The Office of Student Retention implements targeted advising interventions for students in need of additional support to be successful. Through collaboration with cross-campus partners, the office identifies these students and provides academic case management, advising students and connecting them with campus resources.
The office also collaborates across campus to coordinate and measure existing initiatives to support student retention and persistence, with a focus on retention efforts beyond the first year.
Students, we are here for you! Let us know how we can help you be successful!
Appeal of Academic Suspension or dismissal
In response to the UNC Board of Governors' Fostering Student Success initiative, WCU
has updated policies pertaining to academic standing, course withdrawal, and grade
replacement. The changes are meant to create policies that keep students moving forward
to the successful completion of their degrees.
EXPLORE ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Students wishing to withdraw from all courses in the semester need to complete a University Withdrawal (UW) form with the Office of Student Retention. UW's are completed after the add/drop date and before the semester withdrawal deadline. By completing a UW, the student wll receive W grades for all courses which do not count towards the state-mandated withdrawal limits.
For questions about University Withdrawals please visit University Withdrawal FAQ's
WCU utilizes a case-management based approach to actively seek out students having difficulties and/or demonstrating concerning behaviors. The Student Concern Response Team (SCRT) is charged with ensuring, to the extent possible, coordinated efforts to provide services of University Departments and made available to involved student (s). If you would like to submit a SCRT report, please visit scrt.wcu.edu.
Faculty or staff who have identified a student needing additional outreach from Office of Student Retention advisors should submit an Issue Alert about the student within the Navigate system (previously GradesFirst) and select “Retention Outreach” as the issue alert reason, in addition to any other applicable reasons for the alert. Learn More
Faculty and staff can also contact retention advisors by emailing retention@wcu.edu or calling our mainline to inquire about referring a student.
The Learning Contract Program (LC 101: "College Success Seminar) is a course designed to connect students with advsisors or other staff members to support their academic success. Students who are placed on Academic Warning following their first semester or who return to the university with a GPA lower than 2.0 are required to enroll in LC 101 for one semester. Throughout the semester, students work with their LC 101 instructor to develop a success plan to return to Good Academic Standing.
For more information on LC 101, please visit Learning Contract Program
The Office of Student Retention welcomes any opportunity to collaborate with faculty and staff to support students as we identify those in need of additional advising or resources and recruit students to initiatives designed to increase retention.