Understanding mutually exclusive coursework

Definition and scope

A mutually exclusive course is defined as a course with content that overlaps another course.

• Mutually exclusive courses are approved by curriculum committee and should be used sparingly, if at all, in curricula.

• Students may not earn credit for multiple courses that are noted as mutually exclusive in the course descriptions.

• Only one course among the mutually exclusive course set will count for credit in the undergraduate degree. 

• At the graduate level, “Advanced Standing' equivalent courses are mutually exclusive with their graduate requirement equivalent. See https://tulaneregistrar.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/REGISTRAR/pages/112721923 for more information.

Enforcement of mutually exclusive coursework

The Registrar’s Office has turned on the Banner-delivered enforcement of known mutual exclusions beginning with 2024 Fall registration. Prior to 2024 Fall, mutual exclusions were referenced in course descriptions and enforced in the Degree Works degree audits with in-progress courses.

Beginning with Fall 2024 registration, when attempting to register, a student who has already earned credit or is in progress of earning credit in one of these mutually exclusive courses will see the following error message:

 Mutual Exclusion (Repeat) with [SUBJECT CODE/COURSE NUMBER]

This error will prevent the student from registering for a mutually exclusive course.

Requesting an override for mutual exclusion error

For purposes of completing major or degree requirements, a student may need to take a mutually exclusive course. For instance, a student pursuing a specific major such as business or engineering may have earned credit for an Advanced Placement course that is posted to their transcript but does not fulfill their major requirement. Students will have to take a different course, such as higher-level mathematics course, which will replace the AP credit.

When a student needs an override of a mutual exclusion error, they must complete a “Course Repeat Permission Form” and the advisor must approve the mutual exclusion after submission. The advisor approval triggers the Banner override of the Mutual Exclusion error. This form is available in the Office of the University Registrar’s Forms Library: https://registrar.tulane.edu/about-us/forms-library

Note: The “Course Repeat Permission Form” form is slated to be adjusted by IT to specifically reference mutually exclusive courses during the week of April 1, 2024. The form works to override mutually exclusive courses already.

Degree Works and end-of-term processing of mutually exclusive coursework

After mutually exclusive courses are graded with a passing grade, mutually exclusive course are removed (AP/IB/A-level or transfer) or excluded manually by the Registrar’s office staff as a part of their end-of-term “repeat course” clean-up.

Course description examples

MATH 1110 : Probability & Statistics I Elementary probability theory with applications; random variables; distributions including a thorough discussion of the binomial, and normal distributions; central limit theorem; histograms; sampling distributions; confidence intervals; tests of hypotheses; linear models; regression and correlation; chi-square test; non-parametric statistics. 1110 is a prerequisite for 1120. These courses do not count toward the Mathematics B.S. requirement in SSE.

MATH 1110 is mutually exclusive with MATH 1230. Students may receive credit for only one of MATH 1110 or 1230 in the undergraduate degree.

MATH 1230 : Statistics For Scientists The objective of this course is to provide a thorough introduction to the statistical methods most likely to be encountered by scientists in practical research applications. Specific topics that will be covered in this course include probability axioms and counting techniques, discrete and continuous distributions, sampling methods and descriptive statistics, the Central Limit Theorem and its applications, confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, and linear regression.

MATH 1230 is mutually exclusive with MATH 1110. Students may receive credit for only one of MATH 1110 or 1230 in the undergraduate degree. Only MATH 1230 counts towards the B.S. degree.

Current list of mutually exclusive courses

(Last update: March 29, 2024)

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