Navigating the UCI Registrar: A Comprehensive Guide for Students

The University Registrar's Office is a vital resource for students at UCI, handling everything from enrollment and academic records to graduation and transcripts. This article provides a detailed overview of the services and procedures managed by the UCI Registrar, designed to help students navigate their academic journey successfully.

Enrollment and Registration

To receive academic credit for regular courses and other supervised instruction or research, a student must be officially registered prior to undertaking such activities. Students are urged to enroll and pay tuition and fees well before the published registration deadlines to avoid the expense and inconvenience of late registration. Late registration (payment of tuition and fees and/or enrollment in classes) is permitted only in exceptional circumstances with the authorization of the student’s dean.

WebReg

Using WebReg, students may add and drop classes, inquire about open sections, change their grading option or unit value for a variable unit course, put themselves on an official waiting list, and list their confirmed class schedule. Immediate feedback on the availability of a class and a student’s eligibility to enroll is provided. This includes course restrictions that may be placed or removed at any time throughout the enrollment periods by the department offering the course. Students must enroll in classes before the end of the second week of instruction. Students may add courses through the end of the second week of instruction via WebReg. Students may drop courses through the end of the second week of instruction via WebReg. Beginning the seventh week of instruction through the end of instruction, withdrawing from a course will result in the student receiving a W grade. Students may change the grading option and/or unit value of a course through the end of the second week of instruction via WebReg.

Enrollment Limitations and Exceptions

Generally, an undergraduate student may not enroll in more than 20 units or fewer than 12 units of course work during a given quarter without the permission of the student’s academic dean or, for undecided/undeclared students, the Dean of the Division of Undergraduate Education. However, during initial enrollment, undergraduate enrollment will be limited to 18 units. The maximum returns to 20 units during Open Enrollment. Changes to Pass/Not Pass grading must not cause the student to exceed the limitations to Pass/Not Pass enrollment. An Enrollment Exception request requires the authorization of the dean or equivalent of the school or academic unit offering the course and the dean or equivalent of the student’s major. The authorization of the instructor may also be required when adding a course or changing the unit value of a variable unit course. Individual courses may occasionally have unique deadlines due to course impaction or instructional needs.

Student Responsibilities

Students are responsible for their enrollments. They must officially drop or withdraw from classes they have ceased attending. Students cannot simply discontinue attendance in a class. Students who pay tuition and fees for a regular academic term and then decide to withdraw from the University must submit a Withdrawal application via Student Access to the University Registrar’s Office. The effective date of withdrawal is used in determining the percentage of tuition and fees to be refunded. A W grade, indicating “withdrawal,” will be recorded for each course in which enrollment is withdrawn, if the student’s effective date of withdrawal is after the end of the sixth week of classes.

Read also: Your Guide to the UMBC Registrar

Academic Records

The University Registrar’s Office maintains a permanent record of academic work completed by each student. Students are strongly advised to carefully check their academic record quarterly. Discrepancies in the academic record should be reported to the University Registrar immediately. Student academic records may not be changed after one year or, in some cases, in less than one year if Academic Senate regulations specify a shorter time limit. For example, the notation “NR,” which means that no grade has been reported, must be removed within one quarter of subsequent enrollment or it will automatically be converted to the grade “F” (Fail), “NP” (Not Pass), or “U” (Unsatisfactory), whichever is appropriate. Similarly, an “I” grade (Incomplete) will convert to either an “F” (Fail), “NP” (Not Pass), or “U” (Unsatisfactory), whichever is appropriate, after remaining on the student’s record for 12 months.

Transcripts

For students subject to the one-time document fee, there is no additional cost for official transcripts. This includes current students, alumni, and former students. For students in self-supporting graduate programs, who are not subject to the one-time document fee, there is a $17 fee for each official transcript. For transcript orders placed online by all students, a $2.25 service charge is assessed by Parchment for each unique order. Unofficial transcripts are available, free of charge, at the University Registrar’s Office, to students who present photo identification.

Verifications

The University Registrar’s Office provides verifications of student status. For students subject to the one-time document fee, there is no additional cost for verifications. This includes current students, alumni, and former students. For students in self-supporting graduate programs, who are not subject to the one-time document fee, there is a $17 fee for each verification. For verification orders placed online by all students, a $2.75 service charge is assessed by Parchment for each unique order. For verification purposes, enrollment in 12 units or more in regular sessions is considered full-time status; enrollment in 6.0-11.9 units is considered half-time status; enrollment in 5.9 units or less is considered less than half-time status.

Concurrent Enrollment and Cross-Campus Enrollment

Various programs exist that enable currently registered UCI students in good standing to take courses at other UC campuses, as well as at California State University and California Community College campuses. If a UCI student wishes to enroll in a UCI Division of Continuing Education course concurrently with enrollment in regular courses, the entire program of study must be approved in advance by the dean of the student’s school (the Dean of the Division of Undergraduate Education, for undecided/undeclared students; the Dean of the Graduate Division, for graduate students). Concurrent enrollment means taking courses for credit in UCI regular session (fall, winter or spring Quarter) and at another institution (including UCLA Extension) at the same time.

Change of Major

Each School or program has its own standards for change of major. Once a student selects a major, or decides to change majors, the student should visit the academic advising office for their prospective major to obtain current information about prerequisites, program planning, and policies and procedures. For most majors, students may request a change of major by submitting an online application through StudentAccess.

Readmission

Students are strongly urged to consider the readmission policy in formulating plans for leaving or returning to UCI. Former UCI students seeking readmission must contact the academic advising office of the School or program which offers their intended major to initiate a readmission application. Readmission is subject to dean’s approval and campus deadlines (Aug. 1 for fall quarter, Nov. 1 for winter quarter, and Feb. New undergraduate students (first term) who enroll in classes, pay fees, but submit a withdrawal form after the 3rd week of the quarter are eligible to apply for readmission when ready to return to UCI. New students are not eligible for readmission if they submit a withdrawal form before the 3rd week of the quarter; these students will need to reapply for admission. A graduate student who withdraws and has not been granted a leave of absence approved by the Dean of the Graduate Division is considered to have lapsed student status (i.e., no longer has student status). A student whose status has lapsed must re-apply to a graduate program and can resume graduate study only if readmitted; readmission is not guaranteed. The online Application for Graduate Study, including the nonrefundable application fee, must be submitted by the published deadline for graduate admission applications. Each student who becomes subject to lapse of status is given advance notice and ample time to deal with the situation. However, if the student fails to respond to initial notices, action will be taken without further notice. A “hold” will be placed on all of the student’s records and the student will be entitled to no further services of the University except assistance toward clearing the hold.

Graduation and Commencement

UCI Commencement ceremonies are held in December and June each academic year for the graduating class. Graduate students must submit their advancement to Graduate Division. Specific deadline dates for filing the application and advancement are established quarterly so that candidates’ academic records can be reviewed to verify that all graduation requirements have been met. Students should contact their academic advising office for deadline and degree audit information. Undergraduate students planning to graduate after a period of absence from the university must graduate in absentia. Upon degree certification, which takes place six weeks after the end of the quarter, a Graduation in Absentia filing will be submitted on behalf of the student. The student will not be subject to tuition and fees. The student will be required to pay the readmission fee only if the period of absence was for more than one certifying term. Students completing a Ph.D., D.N.P or M.F.A. are eligible to participate in the Graduate Hooding Ceremony. Students are required to meet all filing deadlines and satisfy degree requirements in order to participate in the ceremony.

Important Reminders for Graduating Students

All debts, with the exception of long-term financial aid loans, and/or financial holds must be cleared with Campus Billing Services. Before leaving campus, graduating students should return all library materials, pay library fines, etc. Also, Financial Aid recipients are required to complete an exit interview before leaving campus.

Preferred Name Policy

The University recognizes that as a community many of its members use names other than their legal names to identify themselves. Preferred name, sometimes referred to as nickname, is an alternate first name that a student prefers to be known by in class and in other interactions within the University. Policies for preferred names are already in place at a number of Higher Education institutions. The policy will read “first name only”. Because the core information systems store student names in a single field in “last,first middle suffix” format it is not possible to unambiguously separate first and middle names so in practice students will be able to specify a first and middle name. Last name will remain as it is on official UCI records. If a student wishes to change last name, he or she must follow the official name change process.

Implementation and Usage of Preferred Names

Preferred name will become available in the fall of 2012. It will appear in the campus directory, LDAP and EEE beginning October 1. It will be available to the Registrar’s Xnet clients first, then in the student files transmitted to Network and Support Programming. It can be added to other data feeds soon after, upon request. Preferred names will be added to the Registrar’s database immediately upon approval. The Registrar will normally approve or deny a preferred name request within two working days after the request is submitted. Preferred name updates will appear in data provided to other departments in the next scheduled data transfer. Use of preferred name is up to the management of each unit. The Registrar’s office will be using preferred name in all of its applications, including WebRoster, WebGrades and WebAdmin. EEE will be using preferred name in all of its tools that display student name. Some other departments expected to use preferred name are Academic Counselors, the Campus Directory, the Counseling Center, Financial Aid and Scholarships, Housing and Student Health. Most applications with display preferred name will be followed by the student’s legal name in parenthesis. For example, if Peter The Anteater’s preferred name is Pete, in the Registrar’s WebRoster system, the name will appear as: Anteater, Pete (Peter The). The seating charts produced by the WebRosters application will list only the legal name. For instance: Anteater, Peter The. This is because seating charts are often used to check student’s identity before taking exams and student id cards do not include preferred name.

Read also: Applying to UCF

Requesting and Managing a Preferred Name

Any student with an active UCInetID can request a preferred name. Incoming students must submit their Statement of Intention to Registrar (SIR) before they are considered students and can login to StudentAccess. Students will request a preferred name in StudentAccess. There will be a preferred name tab on the Applications menu. There is no limit enforced by the system on how often users can update or modify a preferred name. The Registrar’s office will review preferred name requests and deny inappropriate requests. Major applications that use preferred name will be listed on the Registrars web site. Students have the option of designating a preferred first name that will be used in place of their legal first name in areas such as Class Rosters and Financial Aid. Adding a preferred name will not change a student's UCI student ID number or UCInetID. A diploma will be printed with a student's full legal name only. To request a name to be changed on a diploma, a student must submit a Request for Name Change on UCI Records.

Transfer Credit

Every year more and more students complete coursework at other institutions before they apply to UCLA. If this is you, it’s important to understand how the coursework you complete at other schools will affect your progress toward your degree. Due to the large number of applicants, we’re not able to evaluate prospective students’ coursework in terms of transferability to UCLA. Course-by-course evaluations are only done for admitted students who’ve notified us that they plan to enroll. If you’re attending another UC campus or California community college, most of your academic coursework will probably be transferable. For more information, visit ASSIST, the statewide transfer information site. If you attend another four-year or out-of-state institution, you can compare the catalog descriptions of courses you've taken against course descriptions in UCLA's General Catalog, though finding a similar course doesn't guarantee that your credits will transfer. The Undergraduate Admission office determines the transferability of coursework taken at other institutions for newly admitted transfer students. The Registrar’s office determines the transferability of coursework for current UCLA students who attend other institutions during the summer. If you’re participating in a study abroad organization that requires a signature in order for you to register, you should contact your school or college. Request that the institution attended (this includes UCLA Extension) send us an official transcript. Requests for transcripts from foreign institutions should be made before you leave the country. Check your Degree Audit Report on MyUCLA (please allow four weeks from the date you requested your transcript). If your school doesn’t utilize these vendors, you’ll need to submit official paper copies of your documents. Please note: Once the transcript is downloaded by our office, processing time is still required.

Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) Credit

UCLA awards college credit for AP exams with scores of three or higher and for most IB higher level exams with scores of 5 or higher. The specific credit you receive depends on the college/school your major belongs to.

Summer Sessions Credit

Regularly enrolled undergraduates may attend UCLA Summer Sessions for full unit and grade credit. Summer Sessions work is recorded on your UCLA transcript and grades earned are computed in your grade point average. Check with your college or school counselor about applying these courses toward your minimum unit requirements and for any limitations your college or school may impose on Summer Sessions study. Unlike enrollment in regular terms, you may attend another college/institution for credit while enrolled in UCLA Summer Session. You may attend a summer session at a four-year institution or University Extension after you become a UCLA student. Grades earned in a regular summer session at another UC campus are computed in your GPA; grades earned during a summer session at a non-UC institution are not computed in your GPA. The University Extension catalogs provide information regarding the transferability of their courses. Review this information prior to enrolling. You may also attend a community college summer session after you become a UCLA student. You’ll receive only unit credit for summer session coursework taken; grades earned during summer session at an institution other than a UC campus are not computed in your grade point average. UCLA will apply up to 70 semester or 105 quarter credits completed at a community college toward the degree. Units earned in excess of this amount may satisfy subject requirements (general education/preparation for the major), but no further unit credit toward the degree will be granted. In addition, if you’re a student in the College and have completed 105 quarter units, regardless of the institutions attended, you won’t receive unit credit toward the degree for courses completed at a community college. Units earned in excess of this amount may satisfy subject requirements (general education/preparation for the major), but no further unit credit toward the degree will be granted.

Application of Credit Toward Degree Requirements

Although the admission office may grant unit or subject credit for work completed at another institution, the work may not necessarily apply to specific UCLA degree requirements (i.e., general education or major requirements). Contact your college and/or major advisor regarding specific credit applications and limitations. Also, be aware of the residence requirements, which are specific to your school or college.

tags: #UCI #University #Registrar #information