Incompletes, withdrawals and time limits at WilmU

The I grade and its 60-day window

An I (incomplete) at WilmU needs your instructor's approval before it is given; it is not a mark you can claim after the course closes. The instructor sets how long you have to finish, up to 60 days after the course ends. When that time runs out, the I becomes an F.

The one way past the deadline is an extension that your instructor reports to the Registrar before the 60 days are over. If a preceptor gap has left hours undone, have that conversation at the start of the window rather than in its last week.

Those 60 days are where a quick preceptor replacement pays for itself. Finishing the last stretch of a 175-hour practicum takes a clinician who can host you right away, with a license and credentials ready for faculty review within days, not weeks.

Late-withdrawal appeals

Past the deadline, WilmU still allows a late withdrawal on appeal, but only for listed reasons and only when you are leaving every course in the term.

Reasons WilmU accepts

• Serious illness or injury
• A death in your immediate family
• Being the primary caregiver
• Military orders
• A change in your employment schedule

The appeal needs a withdrawal form, a letter and supporting documentation. A committee reviews appeals twice a month, and its decision is final. Because it covers a full-term withdrawal only, the appeal is not a route for dropping one practicum while you keep your other courses, and a preceptor change is not among the listed reasons.

If an illness, a family emergency or new work hours is what knocked your term off course, collect the paperwork while it is fresh. Medical notes, orders or an employer's schedule letter are far easier to gather at the time than weeks later, when the committee asks for them.

What WilmU leaves to your program

Two rules students often look for are missing from WilmU's public pages. The graduate catalog has no leave-of-absence policy, and no nursing-specific rule covers being removed from a clinical site. Put both questions to the NP Program Chair or the DNP Program Chair, and check the program handbook.

The IP grade is worth asking about too. WilmU defines IP as course in progress, a grade specific to practicums, internships and senior seminars, but it does not say when a practicum earns IP rather than an I. Your course faculty can tell you which applies if your hours run past the end of the term.

DNP students have one more timing rule. Continuous enrollment is required through GRN 9001 to GRN 9003, so any pause during the project phase should be settled with the DNP Program Chair first. Our DNP project courses page covers those three courses.