Validation for Fall Enrollment

This spring, the validation of your shopping cart is going to be extremely important for your fall enrollment.  As the enrollment team is preparing for enrollment to start next week, we want students as they finish building their shopping carts to validate all of your classes!

We are hoping that student's will not have any problems when attempting to enroll in these classes; however, we have already received several screen shots from student's that are receiving validation errors.  Now, we want to make your life easier on your enrollment day so we are asking all students to validate ahead of time.  If you are experiencing problems and receiving an error after making sure you meet the requirements for the class we want you to send us screenshots of the validation errors to the ritenrollment@rit.edu email.

The official message from the registrar came on March 27th and can be seen here:

"Many things are changing as a result of our switch to semesters. Get a head start and plan for summer and fall enrollment now.

1.       Your appointments are available: As of today, you have enrollment appointments for both summer and fall; summer enrollment begins the week of April 8^th and fall enrollment begins on April 15^th. Log in to SIS and check your enrollment appointments to see exactly when you can start enrolling (your summer appointments will display by default).

2.       Validate your shopping cart for pre-requisites and co-requisites: If you’re enrolling for fall classes, you should validate your shopping cart A.S.A.P. For fall enrollment SIS will be used to enforce key enrollment requirements and the validation process in the shopping cart will notify you if you meet the requirements for the classes you have selected.

If a class has a pre-requisite that you have not taken in either quarters or semesters you will receive an error message when you validate your shopping cart. Likewise, if a class has a co-requisite you must have either already taken the co-requisite course or be enrolling in the class simultaneously.

If you believe that you meet the requirements for a course but SIS indicates that you don’t, please take a screenshot of the validation message and email it to ritenrollment@rit.edu. If you know that you don’t meet the requirements for a course and would still like to take it, you must receive permission from the department offering the course.

3.       New subject codes for semesters: Beginning with fall, all subject codes are 4-letter alpha subject codes. These new subject codes replace the 4-digit numeric codes used for quarter classes (for example, in the fall, 0301 is being replaced by EEEE).

4.       How do you know what courses you need to take?

a.       Your Individual Advisement Plan (IAP) is the first place you should turn.

b.      Class Search: When you click the  button on the class search page, you can nowsort subjects by college using the “Academic Group” dropdown menu.

c.       Browse Course Catalog:  The course catalog displays how a course was converted from quarters to semesters, when it is typically offered, equivalent courses, restrictions, or pre-requisites. You can sort courses by semesters to quarters or vice-versa and, similar to the Class Search page, you can browse by academic group (college).    

There are many resources on campus to assist you as you plan for fall enrollment. Your advisor and the student services offices in your college are great places to start. In addition, please feel free to email ritenrollment@rit.edu with any issues or questions about how to use the SIS."

So, help make sure your enrollment day run smoothly by validating now before your enrollment appointment.  This will help you solve any errors that may occur; as well as, reduce the headache of trying to get in touch with your advisor or the registrars office during the enrollment period.  Help us, help you by sending us your screen shots before enrollment begins.  

Summer Enrollment

Summer Enrollment is almost here and although not everyone will be taking classes this summer.  However, with the upcoming conversion some students are trying to get in a few more quarter classes before the official conversion begins on August 26th, 2013.

Here are the Summer Enrollment Dates for the 2012-13 academic year: 

Enrollment Day	Enrollment Population	Enrollment appointments will be assigned randomly but will occur on this date.
Day 1	·         Graduate Students ·         Early 5th year students* ·         Early 4th year in a 4 year program students*	Monday, April 8, 2013
Day 2	·         5th year students ·         4th year students in a 4 year program ·         Early 4th year students in a 5 year program*	Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Day 3	·         4th year students in a 5 year program ·         Early 3rd year students*	Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Day 4	·         3rd year students ·         Early 2nd year students*	Thursday, April 11, 2013
Day 5	8:00 a.m.-11:30 a.m. ·         2nd year students ·         Early 1st year students*	Friday, April 12, 2013
	12:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. ·         1st year students
Day 6	·         Non-degree students and all open enrollment	Monday, April 15, 2013

If you have any question, please contact your advisor or Tweet Us your Question. 

How Will My Credits Be Converted?

As students, we have worked hard for our grades and credits from classes and we want to make sure that through the conversion process, our hard earned credits are not lost. As students our plan is to stay on track and graduate on time at our scheduled graduation and that is also your advisors highest concern too. Currently about 70% of RIT students have completed their IAPs, have you?

To help answer the question regarding how your credits will be converted to a semester system, we go to the registrars office which has been working extremely hard for the last few years along with an entire team directly responsible for making the conversion as smooth as possible. This team has created a way in SIS to be able to show students their "conversion term". When students look in Student Center now and request a copy of their unofficial transcripts (do not forget to turn off any pop-up blockers) they will see a conversion term of 2130. This term will display how all credits were converted from quarters to semesters.

If you do need to find a course or what it has become in semesters you can find that in student center as well.  You can also determine when a course is offered throughout the year or upcoming offerings of the course. As a student you have the right to information and the new SIS and the semester system will allow you to have that. You can find out course restrictions, equivalent courses, or prerequisites. The features SIS has that students have wanted to use for the last year will now be active and new features will continue to become available. All of this information is contained on the Browse Course Catalog page in Student Center.

We are all going through the conversion together and want students to stay informed. Please ask any questions that you have and we will do our best to find you the answers.

Semesters are Coming

The first semester at Rochester Institute of Technology is almost here.

Shopping carts will open up next week and students for the first time will be adding semester classes to their carts. This will be a change because for the majority of students, there will only be two enrollment periods per year (the exceptions will be the summer term and the intercession in January). An important note is that before a student can enroll in classes (on their enrollment point), they must complete their IAP. Most students have completed these documents; however, there is a portion of students that have not met with their advisor.

Fall 2013-14 Enrollment Dates are as followed:

Enrollment Day	Enrollment Population	Enrollment appointments will be assigned randomly but will occur on this date.
Day 1	·         Graduate Students ·         Early 5th year students* ·         Early 4th year in a 4 year program students*	Monday, April 15, 2013
Day 2	·         5th year students ·         4th year students in a 4 year program ·         Early 4th year students in a 5 year program*	Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Day 3	·         4th year students in a 5 year program ·         Early 3rd year students*	Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Day 4	·         3rd year students ·         Early 2nd year students*	Thursday, April 18, 2013
Day 5	·         2nd year students ·         Early 1st year students*	Friday, April 19, 2013
Day 6	·         1st year students	Monday, April 22, 2013
Day 7	·         Non-degree students and all open enrollment	Tuesday, April 23, 2013

*Be sure to check what date your enrollment appointment is go to your Student Center.

**To see your appointment time, you will need to click on the details link under the Enrollment Dates section. 

How Many Classes Can I Take?

With semesters approaching at Rochester Institute of Technology, there are a lot of little things students will need to learn.  We can start with the number of classes and units students can enroll in per semester.

Current students that will be enrolled at RIT through the transition from quarters to semesters will need to speak with their advisors and complete an IAP. This should be completed before March 15th as shopping carts for Fall 2013-14 are set to open March 26th. Students will be able to add classes to their carts without having their IAP completed; however, they will not be able to enroll on their enrollment appointment.

Here are the basics regarding semester units:

• The minimum number if units a undergraduate student can take and be considered full-time is 12.
• The minimum number of units a graduate student can take to be considered full-time is 9.
• The maximum number of units an undergraduate student can take without special permission is 18.
• Classes will typically carry a weight of 3 units.
• The average number of units a student is projected to take per semester is 15 which is the equivalent of 5 classes.
• Honors students will have the ability to enroll in up to 25 units per semester without special permission.

ABC Search

Students have been talking for the past year about the SIS class search. Why doesn't the alpha system work? Why can't I search by course name in the search? Why can't I search by my major? Now we have the answer. We have been waiting for semesters to format the systems to search by category name instead of the four-digit number code. There will be 4 letter alpha codes in semesters instead of the 4 digit numeric codes used for quarter classes.

If you need help finding these codes you have a few options:

•  Advisors will have a list of these new codes
• You can check the full list online
• Go to Student Center. Then click the search link and select the select subject button. From here you can use the academic group drop-down menu and filter course subject codes by college.  Below is a visual guide to these steps. Make note of the differences from the quarter class selection.

Step One: Go to your student center main page and select - Search 

Step Two: On the search for classes page, change the term to Fall 2013-14.  Then hit the Select Subject Button. 

Step Three: All courses will now be able to be found by subject, not the old course codes. 

Step Four: You will notice that the old four digit course codes will not work.

The system is becoming more and more user friendly and we have every intention to continue improving the system for RIT faculty, staff, and students.

When do I pay my Spring bills?

We know students do not always like to think about their bills but we wanted to make sure that students were aware of the payment periods for Spring Quarter.


Statements for Spring will be generated on February 1st, 2013 and the following are the bill paying options:
Option 1: February 15, 2013
Option 2: February 15 and March 15
Option 3: February 15 and March 15 and April 15

Students or bill payers can make payments in the following way:


1. On-line at https://eservices.rit.edu using MasterCard or
Discover Card (through third party vendor). The vendor
charges a 2.55 percent service fee for each credit card
transaction.
2. On-line using the e-check option through the eServices site
(with no fee) at https://eservices.rit.edu
3. In person at the Student Financial Services Office:
Administrative Services Building, first floor, (check, money
order or cash).
4. By mail–using the printable payment form provided with
the eServices bill (check payment)

If for some reason a student requires a refund the following is the refund schedule for the Spring 2013:


*During first week of classes
(March 4 through March 10):
100% Refund 0% Charge

*During second week of classes
(March 11 through March 17):
70% Refund 30% Charge

*During third week of classes
(March 18 through March 24):
60% Refund 40% Charge

*During fourth week of classes
(March 25 through March 31):
50% Refund 50% Charge

*During fifth week of classes
(April 1 through April 7):
25% Refund 75% Charge

*During sixth week and subsequent weeks of classes
No Refund


For additional information on tuition charges, payment and
more, please refer to the Student Financial Services website at:
finweb.rit.edu/sfs.

Spring Enrollment has Almost Sprung!

I know we are just entering Week 4 at RIT but it is almost time to start thinking about your Spring Quarter schedule (for most of us it will be our last quarter at RIT with the transition to semesters next August).

The shopping carts for Spring Enrollment will be open before the end of Week 4, so while you are empty your holiday shopping carts you can start filling up your class shopping cart.  We want to continue to encourage students to use their shopping carts for pre-planning purposes.  Also make sure you have backups for classes that may fill up fast.

The following days are for Spring Enrollment:

Monday,  January 21
Graduate students
Early 5th-year students*
Early 4th-year students* in a 4-year program

Tuesday,  January 22
5th-year students
4th-year students in a 4-year program
Early 4th-year students* in a 5-year program

Wednesday,  January 23
4th-year students in a 5-year program
Early 3rd-year students*

Thursday,  January 24
3rd-year students
Early 2nd-year students*

Friday,  January 25
2nd-year students
Early 1st-year students*

Monday, January 28
1st-year students

Tuesday, January 29
Non-degree and all other students

If you have any questions be sure to use our Facebook, Twitter, blog, or contact the Registrar's Office or your advisor for help.  

Registrar’s and Student Financial Services Office Hours

Monday–Thursday 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Friday 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

How do I Audit a Class?

Auditing....one of the questions on student's minds is, "How do I audit a class?"  For those of you that do not know what auditing is: auditing is primarily used in wellness classes and allows students to take a class without receiving a grade.  Most wellness classes are taken either as an audited course or on a pass/fail basis.

In the system you can choose to change the way a class is graded when you get to the course selection step. It is important to remember not all wellness classes are possible to be audited.   See the picture below for details on how to change the grading: 

Now comes the problem some students have with needing to edit classes after they have already enrolled.  In Student Center there is a solution to this without having to drop a class and re-enroll the way you wanted to.  Just follow these steps: 

Step 1: Click Enroll

Step 2: Select the appropriate term (if not already listed as the term for enrollment).

Step 3: Click on the Edit sub-tab.

Step 4: You will be taken to the Edit Class Enrollment Options screen.  Only classes that are available for edit (primarily wellness classes) will be available in the drop down box.  Once you have selected the class that you would like to edit, click "Proceed to Step 2 of 3".

Step 5: You will be taken to the Enrollment Options page where you will be able to change the way the class is graded.

Step 6: Click Next

Step 7: Click Finish Editing.

Hope that helps and make sure you stay tuned on the latest information and updates for Student Center!

Final Grades

As professors begin to upload final grades to Student Center, it is important for students to understand how to find them.

After a student has logged into student center, they should select Grades from the drop down menu (as shown below):

From here, students will be taken to a screen that features: past quarters, the current quarter, and the next quarter the students is enrolled in.  Select the current term and click continue.

This will show all of your current classes and whether or not a grade has been uploaded.

Good Luck with the rest of finals and remember that final grades should be up by the Sunday after finals week.

Reserved Capacity

Students across campus are having problems with classes appearing open but not meeting the reserved capacity requirements and being put on the wait list after enrollment. 

It is important to remember that:

• Reserved capacities are placed on classes by departments who have controll of the class
• Reserved capacity is a specific number of seats reserved for a certain major, year level, minor, concentration, etc. 
• Reserved capacities are removed at different times based on the department settings
• Some classes have multiple groups of students seats are reserved for
• Check reserved capacities before enrolling in a class
• The way to see this is:
• Go to the Class Search

 


• Select the Section of the class

 


• Check the reserved capacity

 

**If you do not check reserved capacity before enrolling you may be surprised you are on the wait list after you enroll. Talk to your advisor or the department that is holding the class.   

Enrollment Dates - Winter Quarter

This schedule can also be seen on rit.edu/enrollment: 

Winter 2012-13 Enrollment Dates

Below are the enrollment dates by group. Within each group, students will be parsed by year level, then randomly placed in groups of about 300. To find these specific appointment times students should click on the details link under Enrollment Dates.  You can begin enrolling at any time after your assigned appointment.

Monday, October 22
Graduate students
Early 5th-year students*
Early 4th-year students* in a 4-year program

Tuesday, October 23
5th-year students
4th-year students in a 4-year program
Early 4th-year students* in a 5-year program

Wednesday, October 24
4th-year students in a 5-year program
Early 3rd-year students*

Thursday, October 25
3rd-year students
Early 2nd-year students*

Friday, October 26
2nd-year students
Early 1st-year students*

Monday, October 29
1st-year students

Tuesday, October 30
Non-degree and all other students

* Early enrollment appointments include the following groups: Students in the Honors Program, Cross-registered Students, and Varsity Athletes.

Are Holds Weighing you Down?

Have you seen a hold on your account recently? Do you not know what it means?

Rest assured there are three kinds of holds that are appearing on student accounts recently:

1. Financial Hold
• This type of hold needs to be resolved with financial services.
• It could mean:
• You have an unpaid bill.
• There could have been a mistake and it needs to be clarified.
• Or another reason.
2. Advising Hold
• This is a Semester Conversion I.A.P. Hold 
• Your advisor will be contacting you regarding a meeting to discuss the upcoming semester conversion and how you will stay on track with the new courses and requirements in order to graduate on time.
• For more information regardign the conversion visit:
• RIT Conversion Website
• RIT Semester Conversion blog
• Like the Semester Conversion Facebook
• Follow RIT Conversion
• This hold will not prohibit a student from enrolling in classes for the winter and spring; however, the student needs to meet with their advisor and sign-off on their I.A.P. (Individual Advisement Plan) before they will be allowed to enroll in classes for the Winter Semester. 
3. Academic Advising Hold
• All first years students at RIT are required to meet with their academic department to discuss their upcoming enrollment for winter.
• This hold will only be removed after a student meets with their advisor.
• My recommendation would be to contact your advisor now to schedule this appointment before enrollment begins. 
• Advisors get extremely busy during enrollment periods and may not have time for a walk-in appointment.

Students should begin resolving their holds now as they can effect enrollment for winter quarter. 

Winter Shopping Time

It is official, winter quarter enrollment shopping carts are open, October 1st for all students.  And as an added bonus, students will be able to view their enrollment appointment time for their given enrollment day on October 1st, as well.

A few things to remember when placing classes in your shopping cart:

1. You can put as many classes as you want into the cart.
2. Have a first, second, and third back-up plan.
3. Check the requirements for the class to make sure you meet them.
• The system may not bump you out from a class now (it will when we convert to semesters); however, the professor may remove you during Week 1 or highly encourage you to drop the class.
4. The cart places your classes in order of course number.
• It does not prioritize your classes for you.
• You may want to keep a written list somewhere of the classes you want to take the most.
5. In your cart you can place multiple sections of the same course; however, on enrollment day you can only enroll in one section. 
6. If you are a younger year level classes will appear open until enrollment begins on October 22nd and they may fill-up, especially if it is a popular class among upperclassmen.  
• Classes placed in the shopping cart will remain their regardless of if the class is closed or not; however, when a student attempts to enroll in a closed class they will receive a RED X on that class.

**Preparing for enrollment is the best thing you can do, it will make your enrollment day quick and easy.**

***And for more information check out our Facebook, Twitter, or website.***

How to find wellness classes

Undergraduate students are required to take two wellness before graduating, and RIT offers a wide range of wellness classes each quarter. There are two ways to search for wellness classes using the Class Search page; the first method looks for all classes that fulfill the wellness requirement and the second method is a narrower search.

Method 1

1. Log in to the Student Center via http://sis.rit.edu
2. Click the Search for Classes button in the top right corner of the Student Center.
3. To search for all open and closed Wellness classes, enter the following information:
•  Course Career = Undergraduate
• Show Open Classes Only = unchecked
• Course Attribute = ACTV 
• Course Attribute Value = ACTV
• Campus = RIT Main
4. Click the Search button. This list displays all scheduled open and closed Wellness classes. To add a class to your shopping cart, click the Select button next to the class.

 Below is a screenshot of the search page properly filled out:

 

Method 2

1. Log in to the Student Center via http://sis.rit.edu
2. Click the Search for Classes button in the top right corner of the Student Center.
3. Use the Course Career dropdown menu to select Undergraduate.
4. Uncheck the Show Open Classes Only option.
5. There are 8 types of Wellness classes you can choose from. Each has a unique 4-digit code that you can enter in the Course Subject field. The types of wellness classes and their corresponding Course Subject codes are:
• 1107-- Health & Wellness Seminars
• 1108-- Dance
• 1109-- Fitness
• 1110-- Health & Safety
• 1111-- Lifetime Rec Activities
• 1112-- Interactive Adventures
• 1113-- Martial Arts
• 1114-- Military Sciences
6. Once you’ve entered one of the 8 Course Subject codes, click the Search button. This list displays all scheduled open and closed Wellness classes for that type of Wellness class. To add a class to your shopping cart, click the Select button next to the class.

For more information about RIT's wellness classes, please email Michelle Schrouder, Assoc Director Wellness, Wellness Instruction Program. For periodic updates, make sure to like the Wellness Instructional Program on Facebook.