Monday, February 27, 2023

Information about Short Term 2023 and Fall 2023 course registration

Hello all Bates students,

This letter provides some information regarding course registration processes for Short Term 2023 and Fall 2023. You should be sure to connect with your academic advisor in order to discuss your plans and have your advising hold lifted so that you can complete the registration process.

First, below are some important dates. All of the dates listed below are also available in the Important Dates and Deadlines Calendar, which is at the Student Advising Portal. You can add that calendar to your Google Calendar. To learn how, watch the video, “How to Use the Student Advising Portal,” which is also at the Student Advising Portal:

·   Monday, February 27, 2023 – The schedule of courses for both Spring Short Term 2023 and Fall 2023 will be available on Garnet Gateway by noon for you to review and to start thinking about what courses you want to select. The academic advising period also begins on February 27, and you should be in touch with your academic advisor to have your “advising hold” lifted. You will NOT be able to register until your advising hold is lifted by your academic advisor. Only academic advisors can lift advising holds for course registration; Student Support Advisors cannot lift advising holds for course registration. Waiting until the last minute to reach out to your advisor puts you at risk for missing the registration deadline.

·   Saturday, March 4, 2023 – You can select one .5-credit short term course for Short Term 2023 and up to 4.5 credits for Fall 2023 in Garnet Gateway starting at midnight EST. Please remember that registration is NOT first-come/first-served, and you have until Friday, March 10, 2023 at 4:00pm Bates time to select courses for both Short Term 2023 and Fall 2023. Also, please remember that the short-term requirement has been waived for the Classes of 2023 and 2024. Students in those classes can select a short-term course, but they do not have to take any. Students in the class of 2025 and the class of 2026 must complete no fewer than 2 short-term classes (each adding .5 credits to the total 32 credits needed for the degree) before they graduate. 

·   Friday, March 10, 2023 – Course registration closes at 4:00 PM EST. This is also the last day to drop a Winter 2023 course. And, it is also the last day to select a letter-grade mode for any course you may be taking in the current Winter 2023 semester.

·   Wednesday, March 15, 2023 – The first-round results of registration will be released and a notification will be sent to students’ Bates email when the process is complete and the results are available. If you are satisfied with the outcome and you are registered for the 4.0 or 4.5 Fall 2023 and 0.5 Short Term 2023 credits that you want to take, you do not have to do anything. If you did not get optimized into courses you are still interested in taking, you may file a petition for an available seat via Garnet Gateway. The petition process opens on March 15.

·   Sunday, March 19, 2023 – The petitioning process closes at 11:59 PM.

·   Monday, April 3, 2023 – The Add/Drop period for all classes opens at this time. If your petition is accepted by the faculty member, the course is added to your schedule automatically prior to the beginning of the add/drop period. You can add credits to your schedule up to a total of 5.5 credits at this time.

·   Wednesday, May 3, 2023 – This is the last day to add a Short Term 2023 course. The add period for Fall 2023 remains open.

·   Friday, May 5, 2023 – This is the last day to drop a short-term course.

·   May 31, 2023 at 11:59pm EDT – The add/drop period for Fall 2023 closes. It will reopen on Tuesday, September 5, 2023 at 7:00 AM EDT.

Second, you can watch a video, which explains the entire registration process, at the Student Advising Portal. Go to the portal, and click on the Drop-Down Menu labeled, “How to Register for Short Term and Fall 2023 Courses.”

Third, please remember that students must be registered for no fewer than 3.0 credits per semester to be enrolled at Bates. Standard academic progress per semester is 4.0 credits. The maximum permitted credit count per semester is 5.5 credits.

Fourth, please do not rely on short-term courses to fulfill Mode of Inquiry (MOI) courses or W courses. For students in the classes of 2025 and 2026 – for which completing 2 short-term courses is a general education requirement – please remember that short term courses are a half credit (0.5 credit). MOIs and Ws require a full 1.0 credit for completion. As such, it is recommended that MOIs and Ws be completed in the Fall and Winter semesters.

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Important Information by Class Year

Class of 2026 (First-Years)

Please connect with your pre-major academic advisor (your FYS instructor) to review your academic planning and to have your advising hold lifted. It is recommended that all students complete all of their MOI credits by the end of their sophomore year, so please attend to which MOIs you have not completed and consider registering for courses in those areas. Also, you may want to discuss with your academic advisor any ideas you have about possible majors or possible “plus one” areas including minors or general education concentrations. Standard academic progress after 2 semesters at Bates is 8 credits completed; minimum academic progress after 2 semesters at Bates is 6 credits completed.

Remember, that short-term is a general education requirement for your class year and the half-credit earned in a short-term course is counted toward the total 32 credits you need for degree. Students must take 2 short-term courses as part of their Bates degree. You can take a short-term as a first-year student, but you are not required to do so.

Class of 2025 (Sophomores)

Please be sure to have your “Major Plus One” fully declared by March 1, 2023. If you are intending to study abroad, the deadline for major declaration was February 1, 2023. If you have not completed your MOIs, please consider doing so during your junior year. Do not wait until your senior year to complete your MOIs. Standard academic progress after 4 semesters at Bates is 16 credits completed; minimum academic progress after 4 semesters at Bates is 14 credits completed.

Remember, that short-term is a general education requirement for your class year and the half-credit earned in a short-term course is counted toward the total 32 credits you need for the degree. Students must take 2 short-term courses as part of their Bates degree. You can take a short-term as a sophomore, but you are not required to do so.

Class of 2024 (Juniors)

If you are currently studying away or abroad from Bates, your advising hold is already lifted. However, you may want to check in with your academic advisor(s) to review your course registration plans either by email or by setting up a Zoom video call at a mutually convenient time.

If you studied abroad in Fall 2023, please be sure to have completed and turned into the registrar all forms to ensure that your credits from abroad are applied to your major, to your minor, and/or to your general education concentration if applicable. All forms and all information on what you must do to have your credits from study abroad applied to your degree are available here.

Standard academic progress after 6 semesters at Bates is 24 credits completed; minimum academic progress after 4 semesters at Bates is 22 credits completed.

The short-term requirement has been waived for your class year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. You can register for a short-term course and take it, but you are not required to. The half-credit from the short-term class is NOT added to your 32 total credits needed to graduate.  You must reach 32.0 total credits including courses taken in the Fall and Winter semesters, as well as credit earned from non-Bates sources.

Class of 2023 (Seniors)

If you studied abroad and have not filed your forms to have the credits applied to your major(s), minor(s), or general education concentrations, please do so as soon as possible. All forms and information on how to complete them are here.

Standard academic progress after 8 semesters at Bates is 32 credits completed.

The short-term requirement has been waived for your class year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. You can register for a short-term course and take it, but you are not required to. The half-credit from the short-term class is NOT added to your 32 total credits needed to graduate. You must reach 32.0 total credits including courses taken in the Fall and Winter semesters, as well as credit earned from non-Bates sources.

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If you have additional questions, please connect with your academic advisor(s). If you do not know who your academic advisors are, they are listed at the top of your Degree Audit, which you can access at Garnet Gateway and they are also listed in your “Success Network” on BatesReach, which you can also access at Garnet Gateway.

Thank you.

Stephen M. Engel

Professor of Politics and Associate Dean of the Faculty