Registration Guide 2018-2019
Hello all! I have written a registration guide a couple years in a row now (save for last year), and while not much has changed to warrant a new guide, I decided to write a new one anyway and attempt to simplify it. This will still be long, but each point will be...well, straight to the point.
Firstly, you will be creating your Laurentian account sometime before registration opens. When you register on WebAdvisor, you will already have created your account, so you should already know your login credentials (username - NOT student number - and password). Once logged in, you will be brought to this page:
From here, you click on âStudent.â
You will then click on âRegister for sections.â This is the only link where you can actually register for any courses -- âSearch for Sectionsâ allows you to search through courses currently offered, but not register for them.
From here, you want to click âSearch and Register for Sections.â This will allow you to search for the courses, and then select them for registration.
On the following page, you will have a number of search factors open to you. I would suggest not choosing anything besides the Term, Subject, and Course Level -- you do not know what sections will be offered when registering, what time they will be offered at, who is teaching them, etc. The more detail you put into the search, the fewer results you will get, and potentially miss the courses you need. You can choose the language of the course if you wish not to see results in either English or French.
Under term, you will focus on three specific terms: 2018 Fall Term, 2019 Winter Term, and 2018 Fall/Winter Term. You register for the entire school year at once, so you do not want to simply register for the fall and not for the winter -- you can make changes after registering, up until the end of the second week of each semester (with late fees after each semester begins).
Your course level is reflective of the number of the course code. Some programs require you to take a second year course (2000-level) during first year, so note that you will not find that course if your course level is not âSecond Year.â Your course code is also where you find whether the course is on-campus or online. If the two digit section number at the end is 10 or higher, the course is online. Below 10 means itâs on-campus.
You need to know what courses you have to look for. Your MyLaurentian portal may tell you this, however if you are unsure, you can check your program page on the Laurentian website. You must register for your required courses, you are not automatically registered for them. As for electives, you must choose each class individually based on the requirements you might have (such as six credits in science, or six credits in Indigenous content).
For information on what counts as scientific literacy, Indigenous content, or linguistic awareness, please view this regulation document on the Laurentian website. You can also view this document for any other information on BA and BSc degrees. For information on what subjects sit in what specific categories, you can view this image below (updated because it was produced in 2015 and there have been changes in that time):
Three credit courses are offered in the 2018 Fall Term and 2019 Winter Term, and six credit courses are offered in the 2018 Fall/Winter Term. What is the difference? The fall term and winter term are the individual semesters, and the fall/winter term is the whole school year (save for the spring and summer terms). Some courses are offered straight from September to April, and thus are often six credits. Most courses are offered from September to December or January to April, and thus are three credits.
You will be asked, once you have selected your search criteria, to confirm your information. This includes your program, you student association, your gender, and your Francophone status:
If you have not already been assigned to a student association, this is where they will assign yours. Generally, students who identify as Francophone or are in a French program will be assigned to the AEF (the Francophone student association) and all other students will be assigned to the SGA. As a graduate student, I am a member of the GSA (or, as they categorize it, GRAD). If your information is correct, youâll click âsubmitâ at the bottom of the page.
To register for courses, you simply click the box next to the course you have chosen.
Note that the âMeeting Informationâ will tell you the days, times, and locations of these courses. Sometimes your meeting information will fill the entire box, and will leave off on ellipses -- this is often because the class meets twice a week, either at different times or in different locations. You can see that the title and course code of these courses are links, theyâre blue -- click on the link to see the meeting information in full (as well as any prerequisites for the course, and the professorâs contact information).
Once you have selected a course and pressed âsubmitâ at the bottom of the page, you will be brought to the âRegister and Drop Sectionsâ page.
In order to register for the course, you simply select âRegisterâ and click âsubmitâ at the bottom.
Courses that are offered at the same time conflict, and WebAdvisor will not allow you to register for conflicting courses, so if you attempt to then you will receive an error message. If you have not completed the prerequisites for a course, you will also face an error message. You can only register for a total of thirty credits during the year (in most programs, select programs allow you to register for more) so if you select more than thirty credits, you will also receive an error message.
Once you are registered for your courses, you can click the âMain Menuâ button at the top of every page, and click the âStudentâ button again.
From here, click on âMy Class Schedule.â This is where you will go to see your actual schedule once you are registered for your courses. You will have to select the proper term for each course, as in the term for which each course was found in registration (2018 Fall Term, 2019 Winter Term, 2018 Fall/Winter Term). You can view your entire school year by clicking the 2018 Winter Academic Term (not viewable below since registration has yet to open):
You class schedule will then be presented to you in the form of a list (this is my current 2018 Spring Full Term schedule because it is the only one currently available to me -- courses are removed from previous schedules once your final grades are submitted):
You are unable to access the schedule in a calendar form, this is not offered on WebAdvisor. Many students create their own calendar schedules using programs on the internet or spreadsheets on their computer. For example, I use Numbers (the Mac version of Excel) in order to create a calendar schedule where I can view my courses better. Here is an example of a schedule that I created in Numbers during my undergraduate education:
All this is a gross simplification, since different programs will have different requirements. You may want to speak to an academic advisor prior to registration, or even the program director -- you can also feel free to ask me questions, and I can walk you through registration. I have done this for many students in the past, spending many hours on the phone or the internet to help find courses and create schedules with students -- I cannot promise to have an everlasting knowledge of what is required for each program and I will consult the Laurentian website, so your program director or academic advisor may be able to do more for you. What I offer, however, is instant responses and availability outside the working hours of the school (8:30AM to 4:30PM). I am available on Facebook, Twitter, or by email at [email protected]
I still recommend that you contact your program director or academic advisor even after having gone through registration with myself. Note that there is sometimes a miscommunication, and students do not receive the same information from their program director as they do academic advisors -- in this case, you always go with the information that your program director gives you. There are changes often, and the advisors in the Centre for Academic Excellence are not always updated instantly.
In the previous year, I also made an OSAP application guide video. OSAP applications have changed slightly in the past year, and therefore my video is already outdated, but you can take a look if you are currently applying for OSAP. I also highly encourage you to read my OSAP FAQ because this information is still rather current -- and do so soon, I recommend applying for OSAP (if you need apply) by the beginning of July since OSAP applications can take six to eight weeks to process. You do want it to process before school begins.
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact me! Make sure to take a look at the Laurentian website in the next couple weeks before registration opens so that you can see what will be required of you when the time comes!
Ryan Michael Wildgoose, M.A., B.A
Ph.D. Student in Human Studies
Sexual and Gender Diversity Commissioner of the Graduate Studentsâ Association
Co-Director of Pride Laurentian / Co-Directeur de Fierté Laurentienne