Registration and Important Term Information

Students, please update your LOCAL RESIDENCE ADDRESS with your current residence using My Personal Information in access.caltech.edu.

To find important dates such as Add Day, Drop Day, holidays, and when registration begins, please see the academic calendar.

When REGIS is open students are expected to use REGIS for registration changes, and advisors will use it to approve advisees' schedules. There will be online forms for registering for courses with time conflicts as well as requests to audit. See below for further information on the processes.

Important info regarding units (Undergraduates)

• A minimum of 36 units is required to be considered a full-time student
• Undergraduates are allowed to enroll a maximum of 48 units
  
• First-Year Students:
  May not enroll in more than 45 academic units (classroom and laboratory courses) for their first two terms with the remaining 3 units being non-academic courses: Frontier courses, Physical Education (PE), Performing and Visual Arts (PVA), Student Activities (SA), or research
  May not drop any Core class (Ma 1, Ph 1, Ch 1, etc.) without dean or associate dean's permission
  
• Over 48 units is considered an overload for all undergraduates. It requires advisor approval to overload up to 51 units. Students should discuss their desire to take the additional non-academic units with their advisor prior to adding them in REGIS.
• To overload with more than 51 units, students need to petition the undergraduate dean or associate dean, with the expectation that permission will be granted only in exceptional cases.
• A chart explaining enrollment limits and overload processes can be found here.
  
  When REGIS is open (September 19) students are expected to use REGIS for registration changes, and advisors will use it to approve advisees' schedules. There will be online forms for registering for courses with time conflicts as well as requests to audit. See below for further information on the processes.

Important info regarding units (Graduates)

• A minimum of 36 units is required to be considered a full-time student
• Graduate students are expected to limit their activities related to the Institute (in class, research, and teaching assistantship units) to no more than 62 hours per week
• Graduates students may not enroll in more than 36 units of research per term

You can view all course reserve material (both required and not required) by checking the "Current Book List" link on the Registrar website under Schedules. It lists all course reserve material that instructors request be placed on reserves at the library.

When Canvas opens, there will be a Course Reserves module that will display course reserve material with links to electronic book copies, selected readings in PDF format, films, information on hard copy books at the library, and anything else instructors place on reserve for their courses.

If electronic copies of course material are available, the library purchases them and makes the links available. Hard copies are placed on reserve at the Sherman Fairchild Library typically for three hour checkout periods. Additional textbook related links are here.

Current room assignments may change prior to the start of classes. You should check the location on your schedule right before you go to the class to ensure you have the most recent offering information and location.

If a student wishes to register for courses with conflicting meeting times, they will need the approval of both instructors and their advisor. Requests should be made through this form starting September 19th (that is the date the form goes live). The form contains detailed instructions, but they will be starting a workflow request. Students will have the opportunity to write notes to the faculty and will be notified by email as it is approved, denied, or processed.

Faculty Specific Course Conflict Information

If seeking to audit, a student may use this form. It may take 2-3 business days before you see the audited course on their Canvas account. Auditing for fall will not be open until closer to term start.

Canvas continues to be the Institute's learning management system. Not all instructors use Canvas, but they have been asked to post at least a syllabus or website link. Courses will not appear on Canvas for fall term until closer to term start.

Students are expected to discuss any desired schedule changes with their advisor before making them in REGIS. Advisors will still need to approve final schedules. Students are being trusted to make their own changes in REGIS, and the success of a smooth term will rely heavily on students following advising guidelines.

Students must submit schedules for approval after each day changes are made. They may continue to make changes in REGIS through the above deadlines. To do so, they recall their schedule in REGIS, make the next change, and resubmit the schedule to their advisor.

For courses that are limited seating and at capacity, student will need to have the instructor email their approval to regis@caltech.edu.