Students who do not meet administrative requirements or expectations to remain enrolled at Relay or are unable to submit a formal leave of absence application can be administratively withdrawn by the institution. 

Students can be administratively withdrawn for the following reasons:

• Failure to pay tuition;

• Failure to meet employment requirements;

• Failure to meet conditional admissions requirements;

• Failure to meet immunization requirements (where appropriate);

• Failure to meet certification/educator preparation program requirements (where appropriate);

• Failure to meet educator preparation program requirements (where appropriate);

• Failure to register for courses by the census date; 

• Failure to submit withdrawal paperwork after initiating a withdrawal;

• Failure to meet attendance and participation requirements at the beginning of enrollment at Relay (i.e., “no show”) or during a term (i.e., persistently absent);

• Other substantive violations of Relay’s policies, procedures, or safety rules, including but not limited to violations of the academic honesty, code of conduct, or gender-based misconduct policies; and/or

• At the request of the institution.

If students are in danger of administrative withdrawal, Relay may contact their schools and/or sponsoring organizations and/or teacher preparation program membership to notify them and enlist their help in supporting students.

In order to become an enrolled student at Relay, students must attend a class and/or participate in an assignment (e.g., complete a quiz, submit an assignment, engage in a discussion forum). If one fails to do so by 11:59 PM on the census date of their first term of enrollment in any program, they will be administratively withdrawn and considered a “No Show.” Any “no show” students will not be charged tuition and all course registrations will be removed. This will be evaluated after the census date of each term. 

Procedure for an Administrative Withdrawal 

In the event of an administrative withdrawal, the Registrar’s Office will notify students via email. Student Financial Services will follow up with students about how to pay any outstanding Relay tuition and fees. If administratively withdrawn, students have the right to appeal the decision by submitting this form. Administrative withdrawal appeals must be submitted within 5 business days of the notification of withdrawal. Additional information on appeals and exception requests can be found here. Please note that the institution does not have the authority to make exceptions to local, state, or federal regulations, including certification requirements. Depending on the type of administrative withdrawal, appeals will be reviewed by the relevant institutional offices. If the appeal is unsuccessful, administrative withdrawal procedures will continue, and the student will be administratively withdrawn. 

Upon withdrawal, any outstanding incomplete grades will change to the standing grade in the grade book. Additionally, in most states, Relay is required to remove or expire provisional-level certificates/licenses if a student is withdrawn from their educator preparation program. Additional details can be provided by emailing [email protected]. 

If students are administratively withdrawn, it is their responsibility to notify their schools (and if applicable, their teacher preparation program membership, such as Teach For America or New York City Teaching Fellows) of their departure from Relay.

Relay understands that there may be certain medical circumstances where a student is unable to submit an official leave of absence application due to unexpected life changes. In these cases Relay will administratively withdraw the student from the institution and accept an official leave of absence application with medical documentation at a later date. If an official leave of absence application is received from the student, the medical documentation must match the date of the administrative withdrawal. Relay will reverse the administrative withdrawal to the medical leave of absence in its systems.

Persistent Absence

The Registrar’s Office conducts a regular review of course participation and attendance in order to identify and support enrolled students who have not actively withdrawn or taken a leave of absence but demonstrate persistent absence. Relay defines persistent absence as having failed to attend in-person and/or synchronous online class sessions and failure to submit any course assignments for 30 consecutive calendar days, with an extension if those days occur during the winter break. Once students who demonstrate persistent absence are identified, the Registrar’s Office will contact these students to determine their intention to remain enrolled and provide necessary support. Students who continue to demonstrate persistent absence after they have been contacted may be administratively withdrawn from Relay. When persistently absent students do not formally inform the Registrar’s Office of their intention to withdraw or take a leave of absence, Relay will use the last day of in-person or synchronous online class attendance, or the last date of participation in Canvas, as the effective date of withdrawal.