Registration and Attendance

Overview

A student must officially register for a course before attending, and will not receive credit unless officially registered.

Students must attend the first day of class in order to secure their place in the course. The instructor has the option to drop a student from the class roster if the student was not in attendance on the first day of the session. Students must not assume they have been dropped if they did not attend the first day of class. To officially withdraw from the class, please see the Withdrawal webpage and linked withdrawal policy.

Advising holds are placed on all student records prior to the early registration time period each semester. This prompts students to meet with their advisors and thoughtfully plan and prepare for course enrollment for the upcoming term. Registration for courses within the cooperating colleges in the Associated Colleges of the Twin Cities (ACTC) must be completed through the Office of the University Student Data & Registrar.

The open registration period for summer session courses is in March. The registration period for fall semester is in April; January term and spring semester in November. Each student is scheduled to register beginning at a specific date and time, based on his/her number of earned credit hours and an alphabetical rotation of surnames.

All seniors are allowed to register for classes, then all student Veterans and/or Service members, then all juniors, then all sophomores, then all freshmen. Because student Veterans and/or Service members can apply before other groups, they are eligible for priority enrollment.

Attendance and Coursework Completion Policy

St. Thomas has an Undergraduate Course Attendance and Coursework Completion Policy that establishes expectations for class attendance and coursework completion in undergraduate courses, defines what can be considered an excused absence from class or the timely completion of coursework, and outlines the process for notification and verification of excused absences. Students are responsible for reading, understanding, and adhering to the Undergraduate Course Attendance and Coursework Completion Policy.

Auditing a Course

A student may choose to audit a course rather than take it for credit. If attendance is satisfactory, the course number, title and the audit designation will appear on the transcript. If attendance is not satisfactory, the course will not appear on the transcript. In no case may a student receive credit for a course that was audited unless the course is retaken for credit. An instructor or Department chair approval is required to Audit any course.

Students may not switch from credit status to audit status after the last day to withdraw from a class without a grade of F. Students may not switch from audit status to credit status after the last day to register or add a class.

The tuition charged for an audited courses is equivalent to one credit of tuition.

Change in Registration

Adding Courses

Students can add courses to their schedules using the Murphy Online registration system until the published deadline to “add a class without instructor permission”. Students must refer to the university's Academic Calendar to see which day is designated as the “Last day to add a class without instructor permission.” After the published deadline, additional classes are added by submitting a Change in Registration (Add/Drop) form, which must be signed by the instructor, to the Office of Student Data & Registrar. This form is available at the Office of Student Data & Registrar website.

Dropping or Withdrawing from Courses

St. Thomas has a policy that establishes the conditions and limitations under which students can withdraw from one or more undergraduate courses (also known as “dropping a course”), from all courses within a term, and from the institution. Students are responsible for reading, understanding, and adhering to the Undergraduate Course, Term and Institutional Withdrawal policy.

Veterans Benefits

The Veterans Benefits and Transition Act of 2018 (Public Law 115-407) was signed into law on December 31, 2018. Beginning on August 1, 2019, the University has a policy in place allowing GI Bill and VR&E beneficiaries (Chapter 33 and Chapter 31 beneficiaries) to attend a course of education for up to 90 days from the date the beneficiary provides a certificate of eligibility, or valid VAF 28-1905. This allows a student to attend the course until VA provides payment to the institution. The University will not impose a penalty, or require the beneficiary to borrow additional funds to cover tuition and fees due to late payments from VA.

New Student Scheduling

Registration for new freshmen and entering transfer students is coordinated by the Office of Academic Counseling.

Freshmen who begin their studies at the university in the fall receive a pre-registration packet containing course information and a description of the registration process which occurs during Summer Orientation.

New transfer students meet individually with an academic counselor to interpret their transfer credit evaluation and select appropriate courses related to their interests.

At this meeting, transfer students should identify any transfer courses they think should count as fulfilling particular core requirements. The academic counselor will assist the transfer student with a petition form used to request consideration of one or more transfer courses for fulfillment of core requirements. The petition form should be submitted to the Faculty Director of Transfer Courses during the first semester of enrollment at St. Thomas.

Upper division transfer students are encouraged to declare a specific major field. Separate summer orientation programs are held for new freshmen and transfer students.

All students are assigned academic advisors.

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