CAPS - Engagement Policy

Student engagement is required and monitored for all IWU National & Global programs. Student engagement is defined as active participation by a student in an instructional activity related to the student’s course of study. Student engagement is monitored within the learning management system (BrightSpace). Engagement is defined as:

• Posting in a discussion

• Submission of an assignment

• Completion of a test or quiz

Students who have not engaged (as defined above) in a class for 14 consecutive days will be withdrawn from the class. Students potentially will be withdrawn from the entire program if the program is a lock-step program, the 14-day non-engagement course is a prerequisite to other courses, or upon the second consecutive withdrawal for non-engagement.

Exceptions / Appeals / Holds

Students may request a hold or appeal an administrative withdrawal by contacting the Office of Student & Faculty Support Services within seven (7) calendar days of the withdrawal notice.

• Medical, military, employer-mandated absence, or verified technical outages are accepted reasons to delay withdrawal; documentation may be required.

• Faculty in conjunction with the appropriate academic unit may place a temporary hold on a withdrawal for active remediation plans documented in the LMS and communicated to Student Services.

Missing a Course

Students who must miss a course due to unavoidable circumstances must arrange for a withdrawal with the Office of Learner Success prior to the beginning of the course. Students needing to withdraw while in a course may do so by arrangement with the Office of Learner Success, registration.change@indwes.edu, prior to the end of the course, but the regular refund and academic withdrawal policies apply.

Faculty members reserve the right to factor lateness, early departures, and class engagement into a student’s grade, as long as it is addressed in the syllabus.

Students enrolled in a competency-based (CBE) program will be held to the same timeline and subsequent actions for non-engagement in the course as outlined above in paragraph two. Due to the different modality of instruction and student interaction in CBE courses, engagement is defined as:

• Contact with course instructor(s)

• Submission of project assignment

• Submission of a formative activity

Programs with residencies may have additional engagement/attendance requirements – please check your program in the University Catalog for specific program requirements.