There will be no refunds for COD students taking 16-week courses who choose to not get vaccinated for COVID-19 or submit to weekly testing. 

In a personal interview on Oct. 28, Vice President Jim Bente said, “We currently have a procedure in place for certain situations. We will be following our normal procedure. If you drop because you don’t want to get tested, no, we will not be providing refunds.” The decision came after a meeting of COD administrators last Tuesday. 

According to the Student Registration Calendar, 100% refund of tuition & fees was available up until eight days into 16-week classes, six days into 12-week classes and three days into 8-week courses.For the most part, that means refunds are long past, except the second 8-week course that starts Oct. 18. Debbie Henderson, interim manager and coordinator of Student Registration Services and the Enrollment Support Center, elaborated on what this means on student transcripts. 

“Depending on the timeframe where a student drops a class, if it’s in the 100% refund period, tuition is 100% refunded, and on the transcript, there is no ‘W,’” she said. “If it is at the 50% or after, that’s when the ‘W’ is in place.” 

‘W’ on a student transcript stands for “withdrawal.” While it doesn’t affect a student’s overall GPA, the student will not receive any credit and may be encouraged to retake that class to receive credit. 

Dropping a class may also affect a student’s financial aid status. 

“If they are receiving financial aid, we ask that they please contact their financial aid representative to ensure that they understand the impact on their financial aid,” Henderson said.

However, if a student wishes to drop an in-person class this semester, they may take that class again in any format. 

“Students are not restricted to repeating a class in the same format,” Henderson said. “If [the student] drops an on-campus class and wants to retake it as an online class, they can do that.”

Lastly, Henderson wanted to remind students to check the Student Registration Calendar for more specifics about drop dates and refund information. 

“It is also available in the [student] portal as well as drop dates with [a student’s] specific course. Those are on the student’s schedule, so we always encourage students to look at their schedule.”

Bente reported that approximately 1,200 students have turned in their vaccination cards, roughly 10% of the student populace. He mentioned that even though the vaccination turn-in process will remain open after the deadline of Oct 1, vaccinated students should still try to turn in their vaccination cards sooner rather than later. If a student turns in their vaccination card too late, they may still end up being required to be tested. 

This is because it takes time to process, sort, and validate the vaccine cards. So it is important that students and staff turn in their vaccination cards as soon as possible. Bente said students having issues with the vaccination submission process should contact the Student Help Desk at [email protected].

COD plans to start testing mid- to late October. In an email sent to the faculty and staff, COD President Brian Caputo said that Student Resource Center Room 2000 will be used for testing once testing begins. This means while testing is taking place, SRC 2000 will not be available for anything other than COVID-19 testing. Bente also confirmed that COD would not accept test results from external sources, meaning that testing must be done through the school. 

More information regarding testing will be coming in the next few weeks. In the meantime, Bente wanted to remind students that anyone who tests positive for COVID-19 and requires accommodations due to isolating or quarantining should contact the Center for Access and Accommodations.