Maximum Number of Credit Units Allowed for Spring or Fall

A normal class load is considered to be 12-17 units plus an activity class in physical education.  Students working full time are encouraged to carry a reduced load.  Students with advanced standing, and a "C" average or better are permitted to enroll in 19 units plus physical education for the spring or fall semesters.

Repeating Courses with Substandard Grades

A student who receives a grade of D, F, or NP in a course may repeat that course one time to earn a better grade. The previous grade and credits will then be disregarded in the computation of the grade point average (GPA) and total credits; however, all coursework will remain on the student’s transcript.

Repeating Courses with Passing Grades

Students are not eligible to repeat a course in which they earned a grade of "C" or better except where special circumstances exist which justify the repetition of the course. Special circumstances include: a significant lapse of time since the course was completed; significant changes in the content of the course; or, the need to acquire knowledge to be able to progress to a higher level course.

Applications to repeat a course in which a grade of "C" or better was earned are available in the Admissions and Records Office. Students must apply prior to advisement and registration in order to give the Academic Regulations Committee sufficient time to consider the request.

If permission to repeat a course in which a C grade or better was earned is granted, the new grade will appear on the transcript but will not be computed in the GPA, nor will the credit be counted in total credits earned.

Prerequisites, Corequisites & Advisories

Course prerequisites, corequisites, advisories and recommended preparations are listed in this schedule after each course or multiple sections of the same course. To meet prerequisite requirements, grades of C or higher must be earned.

Pass/No PassOptions

For a few selected courses, students may elect the Pass/No Pass grading option. Courses with this option are identified in the college catalog. The option selected cannot be changed beyond the 30% point of the semester.

Off-Campus Classes are held in the following locations.

Eastern Valley Center - Indio,
Mecca - Thermal, 
Coachella Valley High School,
Country Villas Rancho Mirage HCC,
Desert Regional Medical Ctr, Palm Springs,
Eisenhower Medical Center, Rancho Mirage 
River Springs Charter School, Indio,
John F. Kennedy Hospital, Indio,
Manor Care Health Services,
Oasis Hospital, 
Palm Springs High School.

 Open-Entry Classes

Students may register for some courses, such as skills labs, throughout the term. Grades of Pass (P) or No Pass (NP) are given and students are responsible for meeting the minimum number of required attendance hours in order to receive grades of P.  Concurrent enrollment in appropriate subject credit courses may be required.

Physical Education Requirement

Completion of a physical education (PE), health education (HE), recreation (RE), or varsity (VSM, VSW) course is required in each of the first two semesters in which a student is enrolled in nine (9) or more units.

Filled Classes

If the maximum number of seats in a section of a course are already taken, you will receive a message that the section has been closed because it is a filled class. We suggest the following:

Go for the sure thing and try to find another section of the course that still has seats available.

During the registration period (December 3 to January 29), if a class is closed,  you will have the option to place yourself on a waitlilst.  Please note, you should have met all prerequisites before placing yourself on the waitlist, and should not place yourself on more than one waitlist per course.
For complete details regarding the Waitlist, see page 12 of the 2010 College of the Desert Spring Catalog or click here.  Registration and Waitlist close for Spring 2010 at 8:00 p.m. January 29, 2010

Classes filled on the first day of the term will require Add Permit Codes to enroll via Web Advisor only.  For complete details regarding the Add Permit Codes, see page 12 of the 2010 College of the Desert Spring Catalog
or click here .  Add Permit codes can be used February 1 - 8 only. 

Cancelled Classes

Classes in which enrollment is too small to justify continuing will be cancelled. If one of your classes is cancelled, contact the Admissions and Records Office to see if you are eligible for a refund. Refunds are not made automatically.

Adding and Dropping

Adding and dropping classes is completed via the Web Advisor through the last day to register. After that point the following policies are in effect. Deadlines are given for full-term courses. Contact the Admissions and Records Office for deadlines assigned to short-term classes.

ADDING: Only classes which are late starting can be added after February

DROPPING: Maintain control of your own records. As soon as you know you will not be attending a class drop it so you will not receive a failing grade and your seat is available for another student. You will receive F grades for courses you are no longer attending and have not dropped.  You may not contest a grade recieved for a class that was not dropped. 

Once you have dropped via the web you should print out the page that indicates the course has been dropped.  Keep this until you have recieved final grades.  Make sure you have saved your transactions correctly in an effort to safeguard your records.

Classes may be dropped via the Web Advisor through the last day to drop at the 75th percent point of each  class.

Students are responsible for all courses for which they register. If withdrawal from one or more courses is necessary, students are responsible to make sure they drop classes accurately.  While instructors may drop for nonattendance, many do not, and students must not assume such action has been taken.

All deadlines related to dropping classes are listed on the calendar page of the class schedule.

Class Attendance

Students are expected to attend all sessions of the classes for which they are registered. Students who do not attend the first class meeting may be dropped by the instructor.

If a student is unable to speak directly to his/her instructor(s) regarding necessary absences from class meetings, messages may be left for instructors by calling each instructor and leaving a voice-mail message.

Students whose continuous, unexcused absences exceed the number of hours a class is scheduled to meet per week MAY be considered inactive and MAY be dropped by the instructor. However, there is no responsibility on the part of the instructor to do so.