Registrarial Processes Explained
Each student is registered at the University through a registrar. Your registrar will depend on which Academic Faculty you have been admitted into. Your registrar's office can help you with most aspects of your life at U of T. This includes course enrolment, and making changes after courses begin, such as adding and dropping courses. There are deadlines for making most changes and therefore the registrar will notify you about the important dates throughout each semester.
If you have been admitted to the Faculty of Arts & Science, your registrar will be one of the Colleges at U of T.
Course Enrolment
Depending on your field of studies, you might be required to enrol into courses yourself. In that case, you will be given an opportunity to do so prior to the start of the academic year. You will be assigned specific dates for you to complete the enrolment process - this is often referred to as your 'course enrolment window.' It is very important that you follow these deadlines because courses can fill up quickly.Your Faculty or College Registrar will guide you on the necessary steps for enrolling in courses and completing program requirements. Rules differ across faculties, but generally students can take courses offered by many departments within their faculty, while focusing their studies in one or more subject areas. Graduate and professional faculty students will be directly admitted to a specific department. Undergraduate students in the Faculty of Arts & Science, University of Toronto at Scarborough, and University of Toronto Mississauga, will decide at the end of their first year which departments/ programs of study they wish to focus on.
Each faculty publishes an Academic Calendar, which can easily be found online. Your faculty's Calendar contains important information related to your academic studies, including degree requirements, departmental program requirements, and course offerings. It is important to understand the information conveyed in the Calendar, to ensure that you are enrolling in the courses that are right for your program.
Take your time and review your options carefully. It is your responsibility to ensure that you are following the rules and regulations of the University. If something is unclear, talk to your Faculty or College Registrar's office. They are there to assist you.
ROSI (Repository of Student Information) is your online access to course registration and financial information, as well as the place where you update your postal and email addresses so that the University can contact you. Once you have chosen your courses, you can add and drop courses from here as well.
Adding and Dropping Courses
Students may add new courses beyond the dates of their initial enrolment window and even, in most instances, after courses have begun.If you feel that you don’t want to continue your enrolment in a class for whatever reason, you may be able to formally remove yourself from the course. This is referred to as dropping a course. Remember, though, that there are deadlines for making changes in each semester. Also, the last day to drop a course is often much later than the deadline to add a new one, making it impossible to pick up a course in exchange for the one dropped.
Important Dates
The University of Toronto operates on a rigid time schedule and failure to observe deadlines can have a number of negative consequences, including additional fees, inability to get into necessary courses, removal from programs and the University. Students are often surprised, for example, that by missing the official drop deadline they might end up with a failed course on their academic record permanently.Some other important dates to consider include your course enrolment window: this is when you and other students at your academic level (e.g. first year student) have special access to ROSI to complete course enrolment for the new academic year. While you can still add a course until the add deadline date, it’s likely that many of your courses will fill up during the initial course enrolment period.
Failure to pay fees on time may result in penalty fees, being dropped from courses and even being deregistered from the University. You should also be aware of the date of publication of the timetable for end-of-semester examinations. You should not book winter or summer vacation airplane tickets until you are sure of the examination dates, because you will not be permitted to reschedule the exams. Each faculty will have different dates for these events, which you can check online at your Faculty Registrar’s website.
U of T offers you the opportunity to interact with world-class faculty and to participate in a tradition of great minds.
