Chairs/Directors and AA's
Chairs/Directors and AA's
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Overview
Overview
Course Match is the new preregistration system all students will use to preregister for the Spring 2026 semester. First-Years have already used it during Summer 2025 preregistration.
Why Course Match?
Why Course Match?
Course Match builds conflict-free schedules for students based on their ranked preferences, class-year priority, and any enrollment management restrictions you set before preregistration in the Course Planning Interface (CPI) or in the Major and Correlate Preference Form.
If students rank courses by their true preferences, Course Match's algorithm helps create a schedule with more courses students truly want or need to take. This in turn may reduce the need for Special Permissions requests due to higher student satisfaction with their initial schedules.
Course Match Basics
Course Match Basics
Students set the maximum course load they want to take this semester. They then must select and rank double that amount in course units/credits.
Students will only see courses they are eligible to take. Courses that require special permission or have prerequisites the student has not met will not appear in their list. Students are encouraged to consult the Schedule of Classes and use the Special Permission and Prerequisite Override Jotform to request access to select and rank these courses in Course Match.
The most critical step for students is to rank their courses with consideration of both personal preference and academic requirement, as their rankings heavily influence their final schedule. Students rank their courses by dragging and dropping them into four categories: Favorite, Great, Good, Acceptable. Moving a course from one category to another signals a large preference shift. Shifting course order within a category signals small preference differences.
How a student ranks their course heavily influences course placement. Rankings should reflect the students academic needs and preference. They should not be based on perceived demand for a course – doing so could skew the results of course placement.
The system shows each student 8 potential conflict-free schedules based only on the student’s current course rankings. These 8 examples are not guaranteed; rather, they are meant to help students understand how their rankings might combine into a full schedule. Because Course Match has not yet run the full computation of all student rankings together, the schedules shown at this stage reflect only how the individual student has ranked their courses. If a student does not like the potential schedules they see, they can return to adjust their rankings to improve their options. Once preregistration closes, Course Match will run its full computation using all student rankings to create final schedules. The computation generates every possible schedule combination based on all students’ rankings and assigns a value to each. It will give each student the highest value choice it can while also attempting to give every student a full schedule based on their target credits/units.
Similar to the previous preregistration system, class-year priority continues to apply and impacts the likelihood of a student being enrolled in the courses they select: Seniors have priority over Juniors, Juniors over Sophomores, then Sophomores over First-Years.
What’s changed for Preregistration on Course Match:
What’s changed for Preregistration on Course Match:
Advising holds replace PINs. After the advisor meeting, students cannot begin the preregistration process until their advisor removes the hold in Ask Banner. Double majors must have holds released by both of their advisors.
Students only see courses they are eligible to take. Courses with prerequisites or special permission will not appear in Course Match. Students are encouraged to consult the Schedule of Classes to view those courses. If they wish to enroll, they must submit the Special Permission Prerequisite Override Jotform (available during preregistration).
Approving a student’s Special Permission or Prerequisite Override request does not guarantee enrollment. To learn more about this important change, reference “Managing Enrollment” in the guide.
Students rank courses as Favorite, Great, Good, or Acceptable, which guides Course Match in assembling their schedule.
Ranking is the greatest determining factor of getting enrolled in a course.
Registration draw numbers are gone. Placement is no longer tied to the former lottery system, though class year priority still applies.
What’s the same for Preregistration on Course Match:
What’s the same for Preregistration on Course Match:
Students still select and order their courses by preference.
Class year priority still applies: Seniors have priority over Juniors, Juniors over Sophomores, then Sophomores over First-Years.
Vassar still uses Units, which function the same as credits in Course Match. 1 Unit = 1 Credit
Zero-credit courses (like labs or some music classes) are still 0 credits. However, they temporarily appear in Course Match as .1 credits for system compatibility. Once students are enrolled, they will display the correct 0-credit value.
The Registrar still accepts the Special Permissions List from departments and programs, but instead of emailing the list, it will be filled out as a Google Form (Coming Soon).
Managing Enrollment
Managing Enrollment
Additional mechanisms help your department or program to manage enrollment beyond rankings and class-year priority both prior to and during preregistration.
Additional mechanisms help your department or program to manage enrollment beyond rankings and class-year priority both prior to and during preregistration.
Prior to preregistration:
Prior to preregistration:
The Course Planning Interface (CPI) is used to set class-year restrictions (e.g., Seniors only) to help manage enrollment and ensure students can take the courses they need, such as senior seminars.
For assistance, contact: Ashley Deichler | adeichler@vassar.edu.
The Major and Correlate Preference Form can offer certain declared majors and correlates a boost in getting enrolled in courses. While placement heavily depends on how a student has ranked that course, this preference will increase the likelihood of getting enrolled over non-majors with similar rankings.
Submit the course information (department code, course code, and section(s). Then click on the majors and correlate sequences that will receive a higher chance of getting in.
You can choose to give preference to:
Majors only
Majors and correlates only
Correlates only
Layering restrictions between the CPI and the Major and Correlate Preference Form helps manage enrollment prior to preregistration to also help reduce the need for Special Permissions.
Example: To reduce Special Permissions Jotform requests, you could restrict a Senior Seminar as “seniors-only” through the CPI, then add a major preference so that seniors in your department or program have a very high likelihood of getting enrolled. This would not prevent other senior majors from getting enrolled, but it would prioritize the major selected in the form.
During preregistration:
During preregistration:
Special Permission/Prerequisite Override Jotform
Through this form, students initiate requests for instructor approval to be considered for enrollment in a course with Special Permission or with prerequisites that they do not satisfy.
For the Special Permissions requests, faculty will have 3 options in the Jotform:
[New Option] Special Permission for a Non-Required Course or Special Permission Non-Required is offered for those non-essential courses that still need Instructor approval.
IMPORTANT: Ranking remains the determining factor for student enrollment after receiving the instructor’s approval for Special Permission for a Non-Required Course Approval does not give the course special priority, and it is treated like any other ranked option in Course Match, meaning the course simply becomes visible in Course Match for the student to select and rank like any other course. Therefore, student rankings are still the important factor in determining whether they get placed in Special Permission for a Non-Required Course.
Special Permission for a Required Course or Special Permission-Required is the approval option for courses that are essential to a student’s graduation (e.g., senior seminars).
IMPORTANT: Unlike approving Special Permission for a Non-Required Course, a course flagged as required (through a departmental list or Special Permission JOT form) is treated differently from other courses in Course Match.
How? Course Match prioritizes this Special Permissions-Required course above all others, regardless of how the student ranks it. However, although placement is very likely it is not guaranteed.
Students will be able to remove the course from their selections after it was designated Special Permission - Required. Departments and instructors may want to consider whether they’ll let the student add the class again if they removed the Special Permission - Required course during Phase I.
If Special Permission- Required is granted to more students than there are seats available, Course Match will honor the seat limit and not all students will get enrolled.
3. Deny is the option if instructors do not want to give the student any special permission to enroll in that course.
For Prerequisite Override requests in the Special Permission/Prerequisite Override Jotform, instructors may choose to Approve or Deny a student’s request.
A few more things to know about Prerequisites during the Course Match implementation:
Prerequisites are a great way to avoid requiring all students to get special permission. If you can define Vassar courses as prerequisites, then the only approvals you’ll need to evaluate are for students that did not already meet the prerequisites.
Approving an override makes the student eligible for placement. It does not guarantee enrollment.
[Coming Soon]: The Special Permissions List Google Form
This form is an alternative to the Special Permission Jotform. Although it’s preferable for students to use the Jotform, up to 25 students receive special permission for a course, per form. If you want to include more than 25 students for the course, you may submit another list with the remaining students in the form. For each form, submit
Students’ first and last names
Students’ 999###
Course information
Students will then receive the status “Special Permission - Required” for this course.
Administrative, Chair, and Director Roles and Responsibilities:
Administrative, Chair, and Director Roles and Responsibilities:
The role of Administrative Assistants, Chairs, and Directors vary across departments and programs, so the following list of tasks may be allocated differently across your team.
Submit course information for Spring 2026 (seat caps, class-year restrictions, etc.) into the Course Planning Interface by October 17th.
Submit the Major & Correlate Preference Google Form for Spring 2026 by October 17th.
If a course is cross-listed, coordinate across departments/programs to make sure the same preferences are submitted across all listings of a cross-listed course.
If an advisor is on leave but needs to release a student from an advising hold to preregister, either the Chair, Director, or a designee may do so in Ask Banner.
Submit the Special Permission List Google Form by November 19th at 5:00 p.m. (include up to 25 students and course information)
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How are prerequisites enforced?
How are prerequisites enforced?
A few weeks before preregistration begins, watch for an email about the Prerequisite Review process. After prerequisites are verified, they will be entered into Banner and pulled into Course Match.
Students who have met the prerequisite for a course will automatically see the course in Course Match. They can select and rank it without needing any further approvals.
A student who has not met a prerequisite but still wants to take the course must submit a Special Permission Prerequisite Override Jotform.
The instructor will either approve or deny this request.
An approved form allows the student to view and rank the course in Course Match
Note: Approval does not guarantee enrollment.
How does Course Match handle cross-listed courses?
How does Course Match handle cross-listed courses?
For cross-listed courses, seats are divided between departments, and will hold true to those limits. Students are advised to add all cross-listed sections and rank them closely in their selections to increase the likelihood of registration. Course Match has conflicts embedded to not allow students to be registered for more than 1 of the cross-listed courses.
Is there still class-year priority?
Is there still class-year priority?
Yes, class-year priority continues to apply. Seniors have priority over Juniors, Juniors over Sophomores, then Sophomores over First-Years.
Can the system be set up to prevent students from being enrolled in more than two Biology lab courses?
Can the system be set up to prevent students from being enrolled in more than two Biology lab courses?
Yes, the Registrar would just need to know which courses and we can set a limit for no more than 2 of those classes.
How is the online Schedule of Classes put together each term?
How is the online Schedule of Classes put together each term?
Courses are loaded from the Faculty Staffing Plan into Banner.
Courses are moved from Banner into the Course Planning Interface (CPI).
The CPI is open for edits
Before it closes, 3 different proofs are sent to verify the information
The CPI closes and information is moved into Banner
One final Schedule of Classes proof is sent as the last check before the Schedule of Classes is live.
What forms should I know about and how do they work?
What forms should I know about and how do they work?
Major and Correlate Preference Form - Due October 17
This Google Form will allow departments and programs to indicate enrollment preference for declared majors and correlates.
In addition to the regular course detail collection process (CPI), you may complete this supplemental form to identify courses where preferences should apply. Course Match will then give those students a stronger chance of placement compared to others.
Special Permission/Prerequisite Override Jotform - Faculty approves/denies by November 21st
A student interested in taking a course that is Special Permission or a course with prerequisites that they do not fulfill may submit this form to be considered for enrollment in the course.
This Jotform will indicate if a course requires Special Permission, and whether it is Special Permission for a Required Course or Special Permission for a Non-Required Course.
[Coming Soon] Special Permission List Google Form - Due November 19
While students submitting the Special Permission/Prerequisite Override Jotform is preferable, this form is replacing the Special Permissions list emailed the Registrar.
Students receiving Special Permission via this form will be flagged as having “Special Permission-Required” for that course.
Course Match will prioritize any schedule that includes a Special Permission-Required course over all other schedules, regardless of the student’s rankings for that specific course. The student can select a Favorite course, and the system will use their overall course rankings and section preferences to estimate the utility of every possible schedule.
To submit this form, send a list of up to 25 students per form. If faculty needs to include more than 25 students may submit another form with the remaining students’ information.
Include the students’ first and last names, their 999###, as well as the course information.
What is the Major & Correlate Preference Form?
What is the Major & Correlate Preference Form?
It is a supplemental form used in addition to the CPI that lets departments and programs indicate enrollment preference for declared majors and correlates in a specific course. You may give preference to majors only, majors and correlates only, or correlates only.
Submitting major/correlate preferences increases the likelihood that students with a declared major or correlate are placed into courses most critical to their program of study. It can also reduce or even eliminate the need for Special Permission, meaning fewer Jotform requests for instructors.
This form does not guarantee majors/correlates a seat. Rather, major and correlate preferences give students a boost, but placement still heavily depends on how a student has ranked that course. Non-major and non-correlate students may still be placed in the course, but they will have a lower likelihood of getting enrolled compared to a majoring or correlate student with similar rankings.
Example: Your department or program offers a Senior Seminar, so you might set a class-year limit (in CPI) for seniors only and also submit the preference form to indicate that certain majors receive preference. Non-seniors would not be able to enroll, and majors would have the strongest likelihood of placement. This will not prevent a senior, non-major from enrolling; it just gives an advantage to senior majors.
What if the course I’m filling out in the Major & Correlate Preference Form is cross-listed?
What if the course I’m filling out in the Major & Correlate Preference Form is cross-listed?
A separate form must be submitted for each course code. Please coordinate across departments/programs to ensure the same preferences are submitted across listings.
Example: INTL-238-01 cross-listed with ASIA/ENST/GEOG requires forms for INTL-238-01, ASIA-238-01, ENST-238-01, and GEOG-238-01.
Scenario: Imagine you work in the Music department, and give preference to Music majors for a course that cross-lists with MUSI and DRAM. If Drama is not added as a major preference in the form, or the form is only submitted for the MUSI section for music majors only, a student majoring in Drama is less likely to get enrolled in the course than another student majoring in music. By submitting both the MUSI section and the DRAM section of the cross-listed course, and by giving preference to Music and Drama majors consistently in each form, you are giving both students equal preference based on their major to get enrolled in either section.
How do we ensure that only seniors, or seniors in a major, can enroll in a course (e.g., senior seminar)?
How do we ensure that only seniors, or seniors in a major, can enroll in a course (e.g., senior seminar)?
Senior requirements are still managed through the Course Planning Interface (CPI) and direct communication with the Registrar’s Office:
Use CPI: Departments and programs should enter “seniors only” restrictions in the Class Limits Text box of the CPI. This ensures the Registrar’s Office knows which courses are senior-specific.
Submit Lists: Departments and programs may also provide lists of seniors who require the course to graduate directly to the Registrar’s Office. The Registrar can then mark the course as “required.” Submit lists through the Special Permissions List Google Form
You may consider submitting a Major Correlate Preference Form along with the CPI to greatly increase the likelihood that seniors in a major are enrolled in a course. Please note that submitting this Major Correlate Preference Form does not guarantee enrollment, and students rankings still play an important role in the courses they are placed in. Additionally, other majors still have a chance of getting placed in that course.
What is the Special Permission & Prerequisite Override Jotform?
What is the Special Permission & Prerequisite Override Jotform?
Students submit this form when a course requires instructor approval (Special Permission) or when they need a prerequisite override to attempt registration.
IMPORTANT: Special Permission courses and courses with prerequisites are not visible to students in Course Match until they receive permission, either through their name being on a department/program list or through the Special Permission JotForm. Students are encouraged to refer to the Schedule of Classes to view the complete list of available courses. If students express interest in these course types, they should fill out the Special Permission Prerequisite Override Jotform during the add/drop period.
Changes in the Jotform:
This form now distinguishes between Special Permission for a Required Course and Special Permission for a Non-Required Course [new option].
Special Note:
Students can delete a Required Course permission from their selections in Course Match, which may affect their final schedule.
If Special Permission- Required is granted to more students than there are seats available, Course Match will honor the seat limit and not all students will get enrolled.
Prerequisite overrides only make a student eligible for placement; they do not guarantee enrollment.
What are the two Special Permission course types in the Special Permissions & Prerequisite Override Jotform?
What are the two Special Permission course types in the Special Permissions & Prerequisite Override Jotform?
[New Option] Special Permission for a Non-Required Course or Special Permission Non-Required is offered for those non-essential courses that still need Instructor approval.
IMPORTANT: Ranking remains the determining factor for student enrollment after receiving the instructor’s approval for Special Permission for a Non-Required Course Approval does not give the course special priority, and it is treated like any other ranked option in Course Match, meaning the course simply becomes visible in Course Match for the student to select and rank like any other course. Therefore, student rankings are still the important factor in determining whether they get placed in Special Permission for a Non-Required Course.
Special Permission for a Required Course or Special Permission-Required is the approval option for courses that are essential to a student’s graduation (e.g., senior seminars).
IMPORTANT: Unlike approving Special Permission for a Non-Required Course, a course flagged as required (through a departmental list or Special Permission JOT form), is treated differently from other courses in Course Match.
How? Course Match prioritizes this Special Permissions-Required course above all others, regardless of how the student ranks it. However, although placement is very likely it is not guaranteed.
Students will be able to remove the course from their selections after it was designated Special Permission - Required. Departments and instructors may want to consider whether they’ll let the student add the class again if they removed the Special Permission - Required course during Phase I.
If Special Permission- Required is granted to more students than there are seats available, Course Match will honor the seat limit and not all students will get enrolled.
If instructors do not want to approve the student for either special permission types, they select the Deny option.
A student has expressed concern about being registered for ZZZ-999-99? What is this course?
A student has expressed concern about being registered for ZZZ-999-99? What is this course?
ZZZ-999-99 is a placeholder course that will be added to a student’s course selections if they have received permission for a course, but they have not yet listed the course in their course selections. To ensure the permission-only course appears in Course Match, we have to add that placeholder course for them. Once they have entered their actual course selections, it is important that they delete the placeholder course from their list.
What do I say if a course doesn’t appear in Course Match?
What do I say if a course doesn’t appear in Course Match?
If a student cannot see any courses, their advisor likely did not release their advising hold. The student should contact their advisor first. If the student is a double major, they must have their advising hold released by both advisors.
If the student can view other courses, the course they are looking for most likely requires Special Permission or a Prerequisite Override. This is because students cannot see courses they are listed as not eligible to take. If this is the case, the student will need to submit a Special Permission Prerequisite Override Jotform. Students are encouraged to have the Schedule of Classes open alongside Course Match, so they can view the courses for which they may want to submit a Special Permission or Prerequisite Override form.
I was asked to release a student from an advisor hold. What is this and how do I do it?
I was asked to release a student from an advisor hold. What is this and how do I do it?
Advisor holds have replaced PINs that unlock a student’s access to preregistration. If advisors are on leave, the Chair, Director, or a designee may release a student's advisor hold so they can begin preregistration.
This two-step process takes place in Ask Banner, where the advisor clicks "Release_Holds", locates the student by their first and last name + 999###, and clicks Release Hold next to the student they wish to give access to Course Match preregistration.
Once released, the student can immediately enter Course Match and begin the preregistration process.
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