July 2, 2020
SUM II census takes place today
Please ensure the correct instructor of record has been entered in Banner for all sections, sections on hold have been canceled or made active and all students attending have been registered so they will be counted (this includes students completing thesis and dissertation hours, independent studies, internships, seminars, etc.).
Today is the last day to drop/add SUM II courses
Dropping a class after today is considered a withdrawal and will show on the academic transcript with a final grade of “W”. Classes can be withdrawn in GoWMU from July 3 to July 20. The refund schedule is listed in the calendar at the bottom of this email.
Dismissed students will be dropped from their summer II classes today.
Positive feedback regarding New Student Orientation
Nearly 1,100 students have accessed the online orientation modules in the past two weeks.
Nearly 300 students have provided feedback on their academic advising appointments thus far. Of the students who have responded to the survey:
- 98% feel the meeting with their advisor was helpful.
- 97% are satisfied or very satisfied with their advisor.
Here are a few comments from students about the advising appointments:
- "I appreciate everything you guys are doing to get student input! It really shows how the Bronco community cares about their students and what’s important to them."
- "I really enjoyed meeting with my counselor, she helped me a lot to understand the description and course work of each of my classes."
- "I liked that they answered every question I had without judgment."
- "I had some scheduling conflicts for next year and she was super helpful in getting them all sorted out. Her outgoing personality and passion for helping students made me feel even more excited to be a Bronco."
OST would like to continue to recognize and thank academic advisors for their hard work during this process!
Virtual community sessions
The third component of online orientation, virtual community sessions, began this week. Students will have an opportunity to connect with current students, faculty or staff in these live sessions, helping them make connections and begin developing their community at WMU. There are currently 119 sessions scheduled during July (from 37 different departments and organizations).
Updated fall 2020 calendar now available
Updates from Student Financial Aid
Scholarship renewal policy change
Based on the uncertainty and instability caused by the transition to online learning during the spring 2020 semester, the completion hours and GPA requirements of institutional scholarships have been waived for the 2020-21 academic year ONLY. The scholarships of all students with remaining semesters of eligibility have been renewed and the scholarship should appear on the 2020-21 financial aid offer. Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) is required for these scholarships to pay.
Students who are not meeting SAP requirements will need to complete an SAP appeal with the Office of Student Financial Aid by SAP appeal deadlines (Oct. 1, 2020, for the fall 2020 and March 1, 2021, for spring 2021) to receive their scholarship. Students must regain SAP status for their scholarships to pay even if they will not receive federal financial aid. If the appeal is granted, their reinstated SAP status will automatically allow their scholarship to pay and no additional scholarship appeal will be necessary.
PLUS application changes
Beginning with the fall 2020 semester, students will be able to apply for the Federal Parent PLUS and Graduate PLUS loans online at studentaid.gov. Students will be able to utilize the online application for the fall and spring semesters, as well as the summer I session. The summer II session will still utilize the PLUS form located on SFA’s form web page.
Did you know? A fun fact from the Registrar...
The estimated cost of attendance calculator has received nearly 62,000 pageviews since June 2019.