Important Info

There are a few campus policies that can affect students in the Early College Program. These policies can be found in our college catalog.

Admissions & Records

• High school students who are also Porterville College students are Special Admit Students at PC.
  • Special Admit Students can take up to 11 units in Fall and then up to 11 units in Spring, with 7 units at most in the Summer.
• Special Admit Students may enroll in FIRE P050 and FIRE P051 if they are at least 18 years of age at the time the course begins.
• Per California Code of Regulations Title 22, students must be 18 years of age or older before they can be certificated in the Current American Heart Association Basic Life Support Provider Certification, which can be earned in our EMT – Basic & Psychiatric Technology Program.
• Porterville College allows concurrent enrollment for high school students (freshmen-senior grades), both online and on-campus. High school freshmen students will need to be in their second semester of 9^th grade and have an established high school GPA of 2.0 or higher in order to take concurrent courses.
• Student’s college academic information will be shared with the high school that that student is attending. These items may include rosters, grade reports, matriculation information, and anything else that would help provide wrap[1]around services to the student.

Changing Directory Information

• Students may change their name by bringing State issued photo identification and documentation of the name change in person to the Office of Admissions and Records. They may change their address, telephone number, or personal email address on the web via their Inside PC student account. To do so, login to your Inside PC account, then select MyBanWeb, then select what to update under Personal Information.
• Additionally, if you have not had a legal name change, but would like to go by another name or use specific pronouns here at PC, you can complete our Affirmed Name Change Form. Completing this form will change your zoom name, canvas name, name on class roosters here at PC, and you can also get a new PC ID card showing your affirmed name. You can find more resources on our LGBTQIA+ webpage.

Password

• When prospective students complete their admission application online, they will be asked to create a password. The password must be 15 characters long, containing letters and numbers. When students forget their passwords, they can click the “Forgot Password” button and enter the correct responses, they will then be given an option to enter a new password.

Prerequisites

• Many courses offered by the college require the completion of prerequisite courses taken at Porterville College or their equivalent at another accredited institution. Students are advised to consult the course descriptions found in the current college catalog or semester schedule for the identification of the prerequisites for a course.
  • Prerequisite means a condition of enrollment which a student is required to meet in order to demonstrate current readiness for enrollment in a course or educational program.
  • Co-requisite means a condition of enrollment consisting of a course which a student is required to simultaneously take in order to enroll in another course.
  • Student placement in courses with a pre-req is determined based on a student's self-reported GPA. English and Math Placement Charts can be found here. 

Automated Waitlist

• During the weeks prior to the start of classes, when vacancies occur in classes, the first student(s) on the waitlist will be moved into the class. Students who are on a waitlist should check their registration regularly. Students should use the waitlist to ensure themselves a chance of getting into the classes they want. Students on waitlists still must attend the first meeting of the class or they may be dropped from the waitlist. The prerequisite, basic skills, time conflict and repeat checks will prevent ineligible students from moving into the classes. Students should drop themselves from a waitlist for any class that they no longer wish to take.

Repeating a Course

• Certain Porterville College courses are identified in the course description sections of the catalog as repeatable, with the number of times they may be repeated indicated. Other courses may be repeated once for credit if a grade lower than “C” or its equivalent has been earned. The original and subsequent grades will remain a part of the student’s permanent record. Their earlier attempts will be disregarded in the student’s GPA calculation. If a student earns any combination of “D,” “F,” or “W” on two attempts in a course taken in the Kern Community College District, that student can only register for a third time with the signature of the Instructor of the course and the Division Chair of the department on a Prerequisite and Repetition of Course approval form located in the Office of Admissions and Records. In compliance with Title 5 California Code of Regulations Section 56029, certain course repeats may be authorized for students with disabilities following DSPS policies and procedures.
• If a high school student earns an F or a D grade in a Porterville College course, while as a Special Admit Student, the student will need to retake that course and earn a passing grade (A, B, or C) before the student is able to take another college course through Porterville College.

Holds that Prevent Registration

• Financial Holds may be placed on a student’s record whenever the student is delinquent or has failed to pay any debt owed to the college, or failed to return any library books or other college property or equipment. Students with holds will not be allowed to receive transcripts, certificates or diplomas, have transcripts forwarded, and/or receive other services related to student records. They may not be allowed to register. When the student has cleared the obligation with the Business Office at Porterville College, the hold will be removed.
• Academic Standing Holds occur when a student who is not in good academic standing will have a hold placed on their record until the student meets with a counselor to discuss academic standing and examine ways to be academically successful. These holds will prevent registration.

Removal From Probation

• A student on academic probation for a grade point deficiency shall be removed from probation when the student’s cumulative grade point average is 2.0 or higher.

Attendance Policies, Registering, & Class Schedule

• Class Attendance - Regular class attendance is expected of all students enrolled in the college. It is especially important that students attend the first session of each class for it is at this time that instructors may distribute syllabi and course requirements and explain what is expected in terms of attendance. Students enrolled in classes that are full may be dropped by the instructor if they do not attend the first-class session. (See First-Day Drop Policy below.) Students on a course waitlist should also attend the first-class meeting to avoid being dropped. The attendance policy for each course is established by the instructor and communicated to each class, preferably in writing. Attendance policies will be reasonably related to course objectives, the requirements of institutional reporting and legitimate absences. Instructors are responsible for maintaining accurate attendance records. While it is the responsibility of instructors to communicate attendance policies and to apply them equally to all students, it is the responsibility of students to know the policy in each of their classes and to be aware of their current attendance status. Students who have been absent from a class should notify the instructor of the reason for the absence. Absence in no way relieves students of responsibility for work missed. Excessive absence may result in the student being dropped from the course. Students are responsible for officially withdrawing from any class or classes in which they no longer wish to be enrolled. Non-attendance does not release the student from this responsibility.
• First-Day Drop Policy - Because many classes become filled and are closed, students in lecture and/or lab courses may be dropped if they do not attend the first-class meeting without notifying the instructor. Students in open entry courses may be dropped if they do not begin attending during the first week of classes.

Class Non-Participation Policy

• Students are expected to attend, complete assignments, and participate fully in all classes in which they are enrolled. Students may be withdrawn at any point in the semester for non-attendance and/or non-participation. At the end of the term, faculty will be responsible for determining the last participation date for students who have failed, or withdrawn after the 20 percent date.
  • Faculty may determine the appropriate date for each student who stops participating using criteria, such as:
    • Student fails to complete class assignments
    • Student stops attending class
    • Student is not engaging in classroom discussions
    • Student is not participating in classroom activities

Academic Freedom

• The district, the colleges and faculty will adhere to the following in regard to academic freedom:

1. 1. Education in a democracy depends upon earnest and unceasing pursuit of truth and upon free and unrestricted communication of truth.
   2. Faculty members shall be free to exercise academic freedom, including freedom of investigation, freedom of discussion in the classroom, freedom to select texts and other instructional materials, freedom of assignment of instructional exercises, and freedom of evaluation of student efforts.
   3. Faculty members acknowledge that in the exercise of academic freedom they have a responsibility to be accurate and comprehensive in making reports, to be fair-minded in making interpretations and judgments, to respect the freedoms of other persons, to exclude irrelevant matters from classroom discussions and instructional exercises, and to make appropriate distinctions between statements of fact made as faculty subject matter specialists and opinions made as private citizens.
   4. The college recognizes the fundamental right of the faculty member to be free from any censorship or restraint which might interfere with the faculty member’s obligation to pursue truth and maintain their intellectual integrity in the performance of their teaching functions.