Frequently Asked Questions

Waiver Forms and who has to sign

Print waiver forms from the Registrar’s Office website. Special Approval/Restriction Waiver is most common.

Types of waivers:

• Filled section  (get approval from department offering the course)
• Lacking pre-requisite   (get approval from department offering course)
• Instructor /special permission / restriction  (required to enroll in Enterprise - approval from instructor)
• Credit overload permission form   (approval signature from your academic advisor or Student Affairs if on academic probation)
• Time conflict/exam conflict  (approval from all instructors involved)

If you get an error, check the course pre-requisites/restrictions in the course descriptions listing.

To obtain approval:

1. Print a waiver form.
2. Complete your form and get signature from the department offering course, academic advisor or instructor.
3. Bring completed, signed waivers to:
   Student Services Center – Admin 110, or to

Enterprise:

Instructor approval required for most Enterprises, every semester. Bring waiver form to the Enterprise faculty advisor. Bring signed form to SOT Advising office.

Filled Section of a class?

See contact on Department Permissions to request enrollment in a filled section. You must see appropriate department.

There are deadlines each semester regarding University policy for adding and dropping courses. These deadlines represent changes in grading policies and methods for adding and dropping courses.

Adding full-semester courses (fall or spring semesters)

Courses may be added on BanWeb during the initial registration period until 5 p.m. on Friday of the first week of the semester. Registration closes for a short period after initial registration and then reopens until the end of the 1st week of classes.

• After Friday of the 1st week of a semester, students must see an academic advisor for a late-add form which must be approved by the section instructor. 

Dropping full-semester courses (fall or spring semesters)

• Courses may be dropped on BanWeb until 5 p.m. on the Wednesday of second week of a semester.

• After Wednesday of the 2nd week, all drops must be done in person at the Student Service Center (first floor Administration Building).

• If a drop will put a student below 12 credits, the deadline to get a refund for that drop is at 5 p.m. on Wednesday of the 2nd week, otherwise plateau tuition is in effect for 12-18 credits. Specific course fees may lead to bill balance changes. No refunds of any kind will be granted after Wednesday of the 2nd week unless the entire semester’s registration is withdrawn.  Contact the Registrar’s Office for the percentage refund schedule in the case of complete withdrawal.

• First year students must get an advisor’s signature on an orange first-year add/drop slip for any drops after the 1st week of the semester.

• Courses may be dropped at the Student Service Center until 5 p.m. on Friday of the 3rd week with no grade. Courses dropped by this deadline will not appear on the student’s transcripts.

• First year students must obtain their advisor’s and instructor’s signatures on the orange first-year add/drop slip for any drops after the 3rd week.

• Courses dropped after 5 p.m. on Friday of the 3rd week through 5 p.m. on Friday of the 10th week will earn a ‘W’ grade.  After this deadline, courses may not be dropped without extenuating circumstances. Late drops will not be granted just to avoid poor grades.

  • Courses dropped during the 4th week through the 10th week will earn a ‘W’ grade (withdrawn). A ‘W’ appears on the student’s transcript which indicates that the student dropped the course. ‘W’ marks do not affect GPA calculations, but the credits dropped are included in attempted credit hours for financial aid purposes (satisfactory academic progress).

    Dropping summer half-semester courses (Track A or B)

• For summer half-semester courses (Track A/Track B), please see the Important Dates posted to the SoT Advising page or the Registrar’s Office page/academic calendar for drop deadlines. See an advisor with questions.

• Plateau tuition is not in place for summer semester so any drops before the refund deadline (4 p.m. on Thursday of the 1st week of the track) may be refunded.

  For half-semester courses during fall or spring semesters, please see an advisor with questions.

This is done through MyMichiganTech.  

For more details: 

Change Major, Minor, or Concentration

Transfer Credits:

If you want to take classes elsewhere and transfer them to Michigan Tech, use the online Transfer Equivalency system to look up classes.

• Choose courses that will transfer to an equivalent course at Michigan Tech that are required for your degree.
• If you will be taking a class at another Michigan School, fill out a Guest application in Transfer Services.
• To access list of courses already approved for transfer use the Michigan Tech Transfer Equivalency System.
• If the course you want or need is NOT on the Transfer Credit Equivalency list, you can request to have it evaluated for transfer credit by sending this information to the  Transfer Services Office, Admin Bldg 110, for each course  (or email transfer@mtu.edu,  or call 906-487-3323)

• University or college name
• Course number and title
• Syllabus
• Textbook(s) used (usually on the syllabus)
• Detailed description (usually on the syllabus)
• You should consult Transfer Services, 110 Administration Building, before taking a course to verify it will transfer in as the correct course (906-487-3323 or  transfer@mtu.edu).
• If all this information is available online, you can send the exact link to transfer@mtu.edu.  A short catalog description is not enough information to evaluate for Michigan Tech credit. You must provide a syllabus.
• Enroll in courses, earn good grades. Grades must be ‘C’ (2.00/4.00) or better to be accepted by Michigan Tech.
• If the transfer course(s) are pre-requisites to classes you need to register for next semester, have a copy of your transcript from the transfer college sent to Michigan Tech or notify Transfer Services what courses you are going to be transferring in so that your enrolled courses can be entered into the student database.

How to transfer credits to Michigan Tech:

Have an official copy of your transcript sent to Michigan Tech once you have completed the course/s and earned a ‘C’ or better.

Michigan Technological University
Registrar’s Office
110 Administration Building
1400 Townsend Drive
Houghton, MI 49931-1295

One of the easiest ways to improve your GPA is by repeating courses.

• If you fail a required course, you will have repeat and pass the class to meet the degree requirement.
• Students may repeat a course no more than two times.
• Students may repeat courses with a grade of CD or lower.
• The most recent grade is used in your GPA calculation even if it is lower than the previous grade.
• Special permission from the Office of Student Affairs and your academic advisor is required to repeat a course a 2nd and final time.
• Pre-requisite courses must be passed in order to continue to next course.

Apply by January 15 of the year you plan to enroll for priority consideration for admission, financial aid, and scholarships.

The information you need to apply to be an undergraduate. It’s free and you can apply online or submit a paper application.

Departmental Contacts for Filled Sections 

Department	Contact	Phone	Location
AF	Mark Holmstrom	7-2652	ROTC
AR	Jonathan Fox	7-3446	ROTC
ACC/BUS/EC/FIN/ MGT/MIS/MKT/OSM	Jodie Filpus-Paakola	7-3597	AOB 108
BE	Mike LaBeau	7-3655	M&M 342
BL	Marc Madigan	7-2546	Dow 733
CEGE	Julie Ross	7-3410	Dillman 103
CH	Jeremy Brown Denise Laux	7-2297 7-2048	Chem Sci 206A Chem Sci 607C
CM	Alexis Snell	7-2472	Chem Sci 203A
CS	Cheryl Simpkins Vicky Roy	7-2209 7-2316	Rekhi Hall 221 Rekhi Hall 227
ED	Rachelle Gariepy	7-2460	Meese 111
EE	Judy Donahue	7-2232	EERC 131
ENG	Darlene Saari	7-3057	Dillman 112
ENT	Rick Berkey	7-4309	M&M 722
FA	Tanya Maki	7-2067	Walker 209
FW	Stacy Cotey	7-2953	Noblet 120
GE	Kelly McLean	7-2531	Dow 630
HU Modern Language	Jackie Ellenich Maria Bergstrom	7-2008 7-0984	Walker 301A Walker 316
MA	Beth Reed	7-2287	Fisher 205A
MEEM	Ryan Towles Tricia Stein	7-2564	MEEM 204A/B
MSE	Dan Seguin	7-3375	M&M U101
PE/KIP	Olivia Stevens Terry Anderson	7-2715	SDC 231
PH	Will Slough	7-2273	Fisher 221
PSY	Rachelle Gariepy	7-2460	Meese 111
SS	Gina Stevens	7-2114	AOB 214
TECHNOLOGY	Peggy Gorton Danise Jarvey	7-2260 7-2259	EERC 425 EERC 423

All classes are taught by full-time faculty or qualified instructors. Graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) may be employed to assist with labs.

The faculty members maintain a balance between teaching and scholarship. A number of our faculty have been nominated and/or received the Distinguished Teaching Award. Several faculty members are involved in applied research and they typically include undergraduate students in their projects.

If you are considering a study-abroad experience, the first thing you should do is contact International Programs and Services (IPS) by going to their offices on the 2nd floor of the Administration Building or attending one of their publicized information sessions.  Study abroad programs are available ranging from several weeks in the summer to a full semester to an entire year.

It is important that you clarify your goals for your study abroad experience according to these guidelines:

• “I want to study abroad and I am not concerned about maintaining progress in my degree program(s) at Michigan Tech.”  No real limitations on the programs a student might choose.

• “I want to study abroad and I want to complete some required credits, but will target general education (UN, HASS) or other common credits (math, chemistry, physics, free electives, cocurriculars).”  Most programs and international institutions will be able to support these kinds of course equivalencies.

  Once you have identified a specific experience/location with IPS, it is then critical that you have all your study-abroad equivalent courses pre-approved before leaving Michigan Tech.  Typically, study-abroad credits though sanctioned study-abroad programs are considered to be Michigan Tech credits and are normally graded as pass-fail according to minimum standards of grades that are earned while studying through those programs.  Pass-fail graded courses are not included in Michigan Tech GPA calculations.  Contact IPS for more information on the pre-departure process.  Courses will be evaluated and possibly approved as equivalent to Michigan Tech courses similarly to the syllabus submission process detailed below.

  Study abroad courses must be evaluated for equivalency to Michigan Tech courses by sending the below information to IPS.

  1. University or college name and location (including country)
  2. Course number, course title, and number of credits (credits converted to U.S. standard semester credits if necessary, IPS can assist with credit conversions)
  3. Syllabus.  A short catalog description is not enough information to evaluate a course for possible Michigan Tech credit. You must provide a syllabus.
  4. Textbook(s) used (usually on the syllabus)
  5. Detailed description of topics and grading system (usually on the syllabus)
  6. If all this information is available online, you can send the link(s).
  7. Before submitting a course for evaluation, please make sure that the course is being offered and offered in a way that you are at least able to take it.  Do not submit evaluation requests for courses that you are not likely to take.

• Once you have approved course(s) identified, your academic advisor will sign off your Course Planning Sheet (form from IPS) for individual SOT courses and on your overall plan for credits to be attempted.

• If a study abroad course you are taking is a pre-req for a course you plan to take in your next semester at Michigan Tech, notify IPS of your registration and an in-session (IS) placeholder can be entered into Banner.  The IS will act as a pre-req to allow you to register for the next course you need here at Tech.

• When your study abroad is complete, request an official copy of your transcript be sent to Michigan Tech as soon as you have completed the course(s) and grades are posted.  This may not happen automatically.  You should make a transcript request from the institution where you have completed courses.  Official transcripts are sealed and must be received by Michigan Tech directly from other institutions. Do not request these transcripts to be sent to yourself, academic advisors, etc.  Earned study abroad credits are not included in any GPA calculations, but can impact your GPAs if the credit replaces a grade of ‘CD’, ‘D’. or ‘F’ from a previous attempt here at Tech.  Removal of these poor grades for these calculations may cause GPAs to improve once study abroad credits are entered.

Stressed?

Many things come into play during college life that can increase stress. Trying to balance everything is tough. First, remember why you are here and keep reminding yourself of that. Second, you are here for yourself and not anyone else. Watch out for number one!

Why am I here?

Your goal may be something like this: To earn a nationally accredited mechanical engineering degree at one of the nation’s top engineering universities. To obtain a position with one of the large, successful companies that hires Michigan Tech graduates or go on to earn your graduate degree.

• Establish personal priorities that will allow you to perform well academically and meet your goal.

• If your friends want you to hang out, but you’ve got homework or a test, hang out another day.
• If you are working too many hours, evaluate your need to work or consider reduced course loads.
• If you are involved in too many organizations or a position that takes away time and hurts your grades, cut back, limit your hours, or postpone. You have your entire future to pursue your interests. It’s O.K. to graduate in 4.5 or 5 years.

• Attend all your classes.
• Research at the University of Michigan states that the most important factor for success in college is class attendance.
• Don’t skip a class to catch up on sleep or to catch up in another class. This is where you learn what you need in order to be successful on quizzes, homework and tests.
• If you rely on just reading the textbook, you will miss out on important information.

• Get help when you need it.
• If you are falling behind in any of your classes, see your instructor, a learning center coach and your academic advisor.
• If you are feeling pressures from all corners of your life, see the academic advisor or Counseling Services and nip it in the bud. You have to watch out for yourself and seek help if needed.
• If your grades are continuously low, see your academic advisor early on.

• Get your homework done, study for quizzes and exams first. There will be plenty of time for fun after that. If you reverse this priority – your grades and your chance for success will suffer.

Grades, probation, and suspension:

If you are getting low grades, see your academic advisor early on. Once you get on probation, it can be a very long and difficult process to get yourself back to good academic standing. If your grades do not improve after two semesters, consider whether or not you are in the right major. Remaining on academic probation can lead to academic suspension.

Career Services

Carrer Services offers a detailed career exploration guide called MyPlan. Visit their website at https://www.mtu.edu/career/

Counseling Services Center 

Offers Academic Counseling. Call 906-487-2538. If you are overwhelmed, unable to focus on homework and studying for exams, experience test anxiety, are depressed, or have high anxiety, call 906-487-2538. Learn new study skills and how to focus on what is important to you in order to reach your personal goals.

When you are in a tough class, and you just give up, do you really want to take the class again? Seek help as soon as you know you need it.    See the instructor and the academic advisor. Go to the learning center.

Homework:

Prepares you to be successful on quizzes and exams. If you don’t understand how to do a problem, don’t let it slide. See your instructor and/or the learning center coach. Do the problem over and over until you can do it yourself without error. This will help tremendously on exams. Take interest in your subject. One class is a building block for another, so it is important to do well in each.

Instructors:

Your instructor wants you to succeed. He/she is not trying to trick you. Ask questions; learn how to learn. Explore the subject. Master the material. Instructors don’t ‘give’ grades, you earn grades. Our curriculum is challenging. Get help as soon as you need it. Know your instructor’s office hours. Your instructors are experts in their fields and enjoy teaching those who want to learn.

As a high school student you should take at least three years of math, science, English and communications. In addition, practical, hands-on courses and at least one year of hands-on computer experience is strongly recommended.