Registration and Advising
Registration is a process by which students become officially enrolled in classes for a given term. Students who attend classes must complete registration and pay their assessed fees. Registration is not complete until all fees are paid, including board and room fees for those living in residence halls.

The registration process starts with an advising period, which begins two to five days prior to the first day of registration. Advisers provide important information to students that allow them to register for classes.

Dates for advising and registration are published in the university calendar on the Web at www.iastate.edu/~registrar/calendar, the ISU Directory, and the Iowa State Daily. The dates also are posted on departmental bulletin boards.

Continuing students register for the following term during the middle of the current term. For example, registration for spring term begins the middle of fall term; registration for summer session is completed during the previous spring at the same time as registration for fall semester.

Responsibilities
The registration process includes advising, enrollment in courses, and schedule changes. This process involves the student, the student's adviser, and the student services staff of the student's college, and in some cases, the dean of the college. Each is responsible for knowing and following the academic policies and procedures.

The student is responsible for knowing and adhering to university policies and procedures that apply to registration and schedule changes; checking the accuracy of his/her schedule on AccessPlus, including schedule adjustments (i.e., adds, drops, section changes); knowing the degree requirements of his or her major and/or curriculum; planning course schedules to meet those requirements; and monitoring the accuracy of the advisement/degree audit.

The adviser is responsible for consulting with advisees during the advising/registration period; providing information about student's major and curriculum requirements; providing guidance in the student's course selection; assisting in monitoring the advisement/degree audit for accuracy; and for notifying the college student services office with corrections to the advisement/degree audit.

The college student services staff is responsible for assisting new and reentering students with the registration process; resolving unusual scheduling problems; and updating the advisement/degree audit or solving problems concerning the advisement/degree audit.

The dean is responsible for making decisions with respect to requests for deviations from university policies, deadlines, etc. Students and staff should check with the college office to find out who is authorized to grant approvals or exceptions on behalf of the dean.

Registration Process
To register for classes, students need the following materials and information:

o Registration Worksheet, available for download at www.iastate.edu/~registrar.
o A RAN (registration access number) if required by their college.
o Course information from the Online Schedule of Classes at www.adp.iastate.edu/cgi-bin/class; or the Courses and Programs catalog, available on the Web or for a fee from campus bookstores.
o Other departmental information applicable to their curriculum, available from their adviser.

Students are expected to do the following in the advising and registration process:

1. Meet with their adviser, who will provide the following:

a. advisement/degree audit
b. guidance in course selection
c. Registration Worksheet signature
d. Registration Authorization Card, if applicable.

2. Choose specific sections of each course. Students are responsible for choosing their course sections. In most cases advisers will not be involved in selecting meeting times.

3. Review their registration start date/time information and any registration hold information on AccessPlus, under Current Information. Students in those colleges which require a four-digit registration access number (RAN) should meet with their adviser to obtain their Registration Authorization Card on which the RAN is printed.

a. assigned date and time to register
b. registration access number
c. registration holds (prevents registration)

4. Register for courses using the AccessPlus registration system. Instructions are available at www.iastate.edu/~registrar/registration.

Registration Start Dates. Students are assigned a registration start date and time, which is the first day and time they can use the registration system. Registration start dates are assigned based on projected year in school classification (computed by combining total credits, current term credits, and current term test out credits). Then specific start dates within projected year in school are established by using the sum of total credits and current term test out credits. Students may choose to delay their registration until a later date, but courses will begin to fill on the first day of registration and any delay may reduce their course selection. A list of start dates (e.g., juniors) is available at www.iastate.edu/~registrar/registration.

AccessPlus Registration System. Students enter the system via AccessPlus by using university or social security number and university PIN. If required by their college, they also need to enter a registration access number (RAN).

The registration system provides messages after each entry indicating whether each request has been processed. Students also may review their current schedules at any time during registration. Students are held accountable for all changes made to their schedules.

All students are encouraged to register for courses through the AccessPlus registration system. However, students who are unable to use the system may register in person by processing their signed Registration Worksheet in the Registrar's Student Scheduling Office, 10 Alumni Hall.

Schedule Changes. Through the fifth day of classes, students may add courses or make other schedule changes using the registration system. For more information, see Index, Making Schedule Changes.

Classrooms are listed for each course in the Online Schedule of Classes at www.adp.iastate.edu/cgi-bin/class.

All changes processed before the first day of classes will be reflected on beginning class lists for instructors.

Registration holds. Students with holds on their registration will not have access to registration until the initiating offices have released the holds. Those who attempt to register before the holds have been released will receive a message indicating which offices have placed holds on their registration. Prior to their registration, students may check for holds on AccessPlus.

Credit limits. For fall and spring semesters, the credit limit is 18 credits for undergraduates and 15 credits for graduate students. For summer session, the limits are 12 credits for undergraduates and 10 credits for graduate students. Add requests beyond a student's credit limit will be denied. A student must drop credits before they may add another course. In some cases, the college dean may approve a higher or lower credit limit for individual students. Students may request a change in their credit limit by contacting their adviser. Advisers should notify the student's college student services office if the credit limit needs to be changed.

Restricted courses/sections. Some courses or sections are restricted to students who meet specified criteria including curriculum/major, college, and/or year in school. In addition, some sections may be restricted to new students to ensure that sufficient spaces are available when new students register during summer orientation. A department may waive a restriction for a student who has extenuating circumstances. The student must obtain the authorization from the department on a Schedule Change/Restriction Waiver form. The form is processed in the Registrar's Student Scheduling Office, 10 Alumni Hall.

Permission Required courses/sections. To register for these sections, students must obtain authorization on a Schedule Change/Restriction Waiver form and process the approved form in the Registrar's Student Scheduling Office, 10 Alumni Hall.

Cancelled courses/sections. In some cases, courses or sections may be cancelled due to low enrollment or departmental staffing considerations. Students who are registered for a cancelled course or section will be notified by the Office of the Registrar, the department, and/or on their AccessPlus schedule.

Registration for disabled students. Disabled students who need assistance with any phase of registration should contact Disability Resources. (See Index, Disability Resources.)

Fee Payment
The Receivables Office bills students for tuition, room and board, and various other university charges. A fee statement is mailed on the first of each month to each student's in-session or interim address. Students also may view their account status on AccessPlus at accessplus.iastate.edu/. It is the student's responsibility to ensure that the Office of the Registrar has a correct billing address. A student who does not receive a billing statement before the term begins should go to the Receivables Office to learn the amount of the account balance due. Failure to receive a billing statement will not exempt students from late penalties or from having a hold placed on their registration. Also see Index, Fees and Expenses.

Additional Registration Regulations
Students generally use AccessPlus to register for classes. Using the AccessPlus registration system is a privilege, which may be revoked if abuse is detected. Abuse includes, but is not limited to, creating and using an automated program to search for course openings and/or enrolling in a section with the intent of reserving space in that particular section for another student. The Office of the Registrar, college office, and/or advisers have the right to determine abuse and revoke privileges for any type of registration system abuse.

A late registration fee is assessed for registration initiated on or after the first day of classes for fall and spring terms. This fee is not charged for the summer term. If registration is not completed by the end of the fifth day of classes, students must obtain written permission from their advisers, the instructors for the courses they plan to take, as well as approval from the dean of the college in which they are registered. During the summer session, these approvals must be obtained in order to register after the third day of classes.

Registration is closed after the tenth day of classes for fall and spring semesters, and after the fifth day of classes for summer session.

Time Conflicts
Students may not enroll in courses with time conflicts without the approval of the departments concerned.

Off Campus Experiences
Students who participate in off-campus experiences for which they receive Iowa State University credit must register for that credit during the term when the experience is taking place, whether or not they are taking courses on campus during that time.

Validating Enrollment
To validate their enrollment in each course at the beginning of the semester, students must attend the first or second meeting (first meeting if the class meets only once a week). Students who add a course after the term begins must attend the next class meeting. The instructor has the option to offer a registered place in the course to another student when a registered student fails to attend and also to obtain prior approval of the instructor. Those students must drop the course or they will receive an F grade.

Making Schedule Changes
Procedures for schedule changes vary by the time period of the semester. The effective date of a schedule change is the date on which the change is entered into the registration system. Schedule change periods are as follows:

Period 1 ends on the fifth day of classes of the full semester. Schedule changes during period 1 are free and do not require adviser signatures. Instructor or departmental approval may be required for adds or section changes in some courses during period 1. Course drops during this period do not count toward a student's ISU course drop limit, and will not appear on a student's grade slip or permanent record. Schedule changes during period 1 may be processed through the AccessPlus registration system or by presenting a Schedule Change/Restriction Waiver form to the Registrar's Student Scheduling Office, 10 Alumni Hall.

Period 2 ends the third Friday of classes after the day midterm grades are due. During this period, schedule changes require signatures of adviser and instructor and are processed on a Schedule Change/Restriction Waiver form. A fee per visit is assessed for adds, drops, and section changes during this period. Course drops after period 1 count toward a student's ISU drop limit and appear as an X on the grade slip and permanent record. A section change does not require a drop.

Drops, including R courses (required courses) and other schedule changes that are judged to be beyond the student's control may be processed as administrative actions if approved by the college dean. There is no fee for administrative schedule changes. Administrative drops do not count toward a student's ISU drop limit and do not appear as an X on the grade slip and permanent record. The effective date of an administrative action is the date it is approved by the college dean.

Period 3 follows period 2. Schedule changes during this period are permitted only for extenuating circumstances beyond the student's control, require a written statement of support from both the instructor and the adviser, and must be approved by the dean of the student's college.

Specific deadlines for adding and dropping half-semester courses are published in the university calendar. Appropriate adjustments to add and drop deadlines are made for other partial term courses. For partial term course deadlines, contact the Registrar's Student Scheduling Office, 10 Alumni Hall.

Exceptions may be made for courses that must be dropped for reasons beyond the student's control. These exceptions are granted only by the dean or other authorized person on the dean's behalf in the student's college.

The number of drops students have left is indicated on their grade report (available on AccessPlus) each term. Students are responsible for not exceeding their limit. Students who attempt to drop a course beyond the limit without special permission by the dean of the student's college will continue to be enrolled in the course and will receive a grade at the end of the term.

Course Prerequisites
A prerequisite indicates the specific academic background or general academic maturity considered necessary for the student to be ready to undertake the course. Since an instructor has the prerogative to direct a student who lacks a stated prerequisite to drop the course, students are advised not to enroll in a course for which they lack a stated prerequisite without checking first with the course instructor. Permission of the instructor is understood to be an alternate to the stated prerequisites in all courses.

It is university policy that the instructor shall inform the students at the beginning of each course if students who have not met the prerequisite requirements must drop the course.

Course prerequisites are listed in the Online Schedule of Classes as well as in the Courses and Programs section of this publication.

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4/6/04