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MONITORING
Once schedules are on BANNER and available in printed formats, students and advisers may use them to plan for registration. Advisement and registration usually begin about two weeks after midterm.
Monitoring class enrollment
One of a department head’s and a director’s most important tasks during this time is to monitor student enrollment in all relevant classes, usually by accessing BANNER web and performing a class search. Early registration figures can be misleading, but department heads and directors need to monitor enrollment to decide when and if any adjustments need to be made.
Canceling and adding classes
Department heads and directors may need to modify their schedules after submitting them. They should get the permission of the Dean and the VPAA before modifying class days or meeting times, adding courses (except for directed studies, theses, and internships), or canceling classes with students already enrolled in them. According to enrollment needs, they may need to cancel classes. Currently, classes must meet the following minimums: 20 for a core-curriculum class, 15 for an upper-division course, and 10 for a graduate course. While VSU allows some flexibility, department heads and directors may expect to cancel severely under- enrolled classes, after consultation with the Dean. Before completion of the paperwork involved, department heads or directors should explain these decisions to affected faculty and also assign these faculty to other classes. After informing the faculty of canceled classes, the head or director should e-mail the Registrar, VPAA, the Dean, and the VSU Bookstore, informing all of changes. If students are already enrolled in these classes, department heads or directors must obtain a list of those students from the Registrar and inform them of changes.
On the other hand, enrollment figures may mandate that one needs to add classes, often with part-time instructors or with full-time faculty moved from canceled classes. To add classes, department heads and directors must consult with the Dean; they then should make arrangements with affected faculty. They also must find available space, through consultation with the VPAA’s office. Their next step is to e-mail appropriate data to the Registrar, VPAA, the Dean, and the VSU Bookstore--including the course, section, room number, instructor, and number of students for the classes.
When department heads and directors must change locations of classes, they also should inform the Registrar, the VPAA, and the Dean. On the first day of class, departments should post notes in the affected rooms; they cannot assume that students already have received notices of room changes.
Moving students into and out of classes
Once registration has begun, classes will begin to fill. Invariably, some students will need classes which have been closed. If courses reach their caps, departments may want to maintain waiting lists for these or new course sections. Different departments have different ways of maintaining these lists, which are quite helpful. After registration closes, some students may be dropped for nonpayment of fees, opening a slot for other students. Department heads or directors may then contact the Registrar to place students on waiting lists into these classes.
Overriding students into classes
Department heads, with faculty approvals, may add students to closed classes through BANNER’s override function, available only to the department head. Some departments have override forms which contain the necessary information for department heads to perform overrides: the class number and section, the CRN number, the student’s name and social security number, and the instructor’s signature.