutral and approved by the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs & Faculty Development.

For assistance, please contact the Hudson College of Public Health Office of Student Services at (405) 271-2308, or the Office of Admissions and Records at (405) 271-2359.

Course Evaluations

Instructors of all didactic courses will provide their students the opportunity to evaluate the courses. Students are strongly encouraged to participate in mid-term and end-of-course evaluations each semester.

Course Credit in the Hudson College of Public Health

Coursework taken at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center outside the Hudson College of Public Health which is to be applied toward fulfilling requirements for a public health degree must be approved for graduate credit and approved by the student’s advisor, department chair, and Dean.