Registration Instructions for New Students

Registration for Maymester 2008:                 Friday, May 9th, 9am - 5pm

Registration for Summer I 2008:                   Thursday, May 29th, 1pm - 5pm

Registration for Summer II 2008:                  Thursday, July 3rd, 1pm - 5pm

Know Your PIN (Personal Identification Number)

Each student has a four-digit Personal Identification Number (PIN). PINs are required to access grades, registration, appointment times, and fee payment. Your initial PIN is the month and date of your birth. For example, if your birthday is January 7, your PIN is 0107.

If you are a readmit from some time ago, your PIN is most likely a random number.

After you access VIP using your initial PIN, for reasons of security, you will be required to change your PIN from your birthday to another number. You will be prompted to change your PIN if you are using the initial PIN of your birth date.

If you wish to change your PIN using VIP at some other time, click on the PERSONAL tab and choose Change Pin.

Remember to keep your new PIN in a safe place. If you forget your PIN, please stop by the Records Office with photo identification and we will be glad to furnish you with this information. You may also call our office at 641-3550 and we will mail your PIN.

Advisement

For all students wishing to receive a degree from USC Aiken, ADVISEMENT IS REQUIRED. If you attempt to bypass this crucial step, the computer will automatically block your registration until you have been advised.

If you do not know your advisor's name or if you wish to change advisors, please contact the Academic Success Center. You may call the office at (803) 641-3297 or 278-1967 ext. 3297.

IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT WITH YOUR ADVISOR.

Some faculty advisors have been trained in Faculty Desktop Registration (FDR) and will be able to register you for your classes in his/her office at the time of your advisement appointment.

During your advisement session, make sure your advisor does the following:

• Gives you several alternate classes (not simply different times of the same class) to use just in case some of your first choices are not available.
• Checks to make sure you are not taking 18 or more hours. If you are, you need to make sure you are given permission for an overload on a Course Authorization Form.
• Checks to make sure none of the courses you plan to take require special permission. If any of them do, make sure the instructor of the course (in some cases the school dean/department chair) has given you permission on a Course Authorization Form.

Keep your copy of the advisement form. Some advisors will notify the Academic Success Center that your advisement for the upcoming semesters has been completed, and the "advisement hold" will be removed from the computer.  Or,  your advisor may ask you to take the pink copy of the advisement form to the Academic Success Center, so your "advisement hold" can then be removed.

If you are a non-degree student, the Academic Success Center will automatically remove your "advisement hold" so that you may proceed directly to the next step.

2. Registration.............

Students have three choices of registration:

• 1) Using the Visual Information Processing (VIP) site on the Internet. The address is vip.sc.edu., or
• 2) Faculty Desktop Registration (provided your advisor can offer this service), or
• 3) Registering in person in the Registration Center, 109/Penland Admn. Bldg.

If for any reason you do not want to register with your advisor (FDR) or use VIP, simply come to the Registration Center in Room 109 of the Robert E. Penland Administration Building. In the Registration Center, you may:

1. Use one of the computers located in the Registration Center for VIP registration - We'll walk you through VIP if you are a little intimidated by this system, or
2. Register with the assistance of a staff member for independent studies, transient/concurrent registration in the USC system, and other special requests.

Finding an Open Section

When using VIP, if a class you have selected is closed, you will be able to view the open sections. You can then register for the open section of the class.

Dropping Classes

You must drop classes you do not plan to attend. Instructors do not drop classes for students. If you do not drop a class, you may receive an "F." A WORD OF CAUTION - In the event that you should ever want to drop a course on VIP once classes start, you should always make sure you see your advisor for permission to drop that course. Should anything go wrong with your transaction, and occasionally these things do happen, that advisement form will be your only way to correct the situation and avoid receiving an "F."  The pink copy of the advisement form should be taken to the Academic Success Center, then the student should complete the drop process by logging onto VIP and dropping the class(es).

Closed Sections, Special Permission, and Overloads

When a section of a class you want is closed and there is no other section or no other time you may take this course, you might want to talk with the school dean/department chair of that course about the possibility of an override. This simply means the person controlling that course will give you permission for the Registration Center to enter your name into the class. Some courses requiring travel, a special project, or something not usually required by an instructor will be listed in the schedule as requiring special permission. This is usually available from the instructor. An overload means you are trying to take 18 or more hours in a Fall or Spring semester or more than one course in a Maymester session.  In order to do this, both your advisor and school dean/department chair must give approval.

Each of these three transactions must be recorded on a Course Authorization Form which the student will bring in person to the Registration Center where it will be entered manually by a member of the Records Staff. Course Authorization Forms are available from the school dean/department chair and/or instructor.

Independent Study/Internship Contracts

Prior to registering for an Independent Study course or an internship, you must complete an Independent Study Contract. Your instructor, your advisor, and school dean/department chair MUST sign the form. You may then take your approved copy of the form to the "problem station" at the Registration Center to have the course entered in the computer.

Pass/Fail Option

If you are an undergraduate, you must have the permission of your advisor and school dean/department chair to take a course pass/fail. The option may be elected or revoked no later than the last day for withdrawal with a "W" (see the chart in the "Sessions Deadlines" section). Pass/Fail forms are available in the Office of the Registrar, Room 109, Robert E. Penland Administration Building. The option is available only for free electives.

Auditing

Anyone wanting to audit classes must be admitted to the University and go through the usual registration process. Tuition for audited classes is the same as for classes taken for credit. Classes taken on an audit basis will appear on your official academic record even if you later withdraw from the course.

Auditing a course consists of attending classes and listening without responsibility for assignments or examinations. No credit may be earned in an audited course, by examination or otherwise. No audited course may be repeated for credit at a later date.

If you have registered for a course on an audit basis and wish to change your registration to take the course for credit or wish to change from credit to audit, you must do so no later than the last day of the drop/add period listed in the "Sessions Deadlines" section.

Concurrent and Transient Enrollment

Concurrent enrollment means attending USC Aiken and another University campus or another college at the same time. Transient enrollment means leaving USC Aiken for a semester or more to attend another USC campus or college.

Permission for either concurrent or transient enrollment is obtained on a "Request to Earn Credit through Special Enrollment Form" available from the Office of the Registrar. The student's advisor and the school dean/department chair must sign the form after which the form is returned to the Office of the Registrar where the form is processed. The Office of the Registrar will also confirm the USCA equivalent of each course taken in this manner based on transfer articulation tables developed by the Office of Admissions or as determined by the unit head of the academic area in which the course is housed. Students enrolling in concurrent or transient work at another USC campus can usually register for those classes in Aiken. Students wishing concurrent or transient enrollment at a college outside the USC system must remember the following:
     a) Concurrent or transient enrollment outside the USC system within a student's last thirty hours is possible only after approval has been given on an Academic Petition. Students should allow approximately four weeks for all approvals on such petitions.
     b) Courses outside the USC system transfer back to USC Aiken as "hours earned" only; therefore, they are not calculated into the GPA (unless the student is being considered for graduation with honors) and have no bearing on suspension or probation.

Schedule Adjustments and Dropping vs. Withdrawing

"Dropping" or "withdrawing" are two terms used in the Office of the Registrar that are often confusing. If you want to get out of one course, perhaps several courses, you must obtain advisor approval on an advisement form.  You may enter this type of transaction on VIP; however, having that advisement form is your only means of correcting such a transaction if something should go wrong.

If you drop during the Schedule Adjustment period, the course(s) simply disappear from your schedule. If you drop during the next period, the grade of "W" will appear on your permanent record. This means that you dropped the class during the "Withdrawal" period, and this does not carry any academic penalty. The final period of each semester is the time in which you will receive a "WF" on your permanent record for any class you drop. A "WF" carries an academic penalty in that it is calculated just like an "F." The Academic Calendar as well as the "Sessions Deadlines" for a particular semester will give you the dates for these three periods.

"Withdrawing" from the University means you want to get out of all your classes for a semester, even if you are only taking one class. To withdraw from USC Aiken, you simply stop by the Records Office for the necessary withdrawal forms. We will even mail these to you if you like. The Schedule Adjustment period and the periods of "W" and "WF" all apply to withdrawing just as they do to dropping.

Cancellation of Classes Due to Non-Payment of Fees

The University requires that all students process the tuition bill every semester regardless of how your fees are actually paid. There is a deadline for bill processing in each semester's academic calendar -- know that date.

The University is not obligated to re-register you for the same classes you originally had. Process your bill, and don't take a chance on a less desirable schedule.

The Office of the Registrar has a final cancellation for non-payment after the period of schedule adjustments each semester. If you are involved in this final cancellation you will be expected to take the following steps if you wish to be re-registered:

• Obtain written proof from your instructor(s) that you have been attending their class(es) and that they wish to have you re-registered. The Records Office will not re-register you without such permission.
• Bring the written documentation to the Records Office. At that time you will be re-registered.
• After you are re-registered, you will need to proceed to the Business Services Office to complete your bill processing. At that time, you will be assessed a reinstatement fee of $40.00 plus any additional late fees.

Cancelled Classes

If you are in a class that is cancelled, you will be contacted and given the opportunity to register for another class. You must still see your advisor and do this by the last day to register for that semester. If you do not add another class in the place of the canceled one, the Business Services Office will process any refund you may be due and mail it to you.