Continuing and Professional Education

Policies

Inclement weather

Every effort will be made to have all classes meet as scheduled. When inclement weather jeopardizes the safety of faculty and students, VCU will alert all local radio and television stations that VCU classes are canceled.

If public announcements have been made that the school or location where the class is held is being closed or will be closed by the time class starts, then the class is canceled. If the weather is bad in Richmond and the instructor cannot get to the off-campus location, then the class is canceled. For locations outside of the Richmond metro area, follow local guidelines.

When there is a question as to whether or not a class has been canceled because of inclement weather, please follow these guidelines:

If VCU is closed, class is canceled (*see exceptions below for some online courses).

If the school or location where your class is held is closed, class is canceled.

For *online, on and off campus courses:

*Exceptions for some online courses:
Online courses offered with Kaplan Test Prep, event planning programs through Lovegevity, and Learning Resources Network (LERN) courses, continue to run, as scheduled during inclement weather. If there are changes to meeting status, you will receive an email at the address you provided upon registration informing you of the cancelation.

Noncredit courses/events

The following policies apply to students and participants attending noncredit courses and events. 

These policies may be superseded by course or event specific policies listed on the course or event webpage.  Please be sure to review the entire course or event specific page.

Registration Fee Responsibility for Minors in Noncredit Courses/Events

For any minor (under 18 years of age) participant in noncredit courses/events, the parent or legal guardian is responsible for any disputed payment.

Course modality change

All noncredit courses offered face-to-face are subject to a change of modality (to fully online) at the discretion of VCU as it deems necessary due to changes in COVID-19 protocols. All registered participants will be notified via email if modality of a course changes, and all transfer/refund information will accompany the notification.

Refunds and Transfers

Refunds

If a participant is unable to attend a class or event for which he or she has registered, a refund or transfer may be available.

Please note if enrolled in an incremental payment plan, full payment will be due if you choose to drop out of the program after the cancellation deadline.

All refunds must be requested via email to ocpe@vcu.edu. Please title the email subject “Refund Request”. Upon submission, you will be contacted to obtain any documentation needed in order to process the refund.

Unless otherwise noted in the event/course information or program website...

Refunds will only be made back to the original payment source or person.

Please allow 2-4 weeks for the processing of refunds.

Transfers

Registrations for a class or event may be transferred to a different person if requested to the program or event manager in writing via email more than 24 hours in advance of the start of the course or event.  Any participant must meet all prerequisites or qualifications required by the course or event.

Event to event transfers (participants wishing to move their registration from one class or event to another) will be granted at the discretion of the event or program manager.  Program managers should be contacted directly to request transfers. If you are unsure of who the program manager is for your program or event, please contact VCU Continuing and Professional Education by phone at (804) 828-1322, or via email at ocpe@vcu.edu.

VCU Fees and Services

When enrolling in noncredit courses and events, noncredit students do NOT pay mandatory fees that credit students are required to pay. Fees such as the University Fee, Library Fee, Technology Fee, Campus Learning Center Fee, Activity Fee and Health Fee are not part of noncredit pricing; therefore, services related to the campus offices supported by these fees are NOT available to noncredit students. For example, health services through University Student Health Services are not available to noncredit students. If you have questions or need further information, please contact VCU Continuing and Professional Education directly at (804) 828-1322 or ocpe@vcu.edu.

Student/Participant conduct

Participants are subject to all university policies applicable to students, unless a specific university or VCU Continuing and Professional Education policy explicitly states otherwise. University policies governing students are available at https://vcu.public.doctract.com and include but are not limited to the following:

Credit courses

Student enrollment verification

It is the student’s responsibility to confirm course enrollment. Once a student is officially registered, he or she is considered a current student and can log into VCU eServices in order to confirm enrollment and receive final grades.

To use VCU’s online administrative system, retrieve your Banner ID (V Number) by presenting a picture ID to either your instructor, VCU Continuing and Professional Education or Records and Registration. Once you have this number, go online to VCU Technology Services to find your individual eID (username) and set your password.

Drops, withdrawals and refunds

Students in VCU Continuing and Professional Education courses are subject to the same refund policy as all other university students if the course is scheduled on the regular semester schedule. If the course is shorter or longer than the academic semester, or occurs in the summer, the refund dates are adjusted accordingly. Review the VCU Student Financial Services website.

Student conduct and academic regulations

All students registered at VCU are bound by all policies found at vcu.edu including:

Academic Accommodations

Noncredit courses/events

Students requesting academic accommodations for noncredit courses must submit an accommodation request intake form to the program for review by the Student Accessibility and Educational Opportunity (SAEO) office.

As some academic accommodations may require time to arrange and implement, VCU Continuing and Professional Education requires a 30 day notice of need for academic accommodations with submission of the form prior to the start date of the program. Note: should an accommodation require more than 30 days to implement, as is the case of some services such as ALS or CART, the program will work to cycle the student into the next session accordingly.

The intake form should be completed by the student, even if they are under 18 years of age. While students are completing this registration process, VCU Continuing and Professional Education will attempt to provide reasonable interim academic accommodations until official documentation and approval from the University’s SAEO office has been received. (https://saeo.vcu.edu/getting-started/registration/)

Credit courses

For information on academic accommodations for credit-based courses, please visit the Student Accessibility and Educational Opportunity (SAEO) website.

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Information Security

All VCU employees, contractors, students and affiliates who generate, process, transmit, store, or access VCU information are responsible for knowing the Information Security policy and familiarizing themselves with its contents and provisions.

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