UW-Madison US Military Active Duty and Deployment Policy

The following section contains information on working with L&S undergraduate students who have been called to active U.S. military service, as well as enrolled students already on U.S. active duty who must relocate due to reassignment.
The University wishes to work with all enrolled UW-Madison students who are called to active U.S. military service.  Students who are in this situation as well as enrolled students already on active duty who must relocate due to reassignment should provide a copy of their military orders to the Certifying Official in the Registrar's Office.   More information can be found at:

UW-Madison policy for enrolled students called to active U.S. military service

Active Duty/Deployment

Upon presentation of their active duty papers, L&S undergraduate students have several options:
  1. Withdrawal from UW-Madison:  At any point in the semester, a student called to active duty may withdraw from school by submitting a withdrawal request through his/her MyUW Student Center Account.  (See Canceling Your Enrollment - Withdrawals and Withdrawing from Semester/Term for L&S undergraduates.)  In such circumstances, a student will receive a full refund of tuition.  L&S Undergraduate Academic Deans' Services will identify the current date as the “date of withdrawal” and state “called to active duty” as the withdrawal reason.  The Registrar’s Office will process the withdrawal and arrange for the full refund.
  2. Selective Drops:  A student may drop one or more courses and elect to complete remaining course work according to option 3 or 4.  A full refund of dropped courses will be honored.
  3. Incompletes:  Students who have successfully completed the majority of work for a course(s) can be awarded a grade of “I” at the discretion of their instructor(s). Students may be granted an extension(s) on the Incomplete(s) because they may be gone an extended period of time.
  4. Final Grades:  This option becomes available if the following requirements are met:  a) the instructor determines that a sufficient amount of the course has been completed, and b) sufficient information regarding the student’s performance in the course has been obtained.  Students must consult with their instructor to determine whether these two requirements have been met in order for a final grade to be awarded.

The intention of this policy is to permit students to select whichever option fits their particular circumstances.

Contact L&S Student Academic Affairs if you have further questions:

Phone: (608) 262-0617
Email: lsdeans@saa.ls.wisc.edu

Other potentially helpful resources: 

University Veteran Services: (608) 265-4628, veterans@wisc.edu 

Office of the Registrar: (608) 262-3811, registrar@em.wisc.edu