How to Register



	Registration Process
	Grading Options
	Course Approval

The Registration Process

Registration actually consists of two processes: 1) “Registering” for a seat in specific courses and 2) “Enrolling” for the rights and privileges of student status by satisfying tuition and other obligations to the university.

To obtain registration information, including your personal identification number and registration appointment times

Go to https://ssol.columbia.edu/
Type in your UNI and password.
On the menu the left side of the page, click on "Registration Appointments."
Record or print this information.

Once you have your appointment times, you can register. See below for instructions.

Important Dates

Regular registration for the Fall 2011 semester is August 30 to September 1, 2011.
Classes start Tuesday September 6.
The Late Registration/Add/Drop period is September 6-16. A $50 late fee is charged for those who register for the first time during the first two weeks of the semester.
A $100 late fee is charged for those who register for the first time after the first two weeks of the semester.
To avoid late fees, enroll in your billing category or at least one course before the end of the day on September 1, then adjust your schedule between September 6-16.
There is no full refund for courses dropped after September 16.

All GSAS students must be registered by the end of the day on Thursday, September 1, 2011. You do not need to register for all (or even any) of your classes before September 1, but you do need to register. You can register for a class or two, or you can register for your billing category, but any student who is not registered by the end of the day will be assessed a late fee. You may add courses without penalty through September 16. Please remember to drop courses for which you register but for which you are subsequently denied a seat by the instructor or department or which you decide to drop.

Registering for Courses

You will register for the majority of your courses on-line using your UNI (see above).

Log into SSOL and click on "Registration."
Select courses from those offered in the Schedule of Classes.
Register for a billing category. All students in Graduate School of Arts & Sciences must register in a billing category, in addition to registering for specific courses. All M.A. students must register for a Residence Unit to accumulate at least two for the degree. All Ph.D. students must register for a Residence Unit to accumulate six Residence Units, one for each of the first six semesters in residence. Some (but not all) new PhD students are pre-registered for a Residence Unit (RU).
International students may not register or pre-register until they arrive on campus and have checked in with the International Students and Scholars Office (ISSO).

Registering for a Billing Category

There are three billing categories for GSAS students:

Residence Unit (RU)
Extended Residence (ER)
Matriculation and Facilities (M&F)

During the registration period, you must select one of these categories following the same procedure you use to register for courses. Each category, with its call number, is listed alphabetically in the Subject index of the “Directory of Classes.”

The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences requires candidates for the Master of Arts to accumulate two Residence Units and candidates for the Master of Philosophy to accumulate six Residence Units.

Billing Categories for Students in the M.A. Program

Students in the Master’s Program must register for one RU in the fall semester and one RU in the spring semester to earn the Residence Units required to receive the degree.

Billing Categories for Students in the Ph.D. Program

RU: Students register for a Residence Unit in their first six semesters (first three years) unless they have been awarded advanced standing. See note below.
ER: Students register for Extended Residence after having accumulated six RU's (or four RU's plus two units of advanced standing) and when they are taking a course or completing any M.Phil. degree requirement or holding an appointment as a Teaching Fellow or Research Fellow.
M&F: Students register for Matriculation and Facilities after having accumulated six RU's (or four RU's plus two units of advanced standing), and when they are not taking any courses and are not completing any M.Phil. degree requirements and are not holding an an appointment as a Teaching Fellow or Research Fellow.

Advanced Standing

Each unit of Advanced Standing awarded reduces the required number of Residence Units by one. Thus, for example, a student who is awarded two units of Advanced Standing on the basis of an M.A. degree received before entering the Ph.D. program will be required to accumulate four, not six, Residence Units in order to be eligible to receive the Columbia MPhil. Once such a student has accumulated four Columbia Residence Units, he or she will register for either Extended Residence or Matriculation and Facilities, depending on whether he or she is taking courses, completing degree requirements, or serving as a Teaching or Research Fellow in a given semester, as indicated in the list above.

Students who register for a billing category other than that expected based on year of study and/or teaching appointment status may find that the amount of tuition fellowship credited to their student accounts does not balance the amount of tuition charged. Please see Kay Achar for help should tuition adjustments need to be made.

Please see the Registrar's Registration page for additional information and details.

Grading Options

Courses to be counted toward the degree requirements must be taken for "E" credit (examination credit). The Department expects that students will maintain a minimum B+ grade average.

The grading scale for "E" credit is A, B, C, D, and F. The standard letter grades A through F will not be issued for courses taken Pass/Fail or for R credit, and courses taken Pass/Fail or for R credit will not be counted towards the degree requirements.

The Grade of P/F (Pass/Fail)

A very few specific graduate-level courses are offered only on a Pass/Fail basis. In these cases, the instructor notifies the students of the P/F grading scale and submits grades accordingly. Students who wish to be given a P/F grade for a course offered on a letter-grade scale (i.e. most graduate-level courses) must request the grade of P/F through the Registrar's office (not by direct request to the instructor) by completing and submitting an Add/Drop form. The deadline for selecting the Pass/Fail option is given each year on the University Academic Calendar. Requests to take a course P/F will not be granted after this date. The grade of F is a final grade and is not subject to reexamination.

The Grade of R

The grade of R (Registered for the course; no qualitative grade assigned) is awarded in place of a letter grade. Students who wish to be given R credit for a course must receive written permission from the instructor that specifies the instructor's expectations within the standard course-change period. In addition, they must hand in to the GSAS dean's office (not the Registrar's office) a completed R Credit Proof of Agreement Form, signed by the instructor.

While students have the freedom to select the pass/fail option when registering for a course, R credit can only by obtained with the approval of the course instructor. Once the grade of R is awarded, it may not be changed. If you have taken a course for R credit, you may not repeat the course in another term for a letter grade. Courses taken for R credit do not fulfill any degree requirement.

The Office of the Dean of of GSAS sends an email message to students each semester to announce the deadline for selecting the R option and to provide the current semester's Agreement form.

The Grade of INC

Students who fail to complete coursework by the end of a semester and who take a grade of Incomplete INC must complete the course requirements within one year from the end of the semester in which the course was offered. Otherwise, the Office of the Registrar will convert the course grade to F, at which point the course cannot be counted toward fulfilling any degree requirement.

Please be familiar with GSAS Grading Policies, which can be found here.

Course Approval

Approval for Courses in Political Science

Students must obtain the instructor's approval to register for any Political Science course numbered 8000 or higher. Certain other Political Science courses also require the instructor's approval, as indicated in the courses listings in the Directory of Classes.

Students desiring to register in a course for which the instructor's approval is required should contact the instructor directly. A student who registers for a course without the required approval should understand that the registration is tentative and if the instructor's approval cannot be obtained, the student will need to drop the course.

Approval for Courses in Other Departments and Schools

Many courses taught in other departments and schools--notably Anthropology, Economics, History, International and Public Affairs, Law, Philosophy and Sociology--may be relevant and useful to political science students, depending on a student's individual course of study.

Guides to these courses include:

Graduate School Bulletin
Registrar’s Directory of Classes
Law School
School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA)

Confer with your advisor to determine how outside courses might fit into your political science program and requirements.

Prior approval from the Director of Graduate Studies is required to have courses from outside the department counted toward Political Science degree requirements. A student seeking such approval should ask his or her advisor to examine the course syllabus; the advisor should convey approval to the DGS.

Cross-Registration in SIPA and Law

The regular registration dates for the School of International and Public Affairs, SIPA, are normally the same as those for GSAS. Note that SIPA students are given priority for registration in SIPA courses, so you may be placed on a wait-list before being allowed to register for a SIPA course. Contact instructors as soon as you know you are interested in registering for a course.

For Law School registration dates, contact the Law School Registrar directly at 212 854 2668. Registering for Law classes requires two steps, registering for the course with the Law School registrar, and submitting a copy of the cross-registration form you receive to the University Registrar in 205 Kent Hall. If you do not submit the cross-registration form, your registration will not be reflected on your GSAS transcript.