Student Account Eligibility

The Registrar determines who is a student at Colby College, and what their academic status is.  Academic status codes fall into eight categories:
  1. Students enrolled in degree programs and currently on-campus; exchange and visiting students from other colleges or universities; and course auditors in non-degree status.
  2. Students enrolled in Colby programs at off-campus sites.
  3. Students enrolled in approved exchange programs with domestic colleges or universities, or on approved academic leave.
  4. Students enrolled in approved exchange programs with foreign colleges or universities.
  5. Students in good academic standing and not currently enrolled, but expected to continue towards a degree.
  6. Students taking a leave of absence, or suspended for social misbehavior.
  7. New students accepted for the upcoming semester, or deferred admissions.
  8. Everything else not covered above.
The Registrar certifies categories one through six as current students.

As the Colby College Catalogue states, "...the College's official means of communication is electronic" (page 19, 2005-06 catalogue).  All active students need access to e-mail and the web in order to communicate with faculty and classmates, and password-protected webpages are used for registration and class activities.  So, all current students require a Colby computer account.

Students are the first six categories above have the right to a computer account.  Suspended students (category 6, academic status "RW") are the one exception to this rule.  The Dean of Students may revoke computer account privileges for a suspended student if she deems it appropriate.

New students accepted for the upcoming semester (category 7) need a computer account in order to register for courses via the web.  ITS creates these accounts at the request of the Registrar.  ITS has devised a system whereby an incoming student can activate their computer account before arriving on campus.  The new student is mailed (US Postal Service) a code word and instructions on how to activate their account via a Colby webpage.  The student uses the code word and other personal information to set a password via the web.  Their account is then activated and becomes fully functional.

If a new student defers admission after acceptance (category 7, academic status "DF") and a computer account has been created, that account will be closed.  It will be reopened when the student returns to "AC" (accepted) status.

Category 8 encompasses all other possibilities.  The policy of the Dean of Students states that, where appropriate, computer accounts for inactive students should remain open for one year.  The College wants students to return to active status as soon as possible; an active computer account can aid in a student's return to the Colby community.  Table 1 lists the academic status codes for category 8, their meanings, and whether or not an account will be held open for a one-year period.

 Status MeaningYear?
 AL Added from Alumni Records
No
 BO Business Office, Unpaid/overdue Bills
No
 CC Student Canceled Registration
No
 DD DeceasedNo
 GR GraduatedNo
 IS In-Semester Withdrawal
 Yes
 MD Medical Leave
 Yes
 PG Potential Graduate this year
 Yes
 RC Graduation Requirements completed
 Yes
 RT Returned to home institution (was visitor)
 No
 TR Transferred out
 No
 TT Test Web Registration Status
 No
 UN Graduation Requirements not completed
 Yes
 WD Voluntary Withdrawal
 Yes
 XP Expelled No



















Eventually all students end up in category eight somehow.  At what point is their computer account closed?  A student's account is immediately closed upon the events of death, expulsion, transfer, canceling registration, or failure to pay monies owed to the College.  The accounts of visitors (and auditors) are closed at the end of the semester.  The accounts of students "in limbo" (status IS, MD, PG, UN, or WD) are left alone for one year after change to this status.  After one year, the account will be closed without warning.  Students on medical leave are granted extra consideration by ITS, in consultation with the Dean of Students.

Graduates (status PG, RC, and GR) may keep their accounts open after graduation.  The accounts of December graduates are left alone during the following Spring semester.  The accounts of all December and May graduates are kept open until September 1.  Graduates may request (in person) that their accounts be held open until December 15 of the year in which they graduate.  All other graduates have their accounts closed on September 1 following their graduation date.

Rhodes scholars, Fulbright scholars, and IBM Watson scholars may request that their Colby accounts be held open for the period of their scholarship, up to two years following graduation.