Adds, Drops, and Waitlists
During the first week, there's often a lot of add/drop activity in online classes, much like you'd see in face-to-face classes. The process for handling those is a bit different if the student is not also on-campus.
Students on Wait Lists
Instructors can manually add students on wait lists to their Canvas courses. Once the student moves off the wait list, the student will remain in the class. If the student isn't added to the class, instructors do have to manually remove them.
- Canvas Guide: Adding Students Links to an external site.
- Canvas Guide: Removing Students from a course Links to an external site.
Can I drop student no-shows?
You can't drop students before the fourth day of the quarter (usually, Thursday). If you have the required first week assignment in your course, and the student did not complete that by the deadline, then you can safely assume they can be withdrawn by instructor.
How do I add/drop a student?
If you and the student are on campus?
The majority of students in our online classes are also taking on-campus classes at the same time -- about 90%. They may be able to just meet with you to handle the paperwork.
If you, the student, or both you and the student are off campus?
The student needs to take the following steps:
- Download the PDF add/drop form
- Fill it out
- Attach it to an email to you from their HC email account. They do not need to sign or print the form.
Once you have that form, forward the student's email (with the attached add/drop form) to Registration (registration@highline.edu).
- Include your written permission that the student be added to the class if you're adding off the wait-list.
- Include the item number, class name, and student name and ID number.
How do I know if my online students "attended"?
For online classes, students must complete a substantive activity that is turned into you within the first three days of the class start date. There are two reasons for this:
- Financial aid reporting requires students to participate in the class in a substantive way in order to count as having "attended" the class.
- Student add/drop, and the ability to add wait-listed students, are based on whether someone has "attended".
The substantive activity serves as the way of taking attendance in an online class. See "The First Week Assignment" in the module on Launching Your Course for more details.