Registration and Enrollment in Courses

Registration Procedures

Eligible students can register, drop, add, and get a schedule of their courses through WyoRecords. To insure that students have seen an adviser, access numbers for each semester’s registration are distributed through the academic advisers. Directions for registration are contained in the appropriate Class Schedule. Class Schedules are available online no later than one week prior to advising week. Students are responsible for following directions and deadlines contained in the Class Schedules.

The following categories of continuing students in good standing or on academic probation are eligible to register for the semesters indicated:

1. For the fall semester:
   All students who were enrolled the previous fall, spring, or summer semester.
2. For the spring semester:
   All students who were enrolled the previous spring, summer, or fall semester.
3. For the summer session:
   Students who were enrolled the previous summer, fall, or spring semester.

All other applicants and students should complete admission requirements by the admission deadline. (Refer to the sections on undergraduate and graduate admissions in this catalog for deadlines.)

All information requested during admission and registration is important to the student and to the university and should be kept ac­curate and complete. If a student’s address, telephone, major, adviser, or other vital information changes after enrollment, the Office of the Registrar should be informed without delay.

Academic Advisor

Academic advising is a decision-making process involving a partner­ship between the academic advisor and the student (advisee). In this partnership, issues and questions regarding personal, professional, and educational goals are examined and evaluated. This includes, but is not limited to, planning an appropriate course of study and the scheduling of classes.

The purpose of academic advising is to promote rational, informed, and independent choices by the student. To that end, the academic advis­or is a significant link for the student to other resources in the university community. Students are expected to take the initiative in developing the advisor-advisee relationship and to assume an ever-increasing role in developing their own academic, career, and personal goals.

Change of Registration

Modification of a course schedule during the drop/add time period is accomplished through WyoRecords. After the end of the drop/add period, individual class withdrawals can be done by the students on WyoRecords. Changes to a student’s registration or withdrawals are not official until the process is completed as prescribed.

The period of time allowed for modifying a student’s schedule or withdrawing during the summer session or other special terms is established in regulations or by the registrar, subject to the approval of the vice president for academic affairs.

During the fall and/or spring semester(s):

1. Dropping a class or changing sections: A student may drop classes dur­ing the first eight class days of the semester (four class days for blocked courses).
2. Adding a course or changing grading option: A student may add classes, change sections, or change grading options or hours in variable-credit courses during the first four class days of the semester (two class days for blocked courses).
3. Withdrawal from a course: After the designated drop/add period, students may officially withdraw from individual regular term courses until fifteen class days after mid-semester (five days after the middle of the course for blocked courses). Withdrawing means that a non-punitive grade of “W” is assigned as the final grade for the class. Students considering withdrawing should contact the Student Financial Aid Office prior to withdrawing to fully understand how withdrawing will affect their aid and scholarships.
   Students may withdraw from an individual course through their WyoRecords account. If a student has a hold on their account preventing them from withdrawing through WyoRecords, they may submit an online Class Withdrawal form available on the Office of the Registrar website. The online form is required for students who wish to withdraw from First Year Seminar classes.
   Refunds for course withdrawal (when applicable) are based on the date the withdrawal is processed, not on submission of the online petition.
   When a class has a status of “Indiv Course Withdrawal” on the “Add or Drop Classes” page in WyoRecords, the student has of­ficially withdrawn. Students may also confirm that a final grade of “W” is noted on the transcript, which may be viewed through WyoRecords.
   Unauthorized discontinuance of enrollment or unofficial aban­donment of classes will result in a failing grade.
4. All-School-Withdrawal (termination of enrollment): Withdrawal from the university is the official termination of student status prior to the end of a fall or spring semester, but students may otherwise register for classes for the subsequent semester if they choose to do so. Students wishing to withdraw from all on-campus classes should initiate the procedure with the Dean of Students Office. Withdrawal from the university is not permitted during the last 15 days of a term. After clearing with the Dean of Students Office, the withdrawal form must be presented to the university cashier for initial processing. The Office of the Registrar will report withdrawals to instructors concerned. Students withdrawing from distance classes should send an email to the Office of the Registrar to initiate the process.

Choice of College and Major

The academic adviser is an excellent source of information about the adviser’s professional field for students who have selected a major. Students who are undecided about the selection of a college and/or major and who seek specialized assistance in choosing educational and vocational objectives should contact the Advising, Career, and Exploratory Studies center. These units have programs designed to help the undeclared student acquire the tools to make an intelligent decision regarding an appropriate major discipline.

Change of College, Major, or Advisor

Students who wish to change their college, major, or advisor should obtain the appropriate form from either the Office of the Registrar or the office of the dean of the college of their current enrollment. Students wishing to transfer from one college to another must secure the signatures of both their present and future deans. Graduate students need the approval of the college dean and the head of the department to which the student is transferring. After all appropriate signatures have been obtained, the student should take the form to the Office of the Registrar.

Students who have completed their undergraduate work at the university and who wish to embark upon a graduate program, even through continuing their graduate work in the same field they pursued as undergraduates, will need to apply for graduate admission. (Refer to the section on graduate admission in this catalog for deadlines.)

Definitions for Student Classifications

Credit Hour Load

Undergraduates: An average of 15 hours of coursework each se­mester is considered a normal load. Maximum credit loads are 20 hours in all colleges. Normally, not more than 12 hours of undergraduate credit may be taken during the summer session. An approved Overload Petition form must be filed to exceed these maximums. Overload Petition forms are available online or from the Office of the Registrar.

Graduate students: 14 hours of credit is the average and 16 hours the maximum amount of credit allowed per semester for full-time graduate students. A student who has been assigned an assistantship for the academic year is usually restricted to a load of 13 semester hours. Normally, not more than 8 hours of credit may be earned in course work during an eight-week summer session. An approved Overload Petition form must be filed to exceed these maximums. Overload Petition forms are available online or from the Office of the Registrar.

Auditing a Course

The privilege of non-credit enrollment in a class is available to any university student. The auditing privilege is subject to the same fee schedule as credit courses. Auditors are expected to attend class regularly and complete such graded work as required by the instruc­tor. It is the responsibility of the student to determine and fulfill the requirements for a satisfactory audit. Though this auditing privilege carries full rights of class participation, it definitely offers no academic credit, does not count toward full- or part-time status, and will result in a mark of satisfactory (SA/S) or unsatisfactory (UA/U). Subsequent credit for the course by special examination is not available.

Graduate Credit for Seniors

Undergraduate students taking graduate-level courses which are not in any way a part of their undergraduate degree have the option of later using such courses for purposes beyond the bachelor’s degree require­ments. If the student intends to pursue a graduate degree or needs the courses noted on the academic transcript as reserved for graduate credit for job classification (e.g. advancement on teacher salary schedules) the student should file a petition. The Request to Reserve Coursework for Graduate Credit should be filed by midterm of the semester which is requested. The petition form is available on the Graduate Student Forms page on the Office of the Registrar website. Courses may not be retroactively reserved once a semester has ended.

Class Attendance

Each student shall attend the lectures, recitations, and laboratories, and participate in field work deemed necessary to adequately fulfill the academic requirements of each course. Each instructor, at the begin­ning of every semester, shall stipulate the attendance policy necessary for satisfactory completion of the course.

The Dean of Students Office may issue authorized absences for participation in university-sponsored activities and for other unusual circumstances. If students have been hospitalized, or if they have been directed by the Student Health Service or their private physician to stay at their place of residence because of illness, the Student Health Service or their private physician may issue a statement giving the dates of the student’s confinement which the student may show to the instructor without verification from the Dean of Students Office. The Student Health Service has a policy not to provide medical excuses for missed classes. Please review the policy at http://www.uwyo.edu/shser/ medical-excuses.html.

All instructors shall permit students who have official authorized absences to make up missed course work without penalty. An authorized absence, however, merely gives the individual who missed the class an opportunity to make up the work and in no way excuses him or her from the work required.

When a class has a status of “Indiv Course Withdrawal” on the “Register for Classes” page in WyoRecords, the student has officially withdrawn. Students may also confirm that a final grade of “W” is noted on the transcript, which may be viewed through WyoRecords.

Unauthorized discontinuance of enrollment or unofficial abandon­ment of classes will result in a failing grade.

Academic Dishonesty

Whatever form academic dishonesty may take, the university com­munity regards it as a serious offense. An act is academically dishonest when, and only when, it is an act attempted or performed in order to misrepresent one’s involvement in an academic task in any way. Such conduct will result in imposition of sanctions pursuant to University Regulations.

It is the responsibility of both the student and person in charge of an academic task, respectively, to make reasonable efforts to learn of, or make known, the expectations and standards of conduct required in the performance of an academic task. Failure on the part of the student to observe and maintain required standards of academic honesty will require corrective action by officials.