Registration Holds
RAIL will inform students of any holds on their record. Students with outstanding obligations will not be permitted to register until all obligations are cleared by the appropriate campus office(s).
Special Permission
If, for any course, special permission or approval is required, students must contact the appropriate person listed in the Class Schedule and request that this individual contact the department chair/director for an override. Students should provide their names and Shepherd Identification Numbers and the CRN, subject code, and course number. Once the department chair/director enters the special permission override information, the student can then register for the class via RAIL.
Maximum Hours
Students may register for a maximum of 19 credit hours per semester. A student who wishes to enroll for more than 19 credit hours must have an overall grade point average of 3.0 or better and must secure the written approval of the Academic Advisor and the Department Chair. If the overall grade point average is less than 3.0, students must first petition the Admissions and Credits Committee for permission before getting the required signatures (FORM). A student who does not meet the GPA requirement may petition by visiting the Advising Assistance Center. It is never recommended to take more than 19 credit hours, and petitions are rarely approved. There is an absolute maximum of 23 credit hours. Completed approval forms must be submitted to the Office of the Registrar by Friday of the first week of academic advisement.
Lecture and Laboratory
Students registering for any course requiring both a lecture and a laboratory must register for both the lecture and the lab. Students and Academic Advisors should check the comments/prerequisites column of the Schedule of Classes to see if there are any restrictions placed on lecture/lab choices. Science courses listing 4.00 under the credit hours column, like General Biological Science and General Science courses, have specific lab sections linked to specific lecture sections. If students select an incorrect lab section for such a course, they will get a “Link Error” message on the screen, which prevents them from registering for either the lecture or the lab. Selecting the correct combination of lecture and lab sections will remove the “Link Error.”
Closed Classes
RAIL will indicate if a course is closed by giving a “Registration Error” message on the screen. The student can then check other sections of the same course for available openings by scrolling down to the bottom and clicking on Class Search. A student cannot, however, register for two sections of the same course. A student may request a Capacity OVERRIDE for a specific course and section from the instuctor and the department chair/director. If the department chair enters the capacity override information, the student can then register for the class via RAIL.
Time Conflicts
If students request two courses whose start and/or end times overlap, RAIL will automatically delete both requests during confirmation of the class schedule. Students will need to have such time conflicts resolved by the Office of the Registrar. Time conflicts of more than 15 minutes require written permission from the instructor whose course will be affected. If the department chair enters the time conflict override information, the student can then register for the class via RAIL.