Policy on Holds
Policy Category: Executive
Effective Date: June 12, 2024
Responsible Officer: Senior Vice President and Provost
History: This is an update to the Policy on Holds that was passed on 9/13/23
Responsible Office: Registrar
Location: https://wit.edu/about/policies/holds-2024
Purpose
This policy is intended to provide guidance to Wentworth Institute of Technology (henceforth known as “the university” or “Wentworth”) related to placing and removing holds on a student’s account.
Scope/Applicability
This policy applies to all students at the university.
Legal
- Massachusetts regulation 105 CMR 220.00: Immunization of students before admission to school United States Department of Education 34 CFR 668
- 34 CFR 668
Policy
An authorized official or office can place a hold on a student’s record for reasons including, but not limited to, admissions, academics, graduation, business, financial aid, student accounts, disciplinary, housing-related, or immunization reasons. A hold may prevent a student from registering for courses or other university activities, such as accessing their residence hall. Registration or related activities will not be possible until all holds are reconciled and removed.
Student account holds are placed on the student records if semester or term charges are not paid in full, on a payment plan, and/or covered by anticipated financial aid funds or certified loan funds by each semester’s due date. Once the Offices of Financial Aid or Student Accounts determine that the student made satisfactory repayment arrangements, the authorized official/office will remove the hold, and/or the hold is automatically lifted within fifteen minutes of the student account reflecting a zero balance.
The Center for Wellness will place an immunization hold on a student account of full-time Massachusetts resident students who have not presented completed immunization forms to the university by Massachusetts law.
Students are responsible for ensuring that their student account is free of holds.
Definitions
Hold: hold on a student record indicates that administrative action has not been completed or there has been a change to the student’s status.
Registration: the time students select courses for an upcoming academic semester.
Student Account: the information about a student held in the university student information system.
Authorized Official/Office: the employee or office responsible for placing and removing a particular hold.
Procedure(s)
Checking for a hold
Students can determine if there is a hold on their student record by entering their Wentworth ID and password into LeopardWeb or by viewing the Financial Holds button on their EBill at my.wit.edu, then selecting the Student Accounts tile. In cases where a hold is listed, the student will see a description of the hold and can determine the origin of the hold and contact information for the official or office who can remedy the situation by referring to Holds and Your Record.
Holds and Student Records
In most cases, a hold will only prevent a student from registration, grades, and diplomas. If an authorized official/office would like to for a hold to prevent more actions by a student beyond registration, they must request approval from the Student Accounts Office.
Removing a hold
The university utilizes an automatic process to remove a student account hold within fifteen minutes of when a student account balance is zero. The student account hold can also be manually end dated. Other hold types will be manually removed by the authorized official/office who placed the hold once the condition has been ameliorated.
Temporary hold removal
There are situations where a hold may be removed temporarily by an authorized official or office, even if the situation has not been resolved. In those cases, the student should receive communication on when the hold will be placed back on their student record.
Authorized official/office audit
Any university official or office authorized to place a hold on a student account is responsible for an annual audit. Those individuals must review all hold codes under their purview for accuracy and ensure holds are not on a student record in error.
Requesting a hold status
Requests for creating a new hold status or to remove an existing hold status must be made to the Office of Student Accounts by emailing studentaccounts@wit.edu with appropriate information.
Additional Information & Related Documents
Academic Catalog – maintained by Academic Affairs
Holds and Your Record – kept by Student Accounts
Interpretation & Revision
Any questions of interpretation regarding this policy shall be referred to the Registrar. They will be the final authority regarding the interpretation of this policy.
This policy shall be reviewed every three years; however, minor changes and updates can be made anytime.
Wentworth will typically apply the policy when it receives a report concerning the respected policy.
Additionally, when two or more policies are implicated, a case-by-case determination will be made to determine what policy will be used.
Review and Revision History
This policy was drafted by representatives from Financial Aid, Academic Affairs, Student Accounts, and Student Affairs. This policy was reviewed by Cabinet and approved by the President on 9/13/2023 and updated on 6/12/24.