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COURSE SETUP

PLAYBOOK

Guidance for Student Services Managers

Updated 7/20/2023

This playbook was developed as a resource for Student Services

Managers as part of the Operational Excellence Course Setup Project.

It is not a complete guide to course setup - yet, but the Office of the

University Registrar, in collaboration with the Office of Undergraduate

Curriculum, will continue adding content to make this a comprehensive

resource for Student Services Managers.

WELCOME!

Table of Contents

Course Setup Overview

• SSM Course Setup Activities • Year at a Glance Timeline & Tasks

• Definition & Application

• Benefits

• Process

Pre-Requisites and Co-Requisites

• Definition & Application

• Benefits

• Process

Instructor or Department Consent

• Definition & Application

• Benefits

• Student Experience

• Process

Reserve Capacities

Overview of Options for Controlling Enrollment

• Definition & Application

• Benefits

• Student Experience

• Process

Waitlists

Course Setup Overview

• SSM Course Setup Activities: CSM & Extended CSM

• Year at a Glance Timeline & Tasks

Course Schedule Maintenance (CSM)

CSM Activities

• Review rolled sections (prior fall semester is copied to the future fall, etc.). This prevents SSMs from

having to re-enter data.

• Cancel any sections that won’t be used. An opportunity to cancel any rolled courses no longer needed.

• Update these data fields on sections:

• Mode of instruction

• Section and class numbers

• Meeting pattern (days and times)

• Instructors

• Add new sections to the schedule.

• Make sure combined sections have rolled and are set up correctly

• Make sure non-sponsor units open/close their sections according to combined section offerings for the

new term

• Assign any department priority classrooms in 25Live

• For Fall semesters, begin planning for new First-Year seats and new transfers seats to be entered in the

customized MOI and Reserve Capacity page when opened.

The time when Department SSMs have

full

scheduling access in ConnectCarolina

• Consent flags

• Enrollment capacities

• Reserve capacities

• Class notes

Extended CSM

Extended CSM Activities

• Update these data fields on scheduled sections:

• Instructors

• Consent flags

• Class notes

• Submit requests to the scheduling team via Formstack

• Add or cancel sections

• Change meeting pattern

• Change room

• Submit requests to change Mode of Instruction via the MOI & Reserve Capacity page in ConnectCarolina

• Must be approved by the senior associate dean for the division or dean of the school

• Add any last-minute sections

• Cancel sections due to changes in instructor availability

• Add grad-student teaching assistants to their sections

• Adjust enrollment capacities based on pre-enrollment data or changes to instructor availability

The time when Department SSMs have

limited

scheduling access in ConnectCarolina

• Enrollment capacities (must fit assigned room)

• Reserve capacities

Term

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Fall

Spring

Summer

Course Setup – Year at a Glance Timeline

Specific dates available on the Course Schedule Maintenance Timeline

CSM

OUR Assigns Rooms

Extended CSM

CSM

Assign

Rooms

Ext.

CSM

Extended CSM

CSM

OUR Assigns

Rooms

Extended CSM

Begin course planning for the term

January • Fall CSM ends

• College calls for new First-Year and new transfer seats to be set aside before Fall continuing

registration begins

February • Add Fall NSSR, FYPR & TRF seats, along with expected enrollment for FDOC, to the custom MOI &

Reserve Capacity Page in ConnectCarolina

March • Fall Extended CSM begins and runs through the end of the registration period

• Continuing student registration opens for Fall

• Continuing student registration opens for Summer

April • Spring CSM begins - start planning for Spring term

• Seat release occurs for Spring

June • Continuing registration ends for Fall; ConnectCarolina is shut down for new student registration

July • Spring CSM ends

• Fall new student registration/seat release begins and continues through the end of new student

registration

August • New student open enrollment followed by all open enrollment

September • Spring Extended CSM begins

October • Fall CSM begins - start planning for Fall term, including New First-Year and transfer seats

• Summer CSM begins - start planning for Summer term

• Student registration opens for Spring

November • Summer CSM ends

• Spring seat release happens on Fall LDOC

December • Summer Extended CSM begins

Course Setup – Year At A Glance Tasks

Fall

Spring

Summer

Specific dates available on the Course Schedule Maintenance Timeline

Overview of Options for

Controlling Enrollment

• Reserve Capacities

• Instructor or Department Consent (Permission Numbers)

• Pre-Requisites and Co-Requisites

Reserve Capacity

• Use when trying

to set aside a

portion of a

course

for a

specific

population

Instructor or Dept

Consent

• Use when the

whole course

being vetted by

the instructor or

dept for

enrollment

Pre-Requisites &

Co-Requisites

• Use to set the

academic

requirements for

a course

Overview of Options for Controlling Enrollment

There are three major categories of options for controlling course enrollment in

ConnectCarolina. Each option has benefits and constraints, which are described in the

following sections.

These methods can be used independently, but there are times when multiple options

might be used, based on the needs of the dept and the timing in registration.

Reserve Capacities

• Definition & Application

• Benefits

• Student Experience with Reserved Seats

• Process: Reserving Seats for Continuing Students

• Temporary Restricted Access for Departmental Users

• A Reserve Capacity is a specific population (defined by a plan, class, major, etc.) that

you want to reserve seats for

• You may see or hear reserve capacities referred to as reserve caps or abbreviated as RC.

• Reserve Capacities should be used when trying to set up aside a portion of a course for

a specific population.

• You can define any number of reserve capacity groups for a class.

• Reserve Capacity functionality allows you to automate opening and closing the date

ranges during which various student populations can enroll in each class section.

• When a student enrollment request is processed, ConnectCarolina will automatically

search through the reserve capacities (in sequential order) and place the student in

the first group of reserves with an available spot the student qualifies for.

Example

• Psychology 210 wants to reserve 50 seats for majors in the 100-person class.

• During registration, when a Psychology major tries to register for PSYC 210 they will

automatically take a seat in the 50-seat major reserve.

• If a student is not in the reserve group, they are eligible for one of the other non-

reserved seats

Reserve Capacities

Definition & Application

• Utilizing reserve capacities allows departments to manage enrollment in specific

courses for special populations. (i.e., majors, minors, transfers, new students, etc.)

• The automatic process to release seats removes the manual efforts of many

departments.

• Having the automated process ignore LDOC allows departments that would like to hold

seats longer to do so.

• As we are trying to create transparency for students, the automatic process removes

the need to keep ‘1’ seat in the reserve to cancel out the reserve. This allows for the

right number of seats to be shown to students during registration.

Reserve Capacities

Benefits

Student Experience with Reserved Seats

Class Section Status

Icon

Class Availability

Details

Error Messages

Naming Convention

Information about reserved seats will be available to students for the first time

in 2023 spring term registration.

Class Section Status Icon for Reserved Seats

New for Spring 2023 registration

• “Only reserved seats available” icon – purple diamond

• Visible in Class Search and Shopping Cart

• “Closed” icon changed from a blue square to a red square

Reserve Capacity Naming Convention

Short Description Naming Convention

• UG or GR

• 4 letter major abbreviations

• Spell out other groups as much as possible

• Major, Minor, Maj/Min

Examples

Long Description Short Description

Russian Culture Minor

students only

UG Russian Culture Minor

Undergraduate Media and

Journalism students

UG MEJO Maj/Min

UGRD BUSI or BUSV Majors

Foreign Exchange students

UG BUSI Major Exchange

The long description

is displayed when you

hover over the short

description in

ConnectCarolina

The Class Availability section of the Class Details page lists the number of seats reserved

for specific populations. If you hover over the abbreviation, a longer description is

displayed and you can determine if you are in that population.

• For example, in the below picture you see “UG EXSS Majors.” If you hover over the

abbreviation the long description appears as “Undergraduate Exercise and Sport

Science Majors.”

Class Availability Details

The error message students receive if they are not able to enroll because they

don’t meet the reserve requirement has been updated for clarity and to provide

direction

Error Message

New

You are unable to enroll in this

class at this time. Available seats

are reserved and you do not meet

the reserve capacity requirements.

You are unable to enroll in this

class at this time. Available seats

are currently reserved and you do

not meet the reserve requirements.

See class detail page for more

information.

Reserving Seats for Continuing Students

The following resources cover how departments can reserve seats for continuing

students in ConnectCarolina. There is a separate process for new students.

Overview & Tips

Run Concurrent Reserve

Capacities

End a Reserve CapacityCreate a single reserve

capacity sequence

Set up consecutive

reserve capacities

Seat Release Process

• Main Menu

• Student Admin menu

• Curriculum Management

• Schedule of Classes

• Maintain Schedule of Classes

• Populate Class Search

• Reserve Cap tab

Overview & Tips

ConnectCarolina pathway

• Always ensure that the Start Date value is no later than the date registration

opens (unless part of a consecutive reserve capacity situation).

• There is no longer a need for depts to release seats. This is done automatically

through a cybermated process.

• Reserve capacity requirement groups can run:

• in chronological order (consecutively), which requires only one reserve

capacity sequence, and/or

• concurrently-two date sets running at the same time or overlapping each

other-which requires

two reserve capacity sequences.

• Use consecutive or concurrent reserve capacities but not both.

1. Select a group or plan by clicking the Requirement Group Look Up button and

selecting the item you require.

Create a single reserve capacity sequence

Use the Description drop

down box to quickly narrow

your search.

Select "contains" and type a

portion of a word such as

"anth" if you're looking for

anthropology.

2. In the Start Date field, enter the date on which the selected requirement group should

begin enrolling for the class.

3. In the Cap Enrl field, type the enrollment cap value to assign to the designated group.

4. Click Save to save the group. If you've reserved the entire enrollment cap for one group,

you're finished entering data on the Reserve Cap tab.

Create a single reserve capacity sequence

A reserve cap does not

have to match the

enrollment cap of the

class. You can ‘save’ any

number of seats up to

the max enrollment.

Other seats will be open

to anyone or to another

reserve capacity.

Starting a reserve cap after registration opens allows students outside the

selected group to register for the class before that date

Click the Plus (+) button adjacent to the Cap Enrl field to add a row for a second requirement

group. A second row appears.

Follow steps for creating a single reserve cap for the second requirement group, ensuring

that when added together the enrollment for the two groups does not exceed the total

enrollment cap.

Set up Consecutive Reserve Capacities

The next group cannot

enroll beginning on the

same date as the first

group. Groups in single

sequences can only run

consecutively!

In this consecutive RC sequence, all 50 seats are held for ANTH majors beginning at 11:59pm

on 4/09/19 (this date is before any registration begins). On 4/23/19 no more seats are held

for Anth majors. Of the seats remaining, 10 are held for ANTH minors.

The next group cannot

enroll beginning on the

same date as the first

group. Groups in single

sequences can only run

consecutively!

Use the PLUS (+) button

to create a Reserve

Capacity Sequence 2

Run Concurrent Reserve Capacities

Use consecutive or

concurrent reserve

capacities, but not both

To have more than one reserve capacity run concurrently

Add your second reserve

capacity requirement

group

Looking at “View All” you

can see both reserve

capacities.

Using a zero (0) on any reserve capacity ends all the reserve

caps on a class, even if they are on separate sequences!

End a Reserve Capacity prior to LDOC

Separate from the automated seat release process described on the next page

1. Create the second group using the same Requirement Group you used for the first

group.

2. Set the Cap Enrl field's value to zero (0). Doing so allows the remaining seats to

become available to anyone when the second group's date becomes current.

3. Always click SAVE!

Departments add reserve capacities prior to registration

The seat release process runs on LDOC and releases open

reserved seats

If depts want to reserve seats after LDOC: Add another row

using the LDOC date as the start date with the number of seats

to reserve.

The process runs every 5 minutes throughout open enrollment

to continue releasing open reserved seats, ignoring rows with

an start date of LDOC

Seat Release Process Overview

The following pages include an example with screenshots for each step

Seat Release Process

Departments

add reserve

capacities prior

to registration

Example

• The Classics (CLAS) department put a reserve capacity on CLAS 131.001 in the

Spring term.

• 15 seats were put aside for students in the Classical Humanities Minor (CLAH)

Seat Release Process

The seat release

process runs on

LDOC of the previous

term at 12:01am.

It releases open

reserved seats by

matching the

capacity enrollment

to the number of

students enrolled

under it.

Example

• On Fall LDOC the seat release process runs and identifies 7 students that enrolled

through the RC. The process adjusts the seat reserve capacity to match.

• The reserve capacity is changed from 15 to 7, 7 being the students that enrolled in the

reserve cap, essentially releasing all open reserved seats (8 seats) to all students.

Seat Release Process

If depts want to keep

seats in reserve and

not release them on

LDOC:

Add another row

using the LDOC date

as the start date

with the number of

seats to reserve.

This can be done at

any time prior to

LDOC.

Example

• The dept adds a row with LDOC as the start date,

reserving 8 seats

Seat Release Process

Starting on LDOC the

process runs every 5

minutes throughout

the registration period

to continue releasing

reserved seats dated

prior to or after LDOC.

The process ignores

reserve capacities

with LDOC as the start

date.

Example

When the department does NOT want to continue reserving seats after LDOC

• If 1 of the 7 students in the original reserve capacity drops the class

• The seat release process identifies 6 students that enrolled through the RC and

adjusts the seat reserve capacity to match. The open seat is released to all students.

Temporary Access Restriction

The following resources detail the registration actions restricted for departments in

ConnectCarolina and provide guidance on navigating and making updates during this period.

Overview

Errors

Support

Overview

To enhance the efficiency of the enrollment process during first-year student

registration, departments will temporarily lose access to Quick Enroll and Schedule of

Classes. This restriction will only apply to classes under NSSR reserve capacities. Any

changes to enrollment for these classes should be requested through the Registrar’s

Office.

The following requirement groups will be impacted by the restriction:

07/29/2024

003841 NSSR WAVE 4

07/22/2024 003840 NSSR WAVE 3

07/15/2024 003839 NSSR WAVE 2

07/08/2024 003838 NSSR WAVE 1

3/19/2024 003500 UG NSSR

3/15/2024 003659 RC NSRB

3/15/2024 003501 UG FYPR

• The restriction applies to all of the classes in the requirement groups, with the

exception of the 000854 - UG Transfer Student.

• This change applies only to first year student registration and will not impede

upon your ability to make changes for grad courses or students.

NOTE: if any class

has multiple

requirement

groups, and one is

in the restricted

group, the class will

be restricted and

OUR will need to

update.

Quick Enroll Error

If you attempt to enroll a student into a class with an NSSR

reserve capacity, such as ENGL 105, you will receive the

following error stating the class is restricted:

Schedule of Classes Error

If you attempt to update enrollment capacity for a class section

with an NSSR reserve capacity, you will notice the following

fields are grayed out and unable to edit.

Enrollment Capacity

Schedule of Classes Error

Reserve Capacity

Support

Although you will not be able to process enrollments or change

class capacities through ConnectCarolina directly, you may request

assistance from the Registrar’s Office.

• Quick Enroll: send an add/drop registration form to

registr[email protected]

for Records and Enrollment staff to process

the enrollment transaction.

• Schedule of Classes: submit a Classroom Schedulin

g Request

form to the Scheduling team to update the class section.

Instructor or Dept Consent

(Permission Numbers)

• Definition & Application

• Benefits

• Process

• Instructor or Department consent should be used when the whole course is

being vetted by the instructor or department for enrollment.

• Enrollment is managed by unique permission numbers the instructor or

department issues to the students to allow enrollment in the class.

• This consent can be placed prior to registration or at any point throughout

registration.

• Once consent is placed on a section, students can only enroll via a unique

permission number generated by the Registrar and distributed by the faculty

or department.

• These types of consent are placed on the section level of the course by the

department.

Examples of courses that might utilize instructor or department consent

• independent study

• special topic

• pilot course with enrollment vetting needed

Instructor or Dept Consent

Definition & Application

• Utilizing instructor or department consent allows for departments to

manage enrollment in specific courses for special populations that cross

multiple-discipline, academic and professional paths.

• Instructor or department consent can be put on a course at any point during

registration. Once consent is placed, all open seats must be managed

through permission numbers (this includes reserve seats).

• This is a manual process on departments but does allow for a level of

vetting necessary in some courses.

• All students needing to enroll will need to speak with the instructor or

department as designated. This makes the ‘way the student enrolls’

transparent.

Instructor or Dept Consent

Benefits

ConnectCarolina Pathway

• Curriculum Management

• Schedule of Classes

• Maintain Schedule of Classes

• Populate Class Search

• Enrollment Control Tab

• Add Consent dropdown

• Select Department or

Instructor Consent

• Save

Instructor or Dept Consent

Process

The department places Instructor/Department Consent on the course.

• The dept requests permission numbers be generated for a specific class via

the formstack form and shares semester, class, section, and total number

of permission numbers needed.

• The permission numbers only over-ride instructor or department consent unless

otherwise specified.

• Upon request, permission numbers can be set up to over-ride consent, pre/co-

requisites, reserved seats, and class capacities.

• Once permission numbers are generated, they are shared with the

requesting dept to distribute to individual students as needed.

Instructor or Dept Consent

Process

The Registrar’s Office

has training materials

on how students use

permission numbers.

• Students will need to use the unique permission

number when registering for the course.

• Once a permission number is used by a student,

it can’t be used again. If a student drops the

course, they will need to be issued a new

permission number.

Pre-Requisites and

Co-Requisites

• Definition & Application

• Benefits

• Process

• Pre-requisites and co-requisites should be used to set the academic requirements for

a class. They are courses that need to be taken prior (pre-requisite) or at the same

time (co-requisite) to enroll in the course.

• When a student enrollment request is processed, ConnectCarolina will automatically

search the pre-requisite or co-requisite to ensure the student qualifies for the course

based on courses taken or currently enrolled in.

Example

• To register for COMP 210, a student must meet the prerequisites of COMP 110 and

MATH 231 AND OR Pre- or corequisites, COMP 283 or MATH 381.

• If the student is trying to enroll in COMP 210 for the spring, the student could be

enrolled in any of the above courses the fall prior and could register for COMP 283 or

MATH 381 at the same time as COMP 210.

Pre-Requisites & Co-Requisites

Definition & Application

If a student is registered for a pre-requisite in the fall and is attempting to

has passed the in-progress course for pre-registration purposes

• A pre-requisite ensures a student has the appropriate knowledge

when entering the subsequent course.

• Automatically controls enrollment; if a student does not have a

stated pre- or co-requisite ConnectCarolina will not allow the student

to enroll.

Pre-Requisites & Co-Requisites

Benefits

• This info is added into CIM (Course

Inventory Management) and is

then reviewed and approved by

the appropriate dept and college

curriculum committees.

Pre-Requisites & Co-Requisites

Process

• If a course should be for only majors (never will someone outside the major

enroll), this can be added to the pre- or co-requisite; however, this will need

to be approved by the College or professional school Dean because

• Often other depts will use courses that are put aside for majors as related,

minor, other.

• By leveraging a major in a pre- or co-requisite you could be limiting opportunity.

• Changes to add new or remove

existing pre- or co-requisites

should be approved by the dept

and processed through CIM.

• Depts should set up pre- or co-requisites when developing a new course.

Waitlists

• Definition, Application & Benefits

• Student Experience with Waitlists

• Process: Establishing and Supporting Waitlists

Waitlists

Definition & Application

Beginning the Spring 2024 registration cycle, the following new dates will go into effect:

Important Dates

Waitlist Purge Date

Day After Add Deadline

(6 days after the first day of classes)

Waitlist Addition End Date

Day Before Add Deadline

(4 days after the first day of classes)

Note: The waitlist addition end date refers to the last day that a

student may add themself to a waitlist in ConnectCarolina.

Note: The waitlist purge date refers to the day when some Waitlist

records are removed from ConnectCarolina and the auto-enroll

function is turned off. Departments will receive a list of those

students left on a waitlist at the time of the purge.

Application:

 When a waitlist is added to a class section it holds students waiting for the class to

open systematically.

 If a desired course is closed at the time a student first attempts to enroll in it, the

student may waitlist the class (with the hope that a seat becomes available later).

 To get added to a waitlist, the student must first select the option "waitlist if full” after

adding the class to their shopping cart.

 Students are positioned or numbered on a waitlist based on date added. Once added

to the waitlist, the student is assigned and can view their waitlist position number via

their class schedule.

 During the enrollment period, the waitlist engine runs every five minutes to check for

open seats. When a seat becomes available, the system will automatically add the

student with the lowest position number who also passes all validation checks into the

available seat.

Definition: A waitlist is a list that students can

join within ConnectCarolina and wait for open

seats in a class.

Being on a waitlist does not

guarantee a student a seat in a class.

Waitlists

Example of Waitlist Application

Course: Psychology 210

Course Setup:

Enrollment Capacity: 100 seats

Waitlist Capacity: 999 seats

Scenario #1: All 100 seats are full

when wave 2 of registration opens,

what should a student do?

Answer: If a course is full, students

should join the waitlist. Should a

seat open up, the student in position

#1 will be automatically enrolled in

the course should they meet

enrollment criteria. If they don’t the

next eligible student on the waitlist

will be enrolled.

Course: Economics 101

Course Setup:

Lecture Enrollment Capacity: 100 seats

Recitation Capacity (Per Section): 20 Seats

Waitlist Capacity: 999 seats

Scenario #1: Ramses joins the Econ

101 waitlist and selects to join

recitation A should a seat open in the

lecture. Another student in recitation B

drops Econ 101. Will Ramses be

automatically enrolled?

Answer: If the student is positioned

next on the waitlist and meets all

validation checks, they will be enrolled

in the ECON 101 lecture and the

respective recitation.

Waitlists

Benefits of Waitlists in ConnectCarolina

Standardization:

 Departments and faculty can direct all students interested in taking a class to sign up via

ConnectCarolina, which standardizes the enrollment process across units.

 The expansion of waitlist hours increases opportunities for students to waitlist desired courses and

standardizes the number of waitlist hours available to all students (both graduate and

undergraduate).

Transparency:

 Students, faculty, and staff can all see how many individuals are on a waitlist at any time.

 The waitlist tile on the student center home page in ConnectCarolina provides quick access to

waitlist information that is unique to each student.

 An automated email confirmation to students keeps them informed of successful waitlist

enrollments.

Automation:

 The “Auto Enroll from Waitlist” function reduces excess manual work for staff by automatically

enrolling students from the waitlist.

Data & Reporting:

 Following the purge date, a list of those left on the waitlist is sent by the Registrar to departments,

who then may enroll students manually at their discretion.

 Applying waitlists to all courses provides foundational data for departments to analyze student

behavior and proactively plan course availability for future terms.

Waitlists

Cons of "Paper Waitlists"

There are several drawbacks to maintenance of waitlist enrollment through this method:

 Creation of inequity among students and confusion between faculty and departmental

staff.

 Removal of opportunity for students to receive timely communication if they are enrolled in

the course.

 Risk of discrepancies between paper waitlists and ConnectCarolina, preventing students

from knowing when a seat becomes available for enrollment.

 Difficulty in enrollment tracking, hindering the administration from collecting data to plan

for future terms.

 Requirement of excess manual processing and management by staff on top of existing

responsibilities, leading to enrollment delays and stress for all.

Note: "Paper Waitlists" are all waitlists operated

outside ConnectCarolina. They can be managed in anything from an

excel spreadsheet to a piece of paper. It is highly recommended that

staff use ConnectCarolina instead of paper waitlists.

Waitlists

New Guidelines

Beginning during the Spring 2024 registration

cycle, the following guidelines will apply regarding

waitlists in ConnectCarolina:

1. Waitlist hours Separated From Enrolled

Hours: Waitlisted hours will not be counted

towards total enrolled hours until a student

has been auto-enrolled from the waitlist.

This aims to reduce “false hope” and

increase transparency within enrollment.

2. New Credit Hour Limits: Beginning during

Wave 2 of registration for Spring and Fall

semesters (and during open enrollment for

first-years), all students may waitlist up to

12 credit hours. Limits during the summer

will be increased to 8 hours. This matches

long-standing informal practices and

provides additional flexibility for students.

4. Waitlists in ConnectCarolina have

Unlimited seats: Waitlists within

ConnectCarolina will no longer have seat

limits and will allow an unlimited number of

students to join. This aims to create

consistency, increase transparency and

help capture student interest.

3. All Courses in ConnectCarolina will

Automatically Have Waitlists Turned On:

Every course in ConnectCarolina (unless

granted an approved exception) will

automatically have a waitlist turned on for

use during registration. This aims to create

consistency, increase transparency and

help capture student interest.

Note: Automatic waitlists may be removed from a

course or course type in ConnectCarolina. Please

see the corresponding page of this playbook for

more information on how to request an exception.

Student Experience with Waitlists

Core Functionality

Communication of

Enrollment Outcome

Waitlist Tile

“Swap to Waitlist”

Updated information about Waitlists will be available to students for the first

time in 2024 spring term registration.

Core Functionality

Standard Waitlists Process

Note: Waitlisted

courses within the

shopping cart are

indicated with the

yellow triangle status

symbol.

When adding a course to their shopping cart, a student must

check the “Wait list if class is full” box in the top right-hand

corner prior to hitting “Next” to join the waitlist. If they add

the course to their cart without checking this box and later

decide to waitlist, they will need to remove the course from

their cart and add it back with the waitlist option selected.

Core Functionality

Checking Position Number

Note: When a seat becomes

available in a previously full class,

the system will automatically enroll

the next eligible student. Should a

seat be released, and validations

(listed on the following page) are

not met, the student will be

skipped and autoenrollment will

continue to run for the next

position number.

To check their position number,

students can navigate to their

Student Center in ConnectCarolina.

From there, they must select “My

Class Schedule” under the

Academics header to the left. Their

waitlist position numbers will be

noted under each waitlisted class.

Core Functionality

Validations

Important: Validations below are

listed in the order in which they are

checked in ConnectCarolina. Once

one validation fails (i.e., the student

does not meet the required criteria),

ConnectCarolina will not continue to

check the remaining validations in

that sequence and that student will

be skipped (not enrolled).

Throughout the enrollment process, validation checks are

made to ensure that a student meets certain criteria set for

each given course. There are different validation checks run

at different stages of the enrollment process. The table

below shows which validations are run at each step.

Enrollment Validation Check

Validation Button (In

Shopping Cart)

Standard Enrollment

From Shopping Cart

Addition to Waitlist

From Shopping Cart

Enrollment

From a Waitlist

Within Enrollment

Appointment

✗ ✓ ✓ ✗

Seat Availability in Class

(includes Reserve Capacities)

✗ ✓ ✗ ✓

Service Indicators/Holds

✓ ✓ ✓ ✗

Consent (if needed)

✓ ✓ ✓ ✗

Career Restrictions

✓ ✓ ✓ ✗

Unit Load

✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Requisites and other

Enrollment Requirements (like

min GPA, etc.)

✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Time Conflicts

✓ ✓ ✗ ✓

Repeat Rules

✓ ✓ ✗ ✓

Note: No validations are run to add a course to the shopping cart or when a staff member uses Quick Enroll

The “Swap to Waitlist” feature in ConnectCarolina allows students to

automatically drop a course should they be enrolled from the waitlist. This

function

does not apply to non-enrollment course components and must be

set up prior to a student being added to a waitlist. Students may waitlist up

to 12 hours (which includes courses with a set up "swap to waitlist”

condition) and may set up a “swap to waitlist” multiple times for the same

course (although they are not encouraged to do so). Students can set up

"swap to waitlist” function using the following steps:

“Swap to Waitlist”

Part 1: Definition, Setup & Course Selection

Note: The “Swap to

Waitlist” feature is an

excellent way to prevent

failed validations (such as

time conflicts or unit load

limits) from stopping

successful

autoenrollment!

Setup: To find the "swap to waitlist" function, students must navigate to the “Swap” link under the Enroll

tab. The ”Swap to waitlist" function cannot be set up with a standard class search.

Course Selection (Step 1a): To

use the ”swap to waitlist”

function, a student must first

select a course to drop from

the “Swap This Class” drop-

down menu. Only one course

may be selected.

Waitlist Selection (Step 1b):

Next, the student must select

the course they would like to

waitlist from the “With This

Class” table. To select a

course, they can use the class

search, their Tar Heel Tracker,

or the course number.

“Swap to Waitlist"

Part 2: Enrollment Preferences & Confirmation

Confirm Selection (Step 2):

On the “Confirm your

selection” page, students will

see the course they are

replacing as well as the class

they are waitlisting. Once

reviewing that everything is

correct, they should select

“Finish Swapping”.

Enrollment Preferences (Step 1c): Once

a student has selected a course, the

“Enrollment Preferences” page will be

displayed. Here, students should select

“Wait list if class is full” and then select

“Next” to progress.

“Swap to Waitlist"

Part 3: Viewing Results

Viewing Results (Step 3): If the swap initiated in step

2 was successful, a course status of “Success” will

be indicated with a green circle. If there is an error,

the student should check that they meet all of the

validations listed under the “Addition to Waitlist From

Shopping Cart” column on the validations page of

this playbook.

Viewing Courses with the “Swap to Waitlist" function: After establishing conditions for a waitlist, students can

view the waitlisted course in their course schedule. Following a successful autoenrollment, the course with

conditions applied to it will be dropped, and the waitlisted course will be counted as enrolled. Autoenrollment

for “Swap to Waitlist" courses requires the same validation checks as standard autoenrollment of waitlists.

Please note that if you drop the enrolled course that conditions are applied to the established "Swap to Waitlist"

will be broken and the system will treat that waitlisted course like a standard waitlisted course.

View Prior to Autoenrollment

View following Successful Autoenrollment

Communication of Enrollment Outcomes

Beginning with the Spring 2024 registration cycle, students will receive an email

if they have been successfully auto-enrolled from a waitlist into a course. This

automated email will only be sent once following successful enrollment, be

specific to only one course, and include the following information:

Dear [Student Name],

You have been successfully auto-enrolled into [Course Number] from the waitlist for the [Term]

semester. We encourage you to review the class notes and class features pages within your student

center (link). For any additional questions regarding this course, you should reach out directly to the

instructor of record indicated on your class schedule or contact your program/department for

assistance.

For questions concerning other waitlisted courses, please refer to your Waitlist Tile in ConnectCarolina

or visit registrar.unc.edu/guide/waitlists/

If you have any questions related to registration, please contact the Office of the University Registrar

For questions regarding degree completion, we encourage you to connect with UNC Advising.

Sincerely,

Office of the University Registrar

Waitlist Tile

The waitlist tile in ConnectCarolina aims to provide students with a snapshot of

the courses they are on a waitlist for. This tile is shown throughout the registration

cycle only when waitlists are enabled. It includes the following:

Process: Establishing and Supporting

Waitlists

The following resources cover how departments can set up Waitlists for courses in

ConnectCarolina. This section will also cover best practices for supporting students on

Waitlist in ConnectCarolina.

Overview & Tips

Removing Waitlists From a

Course

Supporting Faculty with

Waitlists

When to Quick Enroll

Navigating Waitlists in

ConnectCarolina

Overview & Tips

Active Waitlists are visible to staff within the “Maintain

Schedule of Classes” section on the Enrollment Control

tab. Both instructors and staff can view a waitlist roster by

going to the Class Roster page for the class section and

changing the view from "Enrolled" to "Waiting". This will

also display position numbers, student names and PIDs.

Waitlists for all class sections will be turned on with an

unlimited number (maximum value 999) of seats by

default. Students will be limited to 12 waitlisted credit

hours. Please refer to the “New Guidelines” and

“Removing Waitlists From a Course” sections of this

playbook for more information.

Turning on unlimited digital waitlists for all class sections ensures that waitlist behavior is consistent

across departments and allows students to simplify their registration process, reducing requests to

instructors and department staff for registration assistance. Having waitlists automatically applied to all

class sections also ensures that “paper waitlists” (waitlists outside of ConnectCarolina), which are

inequitable to students as well as a burden on instructors and staff, are rendered obsolete. Flexibility will

be granted to courses with legitimate rationale for existing outside of this standard.

Why Automatic Unlimited Waitlists?

Note: Simply being on a waitlist

does not guarantee students a

spot in that course. Students

are encouraged to monitor

waitlist position numbers via

their waitlist tile, confirm that

they will pass possible

validation checks and maintain

realistic expectations if there

are a significant number of

students ahead of them on the

waitlist.

Overview & Tips

Auto-Enroll Function in ConnectCarolina

As noted throughout this playbook, beginning with Spring 2024 Registration, waitlists will be turned on for

all class sections by default. Along with these changes,

staff will no longer have the option to shut off the

“auto enroll” function for a course's waitlist. This creates consistency for students and reduces

administrative burden. For additional ways to limit enrollment, please see the course setup section of this

playbook.

Important: The “Auto

Enroll from Wait List”

function within the

“Enrollment Control” tab

creates consistency for

students and reduces

administrative burden.

Viewing Position Numbers via the

Class Roster: Navigation Pathway

1. Home

2. Student Admin Menu

3. Curriculum Management

4. Class Roster

5. Class Roster *or*

Faculty/Staff View of Roster

Navigating Waitlists in ConnectCarolina

How to view student position numbers:

Navigating the Class Roster:

 Enter the search parameters for

the class section you want to

view.

 Enrolled students display in

alphabetical order by last name

on the class roster.

 Waitlisted students display in

position order on the class roster

(lowest position first).

 Rosters can be downloaded into

Excel files or used to contact

students both individually and

collectively.

Note: The Roster page

defaults to show enrolled

students; you can change

the view by changing the

Enrollment Status

(dropdown menu) to show

Enrolled, Dropped, or

Waitlisted students.

Navigating Waitlists in ConnectCarolina

How to view all waitlisted hours for an individual student

View Student Center: Navigation Pathway

1. Home

2. Student Admin Menu

3. Campus Community

4. Student Services Center (Student)

Note: You will need

the student's PID

and/or full legal

name to access their

Student Center.

How to view waitlisted classes/hours within the Students Center:

1. Select "My Class Schedule" under the Academics tab.

2. Select "Show Waitlisted Classes" under the Class Schedule Filter

Options on the pop-up page.

3. Click “Filter” to view. For each waitlisted class it should also show the

student's position number.

Removing Waitlists From a Course

Part 1: Definition, Setup & Request Selection

Departments can request that additional credit-bearing

courses taken for degree progress be excluded from new

guidelines outlined in this playbook. For convenience, the

following courses have already been excluded from

the excluded:

• First-Year Foundations

• Independent Studies

• Internships

Additional exclusions should be requested through

ConnectCarolina using the following process prior to Extended

Course Schedule Maintenance:

Note: For any class sections that

do not have a waitlist (regardless

of rationale), please include this in

the Class Notes and have the

instructor include it in the Class

Features content they share with

students ahead of registration.

Setup: To exclude a course or course type,

staff should go to the MOI & Reserve

Capacity page under the Teaching

Resources folder within Student Admin

WorkCenter. There they will see a “Waitlist

Exception Requests” link.

Step 1: The “Waitlist Exception Requests”

link will take staff to a pop up page to

request an exception. Any prior requests

will display at the top of the page with the

current status and a link to go back and

see the request and any comments or

decisions by the approving Senior

Associate Dean.

• Research Thesis and Dissertation

• Interinstitutional

• Non-Degree

Step 2: Several options for exceptions can be found on this page. Here the user can request that an entire

Subject be omitted (e.g. BUSI or NUTR); all sections of a particular subject/catalog number (e.g. all BIOL

101 sections); or a single class by listing the subject/catalog number/section. Once a submission is made

using the options below, requests will be routed to the Senior Associate Dean noted on this page.

Removing Waitlists From a Course

Part 2: Request Details

Note: Prior to requesting an

exception, it is highly recommended

that departments consider if a

waitlist will hinder the learning

objectives of the given course or

course type. Please note that data

collected in line with the guidelines

in this report is critical to

understanding items related to

course demand at Carolina.

When to Use Quick Enroll

Quick Enrolling a student in a class with an active waitlist ignores the

waitlist and overenrolls the class, which creates an equity issue since it

favors the student who has staff support over students already on a

waitlist. In some cases, staff intervention on behalf of a student is

warranted, but actions favoring one student over those on an active

waitlist should always be considered carefully.

Quick Enroll is a manual override tool staff use to add students to class sections that they cannot enroll

in on their own. Staff have multiple override actions available to them with the Quick Enroll function but

should consider the reason a student cannot get into the class on their own when selecting the override

needed to force the enrollment. Just because you can enroll the student in the class does not mean you

need to do so at that exact point in time.

What does it mean to Quick Enroll?

Important: Quick Enroll should

be used as a last resort to

support students who have

exceptional and demonstrated

need for a specific class

section, or after all other

avenues of access to the class

have been exhausted.

Staff should avoid Quick Enrolling students into class sections with an active waitlist when the waitlist

software is running (through the 4th day of the semester).

Any decision to Quick Enroll a student in a class

with an active waitlist should be considered not just in the context of the individual student, but as it impacts

all students on the class waitlist and the university's goal of a fair and equitable registration process for ALL

enrolled students.

We understand that Quick Enrolling students is a way to ease demand and is something many departments

have been accustomed to doing at will, but we ask departments to consider the inherent inequities of this

practice and redirect students and instructors to enrollment control methods available to all.

Supporting Faculty with Waitlists

In each department, student services staff are the

experts in ConnectCarolina, particularly when it

comes to scheduling and registration. You are a

teacher, guide, and partner for instructors using

these processes.

Faculty do not have the ability to enroll or drop

students from their classes, but they can and should

be involved in deciding how to handle student

requests and enrollment.

Important: Staff and instructors both

want what is best for ALL students,

which sometimes means you may not

be able to oblige an individual at a

particular moment in time. By teaching

and reinforcing good waitlist practices

with your instructors, you are making

registration more equitable for your

students, reducing everyone's email

workload, and empowering your faculty

to focus on what they do best.

 Establish clear and reasonable policies for all instructors regarding the use of waitlists in

your unit that align with those set by the institution before registration begins.

 Collaborate with faculty administration in your unit to share these policies in faculty

meetings, communications from the chair, DUS and DGS, program directors, faculty

mentors, and graduate student advisors, and they should be readily available to all new

hires.

 Note deviations from the established policies and bring these to the attention of your

business manager and faculty administrators where appropriate, thus holding instructors

and students accountable.

Our Recommendations

Supporting Faculty with Waitlists

Example language for use regarding Waitlists

There is an "automatic waitlist' for [Course Subject & Number], which translates into 'first-come, first-

served.” The Registrar's website

(registrar.unc.edu/guide/waitlists/) explains that when a seat

becomes available in the class, the person who's been on the waitlist the longest is automatically

enrolled, provided they meet the eligibility criteria.

Please be aware that only a small number of waitlisted students will move up into full enrollment for

this class. If you haven’t moved from 'Waitlisted" to "enrolled" by the end of the second day of classes,

you probably won’t get a seat.

The good news is that this class is offered [frequency of offering].

If you absolutely must satisfy the [Insert Curricular Requirement HERE] associated with the completion

of this class this semester, please reach out to UNC Advising as soon as possible.

As the SSM, you can also reinforce good waitlist practices through the following actions:

1. Send pre-registration reminder emails to instructors each term with relevant policy details.

2. Include information about department waitlist policies in Class Notes.

3. Provide instructors with language to include in their Class Features content.

4. Create and distribute faculty resources for accessing and using waitlists.

Below we have provided sample language that may be included in course syllabi or the class

notes to help faculty support students with waitlists: