Course Registration Procedures
The University operates year round. Fall Term is from September to December; Winter Term is from January to April. Intersession is comprised of two, six-week terms--Spring (early May to mid-June); and Summer (early July to mid-August). While research is continual throughout the university year, graduate course offerings are concentrated in the Fall and Winter terms.
Before Fall classes begin the student must meet with their assigned program advisor/supervisor to establish a suitable program of courses and answer other questions the student may have. It is the student's responsibility to arrange a meeting with their program advisor/supervisor to discuss areas of interest and receive guidance on course selection. Before registering for courses, students must meet with their program advisors/supervisors to plan their programs. A Program Planning Form must to be completed by the student in consultation with their program advisor/supervisor by August 31 of each year until coursework, residency (if applicable), and final project/thesis requirements are complete. Please note that copies of submitted reports are automatically sent to the program advisor/supervisor and Graduate Program Administrator and placed on the student’s file. The Program Planning Forms are available on the department website.
Students can then register using Bear Tracks, an interactive service for students. For Secondary Education graduate courses that are closed to web registration, please contact the instructor to obtain permission to be registered in the course and forward confirmation to the Graduate Program Administrator who will register the student. Students wishing to take graduate courses from outside of the department should refer to our Course Registration information.
Graduate courses are 500-level & 600-level courses and are listed in the University Calendar. Information about current year course offerings are available in Bear Tracks and on the department website.
Students can change their course registration without financial penalties up to the specified registration deadline for a given term. Please see the University Calendar for exact dates and penalties. It is important that students register via Bear Tracks prior to the specified deadlines. Students who do not register by the deadlines must petition to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research (FGSR) via the department to have late registration changes approved. For any changes to registration after the specified deadlines, please refer to the University Calendar.
Students who are having difficulty in a course are encouraged to discuss the situation with the instructor, and/or the Associate Chair Graduate Program. Any course withdrawal form must be signed by the Associate Chair Graduate Program and approved by the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research (FGSR).
Master’s Course-Based Program Registration
Master’s course-based students must register in course work for at least one term in each September to August period to keep their program active. Please note that newly-admitted Master’s course-based students must register at least one course in their admit term. For more information, please see the University Calendar.
Failure to register in any academic year will be interpreted by FGSR as a withdrawal and the student will have to apply for readmission and pay a readmission fee.
EDSE 900 MEd Course-Based Final Project
After all course work is complete, MEd course-based students must register in the final project course, EDSE 900. Registration in EDSE 900 will normally take place in the term a student plans to complete the program.
Doctoral & Master’s Thesis-Based Program Registration
Doctoral (PhD & EdD) and Master’s thesis-based students who begin their program as full-time must continue as full-time for the remainder of their program. For more information, please see the FGSR website. Note that doctoral students must maintain full-time status for the duration of their program. Master’s students have the option to begin their program on a part-time basis.
To be registered as full time (particularly for immigration, student loan or scholarship purposes), the thesis-based student should register in at least 3 courses (9 units) in each Fall and Winter term. A typical course has a weight of 3 units. Any total number of units less than 9 units per term in Fall and Winter terms defines the student as part time.
Full-time thesis-based students who register in less than 3 courses (9 units) per term must also register in Thesis (THES) for Fall and Winter terms to make up full-time registration status. Students can register in THES 90x where x can be 3, 6, or 9, indicating the course units. Note that course units are not the same as fee index units.
Students registering in 0 courses (0 units) per term must register in THES 909 (9 units) in any given Fall and/or Winter term.
Students registering in 1 course (3 units) per term must register in THES 906 (6 units) in any given Fall and/or Winter term.
Students registering in 2 courses (6 units) per term must register in THES 903 (3 units) in any given Fall and/or Winter term.
Please note that registration in THES 906 (6 units) will be automatically added by the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research (FGSR) to each thesis-based student's (for students admitted Fall 2011 onwards) registration for Spring and Summer terms. This is considered the full-time Thesis category for these terms. It is important to also note that courses taken in addition to the THES 906 during Spring and Summer are at an additional cost to the student.
Once the required graduate courses are completed and the focus shifts towards the thesis/dissertation, students must register in THES each term (Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer for students admitted Fall 2011 onwards & Fall, Winter for students admitted before Fall 2011) until program completion.
Note that on the University of Alberta transcript, the mark on a THES course shows as IN (incomplete) until after the student has completed their program. Then the mark of CR (completed requirements) will appear.
Failure to register in any academic year will be interpreted by FGSR as a withdrawal and the student will have to apply for readmission and pay a readmission fee.
For more information, please see the University Calendar or the FGSR website.
THES 919 Registration
Doctoral (PhD & EdD) and Master’s thesis-based students admitted before Fall 2011 may be eligible to register in THES 919; a special full-time status course; which will be assessed the Reduced Thesis-Only Fee. This fee is lower than the Instructional Fee assessed for THES 909. In order to be eligible for THES 919 the student must meet the criteria outlined on the FGSR website. To be assessed the lower fee, students should register in THES 919 instead of THES 909. Both THES 909 and 919 registrations are equivalent to 9 units in a term.
Off-Campus THES Registration
Graduate students who live more than 80 kilometers from Edmonton may be eligible to be registered as off-campus students for thesis research. Off-campus students are exempted from the Athletics and Recreation fee, the Health Services fee, the U-Pass fee and pay the part-time CoSSS fee. Requests for off-campus THES registration should be directed to the Graduate Program Administrator (edsegrad@ualberta.ca). Student must email their requests from their University of Alberta email account, include their student ID number, and their mailing address in the request. The Graduate Program Administrator will then forward their request to FGSR for processing. For more information, please see the FGSR website.
Course Audits
Graduate students who wish to audit a course must complete a Course Audit Form and obtain instructor and department approval. There are certain periods when audit registrations are accepted. Please see the University Calendar for details and deadlines. For more information, please see the FGSR website, the University Calendar, and the Registrar’s Office website.