Amendments to the Audit Policy

View All

All-UA

Printer-friendly version PDF version

Amendments to the Audit Policy

To: UA Academic Advisors, Student Support Personnel, and Students

From:

Abbie Sorg, Assistant Registrar, Academic Catalog & Policy

Subject: Amendments to the Audit Policy

Date: March 15, 2023

In fall 2022, the Office of the Registrar proposed updates to the Audit Policy for undergraduate, graduate and professional students.

The updated policy simplifies the language in the Audit Policy and streamlines the conditions under which a student may audit a course. Previously, students were required to hold a grade of C or higher to be eligible to change a course to audit. To give flexibility for the instructor and the student to create a situation that best meets the student's educational goals, the grade requirement has been removed. Now, regardless of the grade currently held, a student may change to audit with the instructor's permission. Also updated is an expansion in the timeframe in which a student can request to audit a class, allowing the student to better plan their course load and ease administrative tasks at the beginning of the term.  

The updated policy was approved by the Undergraduate Council, Graduate Council, Undergraduate College Academic Administrators Council, Graduate College Academic Administrators Council, and the Faculty Senate during the fall 2022 and spring 2023 terms.

The updated policy is effective Fall 2023 and can be read in full on the Academic Policies page.

Updates to the Audit Policy include:

  • Student's ability to change to audit.
    • The instructor is not prevented from allowing a student to change to an audit based on the student's grade at the time of the request to audit. The ability to audit a course remains the decision of the instructor.
  • When an audit can be requested.
    • Previous stipulation that a student must wait until the first day of class to get instructor permission to audit a course has been removed.
    • Students may now register for a course and request permission from the instructor to audit prior to the start of the course until the last day to drop without a grade of W, as noted on the Dates and Deadlines calendar.
    • Added clarification of the language that students must be admitted to the University to enroll in audit courses. Students not currently admitted must submit an application as a non-degree seeking student to audit courses.
  • How audit appears on transcripts.
    • The current procedure for how an audit appears on transcripts is explained in a separate section of the policy, increasing clarity.

Justification/Rationale

These updates grew in response from instructor and student feedback about the previous limitations in the Audit Policy. The request to remove a passing standard for audit approval was driven by instructor feedback to have greater flexibility in meeting their students' educational needs. Both students and instructors have requested the ability to make enrollment changes to audit before the first day of the term. By simplifying the policy language and streamlining the process to change to an audit, the University is improving the experience and access for students. 

Questions about the updates to the Audit policy should be addressed to the Office of the Registrar at catalog@arizona.edu.

UA@Work is produced by University Communications

Marshall Building, Suite 100. 845 N. Park Ave., Tucson, AZ 85719 (or) 
P.O. Box 210158B, Tucson, AZ 85721

T 520.621.1877  F 520.626.4121

Feedback University Privacy Statement 

2024 © The Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona