Course Registration and Other Regulations

Office of the University Registrar
106 Nellie Craig Walker Hall
www.MiamiOH.edu/registrar/

Important academic dates and deadlines are published in the Academic Calendar online at MiamiOH.edu/OneStop. Dates are subject to change without notice.

University registration includes the issue of your Miami ID.  The default ID format for incoming students is the Miami University Digital ID, which is accessed through a smartphone app. Students who prefer a physical ID card may opt out of the Digital ID program and instead request a card at the Campus Services Center (34 Nellie Craig Walker Hall). Regional students should go to the Office of IT services on their campus for ID cards. More detail about Digital ID can be found here (https://miamioh.edu/campus-services/home/miami-ids/digital-id/index.html).

Course offerings and other registration information are available online through the Course List (www.apps.miamioh.edu/courselist). Course offerings and availability are subject to change without notice.

New undergraduate students are required to meet with an academic advisor to select their required courses and electives. First year students register during their orientation program prior to the start of the semester. Continuing students are encouraged to contact their advisors for further academic and career counseling before registering.

Register for classes at Miami University online through myMiami/Banner Self Service (www.mymiami.MiamiOH.edu) and receive immediate confirmation of your schedule. You can register, confirm, and change your schedule through Banner Self Service only on the assigned days and at the assigned times.

Before you can register, the system will ask you to supply emergency contact information. The university requires that you provide emergency contact information so that we may readily notify a family member or significant other in case of an emergency or should a critical matter arise.

You are required to provide your local contact information and the name of a family member/guardian/spouse or another significant person and their contact information. You will be delayed in registering for your next semester courses until you enter the requested information. All students are also required to sign a Financial Responsibility Agreement every fall and spring semester. The system will not allow you to register until you have signed the agreement.

Before registering for courses, consult your advisor to make sure that you are meeting your degree requirements.

Minimum and Maximum Registration

Information regarding Graduate Minimum and Maximum Registration, and Course Load may be found in the Policy Library: https://www.miamioh.edu/policy-library/students/graduate/graduate-academic-regulations/registration.html

Change of Status or Program

Any change of graduate standing, such as moving from continuing graduate status (CGS) to degree status, must be approved by your major department or division and the Graduate School. To change from continuing graduate status to regular or conditional standing, you must reapply to the Graduate School.

Students with a grade point average below 3.00 who wish to change majors and/or degree programs must have approval of the Student Petitions Committee of the Graduate Council.

Transfer Credit

Information regarding Graduate Transfer Credit may be found in the Policy Library: https://www.miamioh.edu/policy-library/students/graduate/graduate-academic-regulations/registration.html

Course registration may only be changed in the prescribed time stated in a student's registration time ticket and the University academic calendar ( http://miamioh.edu/academic-calendar/index.html ). No change is official until the registration transaction is recorded in the student registration system.

Adding, Dropping and Withdrawing from a Course

Information related to adding a course, dropping a course or withdrawing from a course may be found in the Policy Library.
Undergraduate: https://www.miamioh.edu/policy-library/students/undergraduate/academic-regulations/registration-undergraduate.html

Graduate: https://www.miamioh.edu/policy-library/students/graduate/graduate-academic-regulations/registration.html

Course Section Change

To change sections online, you must drop the section in which you are currently enrolled, then add the new section. Since many students may be competing for available space in the same course, there is a significant risk that you will lose your place in the course altogether.

Independent Work

Independent work comes in two forms:

1. internship or co-operative education

   https://www.miamioh.edu/policy-library/employees/faculty/academic-policies-procedures-for-instructional-staff/internships.html

2. independent study

   Undergraduate: https://miamioh.edu/policy-library/students/undergraduate/academic-regulations/graduation-requirements.html

   Graduate: https://www.miamioh.edu/policy-library/students/graduate/graduate-academic-regulations/registration.html

Academic action: Academic actions are defined as academic warning, removal of academic warning, academic probation, removal of academic probation, academic suspension, and academic dismissal. Academic actions are taken at the end of any fall or spring semester, and at the end of the summer term. Any student with a cumulative GPA of less than 2.00 is subject to academic action, regardless of the number of hours taken in any Fall or Spring semester or summer term.

Academic record: A record of courses taken, grades received, and degrees earned by each student while attending Miami. It includes transfer credit, advanced placement credit, and other credit awarded or earned.

Admission prerequisites: See “High School Preparation” in the Admission chapter. If you did not complete these units in high school, you must complete additional courses at Miami. These courses count toward graduation and many fulfill other requirements. You must complete these units within your first 62 semester hours (normally, during your first two years). Questions about prerequisites should be directed to the Office of Admission.

Associate’s degree: Two-year degree, generally offered only on regional campuses, that requires the completion of a minimum of 62 semester credit hours.

Audit: You attend classes, but do not receive credit or a grade. The instructor may require you to take exams and participate in class discussion. Since not all courses can be audited, you must have the instructor’s permission to audit. A course can be changed from credit to audit or audit to credit up to 60 percent of the class meetings. See the Grades chapter for more detail.

Bachelor’s degree: A four-year degree. Basic requirements include: (1) at least 124 semester hours—at least 30 must be from Miami; (2) at least a 2.00 cumulative GPA; (3) fulfillment of the Miami Plan; (4) fulfillment of divisional and major requirements.

Cancellation: If you do not pay your fees on time, your schedule will be cancelled. You will need to re-register.

CAS-A, B, etc.: Abbreviations for sections of the College of Arts and Science requirement. See the College of Arts and Science chapter.

Certificate program, graduate: A specialization program that enhances a graduate degree. Available to students who have been admitted to the Graduate School and have met program prerequisites for a graduate degree.

Certificate program, undergraduate: A formal award certifying the satisfactory completion of an organized program of study at the postsecondary level and typically carrying 12-18 credits. Certificates should be designed as: (1) supplementary to other degree programs by providing students with new competencies for professional development or lifelong learning; or (2) building blocks toward future degree completion.

Change of schedule (or drop/add): Dates and times when you can make changes to your course registration. Consult the academic calendar for specific dates and times.

Class standing: Freshmen have earned 0-29 semester hours; sophomores have earned 30-61 semester hours; juniors have earned 62-92 semester hours; seniors have earned 93 or more semester hours.

Closed class: When maximum enrollment in a course has been met, no more students can be accommodated.

Co-Major: is designed to provide a complementary perspective to a student’s primary major. Students receive the degree designation of their primary major with the co-major listed on the transcript. Some co-majors may have areas of concentration.

Co-requisite: A course or specific class standing that must be completed or reached at the same time with another course.  Prerequisites are indicated in the General Bulletin course descriptions.

Course level: (See Course number below.) 100 and 200-level courses are generally considered to be introductory or intermediate; 300 and 400-level courses are considered to be more advanced and reserved for juniors and seniors; 500-level and above courses are reserved for graduate students.

Course modifier: A letter or numeric symbol added to the end of a course number that indicates a different content or a specialized version of a general course.

Course number: Three-digit number that follows a departmental abbreviation used to identify a course, for example ENG 111. The course number is an indication of course level.

Course reference number (CRN): A five-digit code used to identify each section of a course for registration. CRNs change from term to term.

Credit/no-credit:  Credit/no-credit courses are not calculated in your GPA and are not recorded using standard letter grades. There are rules with courses taken as credit/no-credit, see the Grades chapter for more details.

Degree Audit: A report of your completed course work and active registrations (courses registered in the current and any future term) applied to the requirements of your degree program; it identifies deficiencies and lists courses that can be taken to satisfy specific requirements. Degree audits are available online at https://uachieve.miamioh.edu/selfservice/general/home.html.

Division: An academic unit within the university with its own requirements. Miami has seven divisions: College of Arts and Science, College of Creative Arts, College of Education, Health and Society, College of Engineering and Computing, Farmer School of Business, Graduate School, and College of Liberal Arts and Applied Science.

Doctoral Degree: The highest award a student can earn for graduate study. Doctoral degrees generally require the successful completion of at least 90 semester credit hours (or 135 quarter credit hours) of work beyond the bachelor’s degree or at least 60 semester credit hours (or 90 quarter credit hours) beyond the master’s degree. Deviations from these credit hour guidelines require proper justification and state approval. The Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) is a research degree and involves preparation for the conduct of independent research and the discovery of new knowledge. Doctoral degrees may also recognize preparation for professional practice.

Incomplete grade: May be assigned when a student and an instructor formally agree to a plan to complete unfinished course work after the official end of a semester/term. See Grades section for more detail.

Independent Work: see full definition

Major: is a curriculum component that enables students to make an in-depth inquiry into a discipline or a professional field of study. It is organized around a specific set of goals, objectives and student learning outcomes that are accomplished through an ordered series of courses whose connections define an internal structure. A major that focuses on a discipline typically draws its courses predominantly from one department. A major that encompasses a professional field of study or is interdisciplinary usually obtains its courses from more than one department/division.

Departments or divisions have the responsibility for administering majors within their unit and for approving particular programs of study and appropriate course substitutions for students. Those departments involved with interdisciplinary majors perform the same functions as individual departments. Students may not declare a major and a minor in the same discipline.

Per the Ohio Department of Higher Education guidelines, a major must comprise a minimum of 27 semester hours in a particular discipline.

Master’s Degree: An award that requires the successful completion of at least 30 semester credit hours of work beyond the bachelor’s degree. Master’s degrees such as the Master of Arts and the Master of Science are typically considered research graduate degrees, and involve preparation to carry out research and to discover new knowledge—whether the field is pure or applied. Master’s degrees may also recognize preparation for professional practice.

Miami Plan (MP): Miami’s liberal education requirement. See the Miami Plan chapter.

Minor: is a designated sequence of courses in a discipline or area of undergraduate study. Like the major, it is expected to have coherence and increasing sophistication. A minor is comprised of a minimum of 15 semester hours, though some may require more. The minor is independent of the student’s major and, therefore, cannot be declared in the same discipline. Students must formally declare a minor, similar to the process by which they declare the major. Minors are designated on University transcripts.

MUNet password: By default, your password is the month and day of your birth and the last four digits of your Social Security number in the format MMDDNNNN. Please include the leading zero for single digit months and days. For example, a birth date of March 1 with Social Security number 123-45-6789 would have a default password of "03016789". For security reasons, you will be required to change your default password to another value the first time you login to myMiami. In addition, to create a new password, you will have the opportunity to create a Secret Question/Answer that can be used in the event that you forget your password. You will then be required to change your password every six months. To change your password, go to www.MiamiOH.edu/password. For login problems, contact the IT Services Support Desk through myMiami at www.mymiami.MiamiOH.edu.

myMiami: Miami University's web portal. myMiami contains links to Banner Self Service, the online campus directory, Knowledge Base, and other Miami services, as well as information about university offices, activities and news and events. myMiami can be accessed from anywhere in the world at www.mymiami.MiamiOH.edu using your Unique ID, MUNet password, and web browser.

Nontraditional credit: College credit given for a nonacademic learning experience, such as knowledge you have acquired from a military service or your own study. For information, contact the One Stop.

Placement exams: Offered in foreign languages and mathematics to help identify the appropriate placement in courses in those areas and beyond.

Prerequisite: A course or specific class standing that must be completed or reached prior to being able to register for a course.  Prerequisites are indicated in the General Bulletin course descriptions.

Proficiency exams: Tests offered by individual departments that can result in earning credit that can be applied toward graduation. Consult the Department Proficiency Examinations portion of the Academic Planning chapter in this General Bulletin. 

Section: A specific offering of a course that has its own day and time meeting pattern or location that differentiates from another section and has its own CRN; these are identified by letters, for example ENG 111 A, ENG 111 B.  Sections are often taught by different faculty members but cover the same course material.

Semester credit hour: Unit used to measure course work. The number of credit hours is usually based on the number of hours per week the class meets; for example, a full semester three-hour course typically meets for 55 minutes three times a week for 14 weeks. One credit hour is usually assigned for two or three hours in laboratory and studio courses.

Sprint course: A course that lasts less than the full 14-week term. The sprint parts of term are: Q, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z, and can be 12, 8, 6, and 4 weeks long. Sprint course meeting dates are listed in the course schedule and the sprint parts of term are include on the academic calendar.

Terminal degree: A degree that is either highest on the academic track or highest on the professional track in a given field of study. At Miami, the terminal degrees offered are doctoral degrees or Master of Fine Arts (MFA) which is a terminal degree for creative field in the visual and performing arts as well as creative writing. 

Time conflicts: When registering for courses, the system checks for time conflicts and will not permit you to add courses that meet at overlapping times.

Transcript: An official copy of your academic record.

Unique ID: Every student, faculty, and staff member has been issued a Unique ID to identify them in the processing of university information. It consists of the first six letters of the last name, followed by the first and middle initials. Some Unique IDs end in a number rather than a middle initial because common last names and initials mean that a particular Unique ID is already in use. The Unique ID is not case sensitive. Both your Unique ID and MUNet password are required to login to Miami's web portal, myMiami.

Variable credit hours: Range of credit hours for courses (usually independent study, special topics, thesis hours). Indicated with cumulative maximum in course description; for example (2-8; maximum 16).