GSAD-503 - World Campus Course Registration for Graduate Assistants, Graduate Fellows, and Graduate Trainees and STAP Recipients

Resident instruction students may want or need to take a World Campus course for a variety of reasons. Students often want or need to take World Campus courses online over the summer when they are away from campus. In some programs, some required courses are only offered via World Campus in a given semester (even if they are sometimes offered via resident instruction at different times), and for a given student, that semester may be the most advantageous time to take the course. For programs with limited enrollment or infrequently offered elective courses that help students specialize their studies, taking courses via the World Campus, when they are offered, aids students in making academic progress and gaining skills and knowledge important to advancing their studies that may not be available to them if they were unable to enroll in a World Campus course. Previously, graduate assistants were at a particular disadvantage in these cases, as they were unable to register for World Campus courses if appointed to an assistantship (because they are required to be registered as resident instruction students to be appointed to an assistantship) and, during the summer, the Summer Tuition Assistance Program only paid the tuition for eligible resident instruction courses. The STAP program did not pay for World Campus courses.

Beginning in fall 2017, the University Budget Office and World Campus revamped the RI/CE reporting tool to properly calculate tuition income and route it appropriately when a resident instruction student takes a World Campus course. This change will facilitate graduate assistants and eligible graduate students applying for Summer Tuition Assistance Program taking World Campus courses when needed. This is consistent with current Registrar policy that students may enroll for applicable courses at any campus during summer semesters regardless of residency. There are still course controls and enrollment instructions in place based on the academic partner/college’s parameters for some World Campus courses.

In implementing this allowance, it is important to take steps to ensure resident instruction students are able to enroll in World Campus courses only when doing so will not jeopardize the ability for a World Campus student to register for the same class. (Notably, graduate students who are not graduate assistants are not prevented from enrolling in World Campus courses, so this allowance is specifically targeted to ensure the addition of graduate assistants, fellows and trainees, as well as graduate students who are eligible for Summer Tuition Assistance, do not overwhelm the system, and students enrolled in degree programs delivered via the World Campus have priority for enrollment in World Campus courses in fall and spring semesters.)

During fall and spring semesters, the student information system does not allow for dual campus enrollment and students from other campus locations must call the World Campus Registrar office to be manually enrolled. (Registration timetables and enrollment dates are set by the Office of the Registrar.) For the summer semester, because of reduced enrollments generally, dual campus registration is permitted and all students register concurrently, regardless of campus designation. However, World Campus representatives do not believe that allowing graduate assistants, trainees and fellows, as well as graduate students utilizing Summer Tuition Assistance to register for World Campus courses in the summer semester on the current registration timetable, will displace World Campus students. For individual courses during the summer semester for which high enrollment could be a concern, World Campus currently places course controls on these courses that would limit registration to certain programs or require a student to call the World Campus Registrar office to be enrolled manually. This method, though less than ideal for registrants, provides a mechanism for managing enrollment in courses for which World Campus students must be given first priority.