In 2020, the university introduced a new initiative to increase access to education--UW-Madison Online. UW–Madison Online increases opportunities for students who cannot attend college in person and want to balance work, family, or other obligations. The program’s first fully online undergraduate degree in personal finance launched in fall 2020, with more bachelor’s degree options scheduled to follow in the coming years. The goal is to add two or three degree options each year.

The introduction of fully online undergraduate degree programs to the university's program array brings with it the need for new processes and policies. This document reflects the current and evolving policies related to program and course enrollment for students admitted to and enrolled in an online undergraduate degree program.

Prohibition on Change of Modality (to or from online)

Generally, program changes are not permitted for admitted and continuing students in enrolled in the online undergraduate degree programs. Transfer students applying to UW-Madison's online undergraduate degree programs participate in a separate admission process from those applying to on-premises programs. It is important to note that while the process is separate, the transfer admission policies and criteria are the same for online and on-premises programs. Learning outcomes for the online and on-premises programs of the same degree/major are also the same. However, the overall undergraduate experience and learning approaches are considerably different for the online versus on-premises programs and there are also significant financial differences for students and the institution between the two learning modalities. Therefore, a change of program that involves a change of modality of instruction is not permitted except in special circumstances (see below).

Should there be compelling extenuating circumstances that justify a change in a learning modality option for an individual student, the student may request a change of modality. The compelling extenuating circumstances will be considered at the school/college level by the academic dean responsible for the program the student is seeking; the academic dean will determine if the change will be allowed. Review of such requests will normally not require an in-person meeting with the student, though that is at the academic dean's discretion. The university expects only a small number of students in each program to request and be permitted to make changes in the modality of their degree option.  At the institutional level, UW-Madison will monitor the occurrence of such transfers to ensure they do not exceed a small number of the overall specific program enrollment.

Prohibition on Concurrent Enrollment at UW-Madison

Students in online degree/major/options will be permitted to only declare the designated degree/major/option to which they have been admitted and will not be permitted to be concurrently enrolled in more than one academic program (i.e., degree/major/option or certificate) at UW-Madison.

Transferring from One Online Program to Another Online Program

Students enrolled in an online undergraduate degree/major/option program may apply to transfer to another UW-Madison online program. For such a transfer to be considered, the student must meet the admission requirements for the degree/major/option to which they wish to transfer. The designated academic deans for the online programs from which and to which the student wishes to transfer will review the application/request and determine if the transfer will be granted. Review of such requests will normally not require an in-person meeting with the student, though that is at the academic deans' discretion. 

Reentry Admission

Both online and on-premises degree-seeking students who leave the university for a semester or more are required to follow a reentry admission process to return to the university. Current policy requires that undergraduates return to the program in which they were declared when they last held enrolled status; this policy also applies for online undergraduate program students. The university's existing reentry policy will be enhanced to also require that students reenter to the same program modality in which they were last enrolled. A program change in conjunction with re-entry is not allowed before reentry admission has been gained. Should there be compelling extenuating circumstances that justify a change in a learning modality upon reentry admission, the student may make such a request. These compelling extenuating circumstances will be considered at the school/college level by the academic dean responsible for the program the student is seeking; the academic dean will determine if the change will be allowed. Review of such requests will normally not require an in-person meeting with the student, though that is at the academic dean's discretion.

Course Enrollment Considerations

1. Students admitted and enrolled in online degree programs will only enroll in courses with the Mode of Instruction value of "Online Instruction" in the Schedule of Classes. These courses may include students enrolled in online degree programs and students enrolled in on-premises programs. School/college policy will dictate the mix of online and on-premises students in an Online Instruction course.
2. Students admitted and enrolled in online degree programs will not be allowed to enroll in courses that require on-premises attendance (i.e., those with the Mode of Instruction value of In-Person Instruction and/or Hybrid Instruction). These courses are intended for on-premise degree-seeking students and are not open to students in online degree programs. If a student in an online program is determined to be enrolled in a class section with a Mode of Instruction value other than "Online Instruction," the student will be automatically dropped from that class section.
3. Students admitted and enrolled in on-premises degree programs may enroll in course sections with the Mode of Instruction value of "Online Instruction" only by permission of the offering department as capacity allows. School/college policy will dictate the mix of online and on-premises students in each Online Instruction-designated course. Class sections may have section-level enrollment controls restricting enrollment.
4. Generally, schools/colleges will not use online courses as a substitute for capacity in face-to-face courses for on-premises students. On-premises students may be offered access to the online version of a course in circumstances when such an enrollment will help the student meet degree requirements and/or make timely progress to degree.  

Note:

This policy and its above considerations will require manual processes for enforcement. Audits and new processes will need to be built. While this may not be practical for the launch of new online undergraduate program programs, these policies should be reviewed in/by 2022 to either begin the investment necessary for automation or to refine the policies and program/option setup to align with new institutional learnings and current student enrollment automation tools.

Policy History

Established and Approved: University Academic Planning Council, TBD.

Initially Drafted: Vice Provost Steven Cramer and the Online Undergraduate Project Executive Planning Board, 25 February 2020.