Start of Semester Information
Class Lists and Class Email
Class rosters are available in Workday; faculty are notified via email when their class emails are active each semester.
An instructor may give the class email address to students so they may send an email to everyone in the class. The instructor always receives a copy of messages sent to the list. An instructor who has a problem sending an email to a class should forward the error message to help3030@bowdoin.edu.
Course Information
The Bowdoin College Catalogue and Academic Handbook is available online and includes academic policies, requirements of the degree, and all courses taught in the last four academic years.
Classes may be searched for in Workday, by searching for BOW STU Find Course Sections. You may search for classes based on subject, day, time, and other criteria such as divisions and distribution designations.
Add/Drop Course Registration
Add/Drop begins the first day of classes.
Students have the first week of each semester to add or drop a course. During week two of the semester, students will still be able to drop a course without a record (no W on the transcript), but they will need to request instructor permission to add a course. After that, extended drop (see below) opens. Students add or drop courses online through Workday except for independent studies and honors projects which require submission of an online form. More information can be found on the independent study/honors project pages of our website.
Permission to Overenroll
In Workday instructors cannot override the size of their classes. In order to do this, instructors should use the Course Size Enrollment Override form to add a student to a course section that is full. Please note that students should be added in accordance with the waitlisting guidelines. Please note these will not be processed until the first day of classes each semester.
Please submit one form for each course section with the relevant student information. Multiple students can be added for each course section.
General Credit Limitations
First-year students who wish to register for fewer than 4.0 credits need the permission of their dean and their liberal arts advisor, usually obtained via email, in their first and second semesters. Any student who wants to take more than 5.0 credits needs the permission of their dean and advisor, usually obtained via email. Any student who wants to drop below 3.0 credits must petition the Recording Committee. Each of these decisions can have a tremendous impact on a student's progress to the degree and should be discussed in detail with the advisor before proceeding with approvals.
Withdrawal
During weeks 3-7 of a semester a student may log into Workday to withdraw from a course with their advisor’s permission (first year students also need permission from their dean); this will result in a W on the student’s transcript. Because this is a situation that can impact a student’s satisfactory academic progress, student aid eligibility, and/or ability to continue or complete their education, Bowdoin has put in place procedures to manage the drop process and connect students with appropriate advising resources to support their decision-making.
Credit/D/Fail Options
Students may choose to take a limited number of courses with the elective Credit/D/Fail grading option as opposed to earning standard letter grades. This opportunity is available to students in Workday through the first seven weeks of each semester.
Student Attendance at First Class Meeting
If the course is officially, completely full before the first day of class (full classes are those that do not have ANY open seats available at close of business the day before classes start each semester), the instructor may choose to drop students from the course who do NOT attend the first class meeting. (Keep in mind potential exceptions made for students observing religious holidays or travel delays. If you are unsure, please contact the student's dean).
An instructor who chooses to exercise this option should email the names of the students to be dropped to registrar@bowdoin.edu within 24 hours of the first official class meeting. This is the only circumstance under which an instructor may directly change a student's registration for a course. In all other cases, the student must change their own registration in Workday or, after the close of registration, by submitting a petition to the Recording Committee.
Access to Course Material for Teaching Assistants, Tutors, etc.
An instructor who would like to give a teaching assistant or tutor access to electronic course material should submit the request form. Staff in Information Technology will then give this person access to the Canvas account for the course and forward email sent to the class list to the person's regular Bowdoin email account.