POLICY: Priority and Scheduling of Registration

Students shall be allowed to register in the following order:

GROUP 1: Priority Students

Category A - Students with disabilities and registered with the Student Disability Resource Center (SDRC) who would not otherwise achieve their academic goals within a reasonable period of time due to an on-going disability.

Category B - Students who participate in intercollegiate sports governed by the NCAA.

Category C - Students who would not otherwise achieve their academic goals within a reasonable period of time because they participate in an ongoing, university-sanctioned activity that significantly benefits the university. (See Procedures, Section A.3. for general eligibility criteria.) The coordinator of the activity must apply to the Academic Policies Committee (APC) on behalf of the students, for possible inclusion in Category C.

Category D: Rare and extraordinary circumstance - The Provost or Vice President for Student Affairs may grant to an individual student access to priority registration for a rare and extraordinary circumstance on a one-time basis.

Students in Group 1 will be allowed to priority register for a maximum of sixteen (16) semester credits during priority registration. Any additional desired credits may be acquired during non-priority times.

GROUP 2: Graduate Students

GROUP 3: Students in the credentialing program

GROUP 4: All other undergraduate students: Appointment times for this group are assigned by the number of units a student has completed. Appointments are set in descending order so that the students with the greatest number of completed units are first, and the least number of completed units follow.

GROUP 5: Unclassified graduate students and transitory students (e.g. cross-enrollees and early entrant high school students).

PROCEDURES

A. Implementation of Priority Registration

1. Category A - Students with documented disabilities and registered with the Student Disability Resource Center (SDRC) will be coded with the Registrar’s Office for priority registration. The SDRC shall submit a list of students in this priority group who are eligible for priority registration to the Registrar’s Office by the date set by the Registrar.
2. Category B - Students with documented eligibility and participation in Intercollegiate Athletics will be coded with the Registrar’s Office for priority registration. The Intercollegiate Athletics Department shall submit a list of students in this priority group who are eligible for priority registration to the Registrar’s Office by the date set by the Registrar.
3. Category C - Coordinators of all student groups in Category C who wish to apply for priority registration on behalf of their students, including those who currently hold such status, shall apply to the Academic Policies Committee (APC) for continuation or granting of priority registration status. The APC, in consultation with the Registrar and the Vice President for Enrollment Management & Student Affairs, shall determine which student groups should receive priority registration. Any group that is not granted priority registration may re-apply the following year. The APC shall provide a written explanation to any student group that has been denied priority registration.

Eligibility Criteria for Category C

There are three criteria that must be met in order to be granted priority registration under Category C:

First, the student must participate in a university-sanctioned activity that significantly benefits the university. This means that the benefits of the activity for the university as a whole are a consideration. However, participation in such an activity is a necessary but not sufficient condition for the privilege of priority registration.

Second, priority registration must be necessary for the student to successfully participate in the activity. If the student can successfully participate in the program without priority registration, then priority registration will not be granted.

Third, priority registration must be necessary to allow a sufficient number of students to participate in the activity to ensure its success.

Only if all three conditions are met will priority registration be granted.

4. Category D - The Provost or Vice President for Enrollment Management & Student Affairs may grant priority registration to a student when the student and his/her academic advisor request and document a rare, extraordinary and unforeseen hardship that would prevent such student from graduating or progressing towards graduation. The student-supplied documentation of the hardship, along with the written request from the academic advisor, must be forwarded to the Registrar’s Office in a timely fashion to allow priority registration for the following semester. Such exception would be made on rare occasions, case-by-case, and never more than once for any student.