Registration

You must register and pay tuition and fees to attend classes and earn credit. Registration is held each semester on dates published in the academic calendar (see Fairbanks campus academic calendar). For special programs, short courses, seminars and other classes not part of the regular academic calendar, registration is as needed.

Details about procedures and schedules for registering are published online and in separate publications at each campus. Registration instructions for the Fairbanks campus are provided in the UAF registration guide, available at http://alaska.edu/uaonline or www.uaf.edu/register/.

The first day of instruction for all semester-length courses is the date indicated in the official semester academic calendar. That date might not be the first day that a class meets.

If you register for courses, the university holds you financially responsible for payment of your tuition and fees. The university may drop your registration if you do not pay. Other consequences for nonpayment include not being able to receive your grades or transcripts.

Academic Advising is Required

Academic advising is an important part of planning for your education. Degree students must obtain an academic advisor's signature every semester to begin the registration process. All degree and certificate students are required to have an academic advisor. You will work in tandem with your academic advisor to develop a viable educational plan that reflects your academic interests and goals. Your academic advisor will assist you in determining the best options, alternatives and sequences of classes to take. Nondegree students may also see an academic advisor, and it is recommended for those taking 9 or more credits in a semester or for those who have accumulated 30 or more UAF credits. Nondegree students who have been academically disqualified should meet with an academic advisor each semester to develop a realistic and timely educational plan. Academic advising is available at several campuses. See Services and Resources for more information.

Nondegree Students

Anyone who wants to attend classes at UAF as a nondegree student may register as long as they have the appropriate permissions. Students under the age of 18 may take courses as a nondegree student. Current high school students should refer to the High School and Secondary School Students section below.

Nondegree students are subject to placement examination requirements for courses, and they must maintain a 2.0 GPA to remain in good standing. Any nondegree student who wants to be considered a degree candidate must submit an application for admission, meet regular admission requirements and submit transcripts. Nondegree students are not eligible for financial aid or priority registration.

It's important for potential graduate students to understand that credits earned as a nondegree student might not be accepted for use toward a graduate degree program. Please see the transfer credit section of How to Earn a Graduate Degree.

High School and Secondary School Students

High school and secondary students may take classes at UAF. One program, Alaska Higher Education Admission Decision, requires formal admittance to UAF (see Admissions Requirements). Secondary student enrollment and TECH PREP, however, do not entail formal admission.

  • Secondary Student Enrollment
    The secondary student enrollment process allows secondary school students to register for UAF classes. A student meeting course prerequisites may enroll in university classes with permission of the instructor or the department chair. Students must consult their appropriate school district officials and school counselors for approval prior to registration if they wish to use university courses to meet high school graduation requirements.
    Registering for courses at UAF establishes a permanent academic record that reflects student academic performance in all courses attempted.
    Note: Enrollment in UAF courses as a secondary student does not constitute formal admission to the university for the purposes of earning a certificate or degree. Please note that in order to qualify for federal financial aid, you must have either a high school diploma or a GED.
  • TECH PREP Opportunities
    The TECH PREP program allows students to earn credits toward a UAF certificate or associate degree by completing career and technical education classes in high school that have been approved for college credit by UAF. The classes available for credit vary from school to school, but in general they are taken from the following areas: applied business; automotive; airframe and powerplant; human services; computer information office systems; allied health; drafting; emergency medical services; and welding. For more information, contact your high school counselor or the Community and Technical College at 907-455-2800.

Course Placement

Placement Requirements

Many UAF courses require placement. All students planning to take courses with specific placement requirements must meet those requirements before registering for those courses. Specific writing, reading and math placement requirements are listed in the sections below.

Students need mathematics placement at DEVM F105 or above and ENGL F111X placement to register for core science courses.

Placement Tests

Test results are required for first-time degree or certificate students, transfer students with fewer than 30 transfer credits, or students planning to take 100-level English, reading, mathematics, natural sciences and general education courses. UAF mathematics placement test results must be on file with the Office of Admissions and the Registrar or the local regional campus registration office before you can register for DEVM, math, statistics or general education science classes. Results from American College Testing Program (ACT) or the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) or, for associate degree or certificate students, the ASSET, ACCUPLACER or COMPASS test must be on file with the Office of Admissions and the Registrar before you can register for classes. Your ability to register may be blocked if you have not submitted required test scores.

Students who enroll in any course without meeting placement or prerequisite requirements may be dropped or withdrawn from the course through the faculty-initiated withdrawal process.

Writing placement exams must be taken within two calendar years before the start of a course; mathematics placement exams must be taken within one calendar year prior. Students enrolling in developmental or lower-division core courses must have completed any prerequisite courses within two calendar years of their enrollment.

Course Prerequisites

Course prerequisites indicate what previous preparation is needed to enroll in a course. An instructor has the right to drop any student from the course if he or she does not meet the prerequisite or has not received a grade of C- or better in all prerequisite courses. An instructor also has the right to waive a course prerequisite if the instructor documents that the student possesses the background required to succeed in the class. Students who take a course at a higher level than a corresponding prerequisite course required for a degree program are not exempt from taking that required course.

Writing

Placement into writing courses requires either prerequisite course credit or a standardized placement test that measures academic skills such as critical thinking and reading. The score from any of the tests (see Table 10) places the student in the appropriate writing class. A writing sample, given on the first day of class, may modify this placement. Degree or certificate students placed in developmental writing or reading courses should register for them during their first semester. These courses help students gain competencies necessary to succeed in college-level courses. If the student's standardized test scores are below the minimums in Table 10 and if the student's high school cumulative GPA is 3.0 or higher, the student may be given permission to enroll in English F111X by the director of university writing or rural campus English/Arts and Letters faculty.

On the basis of test scores, students may be required to take developmental English and/or developmental studies courses. These courses help students gain competencies necessary for success in college-level courses.

Mathematics

Mathematics course placement varies according to the type of degree the student is planning to pursue and the corresponding math course(s) needed. (See the degree program requirements for more detail.) The UAF mathematics placement test is used to determine math placement. Minimum test scores for placement in math and developmental math courses are listed in Table 9.

Students who have limited access to or limited experience with the Internet should contact the Department of Mathematics and Statistics or the Department of Developmental Education for assistance.

Foreign Language

Students may not register for foreign language classes higher than F101 unless they have received credit through CLEP, AP, transfer or another UAF-approved test for the prior levels. With approval of the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, students may enroll in the level of a language at which they are competent, based on prior experience.

Adding, Dropping and Withdrawing from Classes

Information about the add/drop process can also be found at http://alaska.edu/uaonline and in the registration guide at www.uaf.edu/register/. Adds, drops and withdrawals are not final until the student has completed the appropriate procedure, paid any relevant fees or tuition and submitted all necessary paperwork to the Office of Admissions and the Registrar. If you drop a class within specified time frames, the course will not be part of your academic transcript. Important deadlines are listed in Table 8: Important deadlines.

NonAttendance Drop Policy

Students are expected to begin attending classes on the first day of instruction. Some departments, in trying to find space for students on waitlists, require that you attend the first class session or notify the department in advance that you cannot attend the first class. If you miss the first class without notifying the department, you may be dropped from the course, and the space may be assigned to a student on the waitlist.

Because of the high demand for composition (ENGL F111X, 211X, 213X, 313 or 414) and basic speech (COMM F131X or 141X) courses, students who fail to attend either of the first two meetings of a basic course will be dropped even if they registered in advance and paid their fees. If space becomes available in a class from which you have been dropped by the department, you need to follow the add procedure to re-enroll.

Withdrawing

  • Withdrawing from a Class
    If you withdraw from a class later than the third Friday after the first day of instruction (last day to drop classes), a grade of W appears on your academic record. The W grade does not affect your GPA. However, it may impact your financial aid. Be sure to check with the Financial Aid Office before withdrawing from classes. The last day you can withdraw from a class is the ninth Friday after the first day of instruction for fall 2015, and the Friday after spring break beginning in spring 2016. For specific dates, see the academic calendar at the back of this catalog. Fees and tuition are not automatically refunded for W grades.
  • Total Withdrawal from All Classes
    If you want to withdraw from all your classes later than the third Friday after the first day of instruction (last day to drop classes), use a Total Withdrawal form available at www.uaf.edu/reg/forms/ or from the Office of Admissions and the Registrar. You'll receive a W grade for all classes, which does not impact your GPA. A student-initiated total withdrawal is subject to the same deadlines as withdrawal from a class. For specific dates, see the academic calendar at the back of this catalog. Fees and tuition are not automatically refunded for W grades.

Withdrawals After the Deadline

Appeals for a late withdrawal after the student-initiated withdrawal deadline -- the ninth Friday after the first day of instruction -- are exceptions to policy and are allowed only in exceptional cases. Approval is not automatic, and you need to provide documented evidence to support your request. Acceptable serious and compelling reasons may include: 1) death in immediate family; 2) serious illness or injury of student or immediate family; and 3) factors outside of student's control (for example, fire or flood). Failing a course, avoiding an unsatisfactory grade or ignorance of policies are not serious and compelling reason for seeking a late withdrawal and will not be approved.

Appeals for late withdrawals must be submitted within 30 class days after the beginning of the next regular semester. Forms for an appeal for late withdrawals are available at www.uaf.edu/reg/forms/, through the Office of Admissions and the Registrar in Signers' Hall on the Fairbanks campus, or through local campus student services offices. Once received, the appeal will be evaluated by a campuswide committee, which will return a decision to the student. The decision of the university is final, and a student who files a written appeal under these procedures shall be expected to abide by the final disposition of the review, as provided, and may not seek further appeal of the matter under any other procedure within the university.

Faculty-initiated Drop or Withdrawal

Class instructors have the right to drop students who do not meet course prerequisites, did not obtain a grade of C- or better in all prerequisite courses, or who have not participated substantially in a course. Faculty-initiated drops submitted through the third Friday after the first day of instruction will be treated as a dropped class and will not appear on any student transcript. The faculty-initiated withdrawal may occur after the third Friday but before the ninth Friday after the first day of instruction for fall 2015, and before the Friday after spring break beginning spring 2016. A grade of W will appear on a student's academic record for faculty-initiated withdrawals.

Directed and Individual Study

Directed study courses allow a student to contract with an instructor to enroll individually in a course that is listed in the catalog but in a semester in which the course is not offered in the regular schedule.

For example, a directed study proposal may be approved if the course is not being offered that semester and the student needs to complete the course for graduation. The title for the directed study course will include DS.

Individual study courses provide students with opportunities to improve their knowledge in areas of study not listed in the current catalog. A student who requests or is advised to undertake such an individual study should present a brief proposal and syllabus to the appropriate faculty member. The syllabus must be attached to an individual study form. This requirement does not apply to directed study courses. An individual study course number will end in 97.

Registration for directed and individual study courses is not available via the web. To register for a directed or individual study course, download the request form from www.uaf.edu/reg/forms/ or pick up a copy at the Office of Admissions and the Registrar. Submit the completed form to the Office of Admissions and the Registrar.

Where to Get More Information

Office of Admissions and the Registrar
University of Alaska Fairbanks
102 Signers' Hall
P.O. Box 757495
Fairbanks, AK 99775-7495
Email: registrar@uaf.edu
Online: www.uaf.edu/reg/
Telephone: 907-474-7500