Student Exceptions Overview
Exceptions allow advisors to manipulate the DPR to either grant exceptions to curricula or override the system’s default logic.
Approving and Entering Exceptions
Academic programs have delegated authority to grant individual exceptions to major and minor requirements, excluding the Disciplinary Communication (DC) requirement. Each program or department sets its own internal approval process. Once approved, these exceptions are entered by the department or program in the DPR.
Exceptions to University and General Education (GE) requirements (including the DC) are approved by the Committee on Courses of Instruction (CCI), and are entered by staff in the Office of the Registrar.
Exceptions to college core courses are granted by the students’ college, and are entered by college advisors or preceptors.
Types of Exceptions
There are three types of exceptions:
Course Directive: Used to substitute or exclude courses to/from a requirement. Courses in a course directive must either:
- Appear on the UCSC transcript such as courses taken at UCSC, though special programs like EAP or other Global Learning programs, UCDC, UCSac, or UC Intercampus exchange, or
- Have been awarded as part of an articulation to a UCSC course in which the student received course credit.
Requirement Change: Used to reduce the extent of a requirement (e.g., change from two required courses to one). It is also used to fulfill part of a requirement using unarticulated work from transfer credit, test credit, or UCSC extension courses.
Requirement Waiver: Used to fulfill all of a requirement, predominantly based on unarticulated work that does not appear on the UCSC transcript such as transfer credit, demonstrated proficiency, or UCSC extension courses. Is also used to waive a requirement entirely.
Using Course Directives
The primary purpose of course directives is to substitute or exclude specific courses from a requirement. Courses used in course directives are either UCSC courses that appear on the UCSC transcript or credit articulated to UCSC courses that have been entered into the student’s record.
Substitute: Substitute is used when you wish to pull specific courses into a requirement. These courses may or may not be satisfying other requirements in your or another academic plan. Examples of when to use substitute are:
- An exception is granted for a course that is not typically allowed to satisfy a requirement.
- A student is double counting a course across academic plans (note: course must be directed on all applicable plans for double-counting to work in the DPR).
- A requirement is being satisfied by one course but you want a different course to satisfy the requirement.
- A course is satisfying a requirement (in your or another program), but a student requests that the course be used toward a different requirement in your program.
Exclude: Exclude removes a specific course from a requirement that it is fulfilling, freeing it to fulfill another requirement on the DPR in your or another academic plan. Examples of when to use exclude are:
- A requirement is being satisfied by an in-progress course, but the student has already completed another course that fulfills it. (Note: the other completed course may now be satisfying a different requirement.)
- A requirement is set up to require multiple courses (lecture+lab combos for example), and a student wants different courses to satisfy.
- Your program’s requirement is using a course that the student intended to count towards another program instead.
Using Both Substitute and Exclude: In some complex situations you may need to both substitute and exclude courses from a requirement. For example:
- A major requirement needs three electives. A student has completed two courses, but wants one of those courses to apply to their minor, not their major. The student also has an approved exception to allow a course taken at UCSC to count as one elective which is not typically allowed. The advisor would exclude the first course to remove it from the requirement, thus freeing it to move to the minor. They would also substitute the approved course to add it to the requirement.
Using Requirement Changes
Requirement changes are used to change the number of courses or credits required. It is also used to apply unarticulated credit to a requirement where it will not fully satisfy the requirement.
Changing the requirement: There are several reasons a requirement may be changed that do not include unarticulated credit. Examples include:
- A student is approved to waive part of a requirement. For instance, if a lecture/lab combo is typically required, but the department waives the lab portion for the student. The requirement change would be from two required courses to one.
- A requirement needs seven credits to satisfy, however a student takes a 5-credit course that is approved. The requirement change would be from seven credits to five.
Using unarticulated credit: More often, requirement changes are used to satisfy part of a requirement with unarticulated credit. Examples include:
- A program requires five upper-division electives, and a student has an approved exception for one of the upper-division electives using an unarticulated course from a different institution. That requirement would need a requirement change from five to four courses because only one of the five electives is being satisfied.
- A requirement needs two specific courses to satisfy, and the student took a similar, though unarticulated, course at another institution. The requirement change could be from two courses to one.
Using Requirement Waivers
Requirement waivers are applied when the requirement will be waived completely or satisfied in its entirety by a course or other work that is not on the UCSC transcript.
Waiving the requirement: In special circumstances, a student may have certain requirements waived entirely. Examples include:
- Transfer students being exempt from a requirement
- A program determines a student need not satisfy a certain requirement
Using unarticulated Credit: More often, requirement waivers are used to satisfy a requirement in its entirety using academic work. Examples include:
- An unarticulated transfer course was approved to meet a requirement in its entirety. This would include a single transfer course satisfying a 2-course requirement.
- A student is a native speaker of a non-English language which exempts them from a language requirement.
- A student has prior professional experience which the department determines is satisfactory for a requirement.
Combining Exception Types
In some instances, you may need to combine requirement changes and course directives on a single requirement. Requirement waivers will never be combined with other exceptions as the requirement waiver fully satisfies a requirement with no regard to what or how many courses are used. Examples include:
- A single articulated transfer course was approved to meet a 2-course lecture-lab requirement. First you would process a requirement change to reduce the courses required from two to one and then process a course directive to direct the transfer course to the requirement.
Choosing an Exception Type
