Lansing Community College
Procedure Details

Procedure Title: Program-Level Course Substitutions and Waivers
Procedure #: RO.007
Revision #: 002

Unit Responsible: Registrar’s Office
Individual Responsible: Registrar

Effective Date: 08/04/2023
Initial Approval Date: 04/03/2020
Last Review/Update Date: 08/04/2023
Next Review Date: 08/01/2026

*Does this procedure support a Board Policy? Yes
If yes, identify: 3.100-Credit for Previously Acquired Knowledge and Learning Experience

Board policies can be found at: LCC Board of Trustees Policy Page

*Does this procedure support HLC criteria? Yes
If yes, identify: 2A, 3A, 3B, 4A

HLC Criteria can be found at: HLC Accreditation Criteria

*Does this procedure support a State or Federal Regulation? No
If yes, identify: N/A

*Note: Standard Operating Procedures should be in furtherance of some LCC policy and/or accreditation criteria, even if the relationship is not direct. Assistance in determining this information can be obtained from the Academic Procedure Advisory Committee (APAC) and/or the Accreditation Liaison Officer.

Program-Level Course Substitutions and Waivers, BP 3.100

1. Purpose

To ensure that substitutions or waivers for certain course(s) in a program are done appropriately when student prior learning reasonably justify such actions.


2. Scope

This procedure applies to all program-level course substitutions and waivers at Lansing Community College (LCC).


3. Prerequisites

  • This Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) deals with program-level requirements rather than institution-level requirements. It includes cases in which a program requires a certain General Education course but substituting a different General Education course from the same category is desired. See Definitions below.
  • If a student has attained the knowledge and skills of the outcomes of a program-level course from a different course on the student’s LCC record, including credit for prior learning, then a substitution for the program-level course may be requested.
  • A substitution should not be requested merely for the sake of credits rather than for a specific course requirement. That is, if a particular program nominally requires 65 credits but the student has fulfilled all course requirements with at least 60 applicable credits, the substitution of a course not meeting the outcomes and skills of a program required course should not be requested for the sake of reaching 65 credits.
  • Substitutions for institution-level requirements, such as requesting institution-level General Education requirements to be satisfied with non-General Education courses, should be pursued through Institution-Level Student Academic Appeals instead.
  • Only when a student already has attained the knowledge and skills of the outcomes of a program-level course from a source other than a course on the student’s LCC record, including credit for prior learning, may a waiver of the program-level course may be requested.
  • Waivers for institution-level requirements, such as maximum pass/fail credits, expiry of program pathways, etc., should be pursued through Institution-Level Student Academic Appeals.
  • Course substitutions and waivers are used for the sole purpose of satisfying program completion requirements.
  • In the case of any potentially questionable or unusual requests, the final decision for granting program-level course substitutions and waivers rests with the Academic Affairs Office.
  • Any student appeal of the decision of a request for a program-level substitution or waiver must be made to the Academic Affairs Office, with which the final decision rests.


4. Responsibilities

The Registrar’s Office is responsible for processing program-level course substitutions and waivers.

The Academic Affairs Project Manager (AAPM), as designee for the Provost, is responsible for approving or denying any potentially questionable or unusual requests that cannot be resolved between the Registrar’s Office and the program area, and for approving or denying any student appeal of a program-level substitution or waiver.


5. Procedure

  1. The authorized approver in the program area decides that a substitution or waiver for a program-level course is warranted.
  2. The authorized approver fills out and submits a Course Substitution & Waiver for Degree/Certificates form in the O:drive or via paper form, specifying whether it is for a substitution or waiver, and including all required information.
  3. The Degree and Academic Record Coordinator in the Registrar’s Office checks the Course Substitution & Waiver Authorization for Degree/Certificates form for applicability of the request(s). Any potentially questionable or unusual requests – for example, a substitution from a completely different subject/program area or a waiver without appropriate justification, including a waiver when appropriate credit exists for substitution – will be resolved by consultation with the authorized approver and/or the AAPM.
  4. The Degree and Academic Record Coordinator will notify the authorized approver and the student of the denial of any program-level course substitutions or waivers, along with the approval of any program-level course substitutions or waivers to be used to graduation in future semesters, via email.
  5. The Degree and Academic Record Coordinator will update the student’s Degree Works record, when possible, with any approved program-level course substitutions or waivers.*
  6. At the end of each academic year, the Registrar will provide the Provost, the Deans of each Division, the Director of Academic Operations, the AAPM, and the Accreditation Liaison Officer an audit of all program-level course substitutions and waivers processed during that academic year.
  7. The Provost, the Deans of each Division, the Director of Academic Operations, the AAPM, and the Accreditation Liaison Officer will review the yearly audit of program-level course substitutions and waivers to ensure quality, and to identify and address any areas for improvement.


6. Reference

*Degree Works (DW) will not show substitutions or waivers for DW blocks that are used for multiple degrees and certificates, such as General Education and electives for Associate of Arts (AA) and Associate of Science (AS) degrees; any such substitutions or waivers still will be counted toward program requirements for graduation.

DW also will not show substitutions or waivers for programs other than the student’s declared program.

LCC’s Degree Works webpage

Transfer Credit – General Credit


7. Definitions

Substitution – uses a course or courses on the student’s LCC record, whether specific or 000 General Credit, in place of another.

Waiver – exempts a student from a course or other requirement based on previous skills, knowledge, experiences, etc. that are not documented with a course on the student’s LCC record, whether specific or 000 General Credit.