Course enrolment & registration

Information on this page:

About enrolment & registration

About enrolment:

  • Enrolment is the process of choosing and signing up for courses on the University of Toronto Student Web Service (SWS), also known as ROSI (Repository of Student Information).
  • New students must sign-up on ROSI
  • Enrolment is also about adding, dropping, and withdrawing from courses
  • Academic regulations related to courses are described elsewhere
  • Course enrolment for Fall courses takes place some time in July.  The date will be posted in the Academic Dates calendar
  • Enrolment is a separate step/process from registration

About registration:

  • Happens in-person at the iSchool, in the week before Fall classes begin
  • The time when all students pay for student association fees (MI, MMSt, and PhD student associations at the iSchool)
  • The time when new students fill out iSchool-related forms, and get to meet iSchool student services staff
  • The time when returning students update their emergency information
  • Registration is a separate step/process from course enrolment.

If a student has lapsed or takes a leave of absence, they must re-enrol and be re-registered through the iSchool Student Services Department.
 

Course enrolment & ROSI

About ROSI:

  • Students must use ROSI to enrol in courses, as well as to add, drop, or withdraw from courses
     
  • Read information for first-time ROSI users
  • Watch a video introduction to SWS, the Student Web Service
  • Watch a video demonstration on how to use the course enrolment functionality of the SWS
     
  • To login to ROSI, students will need:
    • their student number, which can be found on the letter of admission to the iSchool
    • personal identification number (PIN)
    • for the first-time login, the PIN is the student's birthdate in the form: YYMMDD

Deciphering course codes

1. Activity codes

  • Course number (e.g., INF1240)
  • H = Half course (e.g., INF1240H)
  • Y = Full-year course (e.g., MSL3000Y)

2. Section code

  • F = First term (e.g., Fall Term)
  • S = Second term (e.g., Winter Term).  U of T does not use 'W' for Winter Term.
  • Y = Full-year course
  • Summer courses with a Y section code run throughout the summer session. They are worth 0.5 FCE if the activity code = H.

3. Meeting section

If a course has multiple meeting sections,  you must choose a section in which space is available.  Codes for a course with two meeting sections look like this:

  • LEC 0101
  • LEC 0102
     

Course loads

Fall & Winter Sessions

Fall sessions run from September-December.  Winter sessions run from JanuaryApril.

  • Full-time students usually take the equivalent of four (4) half-courses (2 FCEs) in each session
  • Part-time students may take a maximum of the equivalent of two (2) half-courses in each session

Summer Session

Summer Session consists of two short terms.  Some courses may be completed in one of these short terms. Others may last over the length of both Summer terms.

  • Full-time students may take a maximum of the equivalent of two (2) half-courses in each term of the Summer Session
  • Part-time students may take a maximum of one (1) half-course in each term of the Summer Session

Note: Students wishing to change their status (full-time to part-time, or vice-versa) must submit a written request to the iSchool Registrar as soon as possible. Restrictions may apply.

Requests to take an additional course above full course load

Full-time students wishing to take an additional half course above the usual full course load must fill out a Course Add/Drop form and submit it to Student Services.

  • Approvals will be processed after incoming students have had a chance to enroll in courses.
  • Students needing an additional course to complete their degree will have priority. If you fall in this category, please indicate it on the course add/drop form.
  • Approvals may be granted for no more than one additional half course above the usual full course load.
  • Approval may be granted to take an additional course, not a specific course, as this will depend on space availability. You must indicate up to two courses in case there are no spaces available in your preferred one.
  • Approval may also be subject to satisfactory academic performance at the iSchool.

Student Services will announce, via emails and announcements on this website, the date when the approval process will take place.

Student Services will start accepting requests from returning students to take additional courses on the first day course enrollment takes place. Incoming students may submit their requests on the first day their course enrollment takes place.

Part-time students are limited to two (2)  half courses per session. There will be no exceptions.

Course status

Students are responsible for knowing the status of their course requests at all times.

What the status abbreviations mean:

  • REQ: Course requested. Must be resolved/approved by the [deadline for adding courses] last date to add a course
  • INT: Course requested pending instructor approval, in addition to coordinator's/advisor's approval
  • APP: Request approved. Student is enrolled in course
  • REF: Request denied. Student is not enrolled. Student may not make another online request during this session
  • CAN: Course cancelled i.e., student withdrew from course before deadline
     

Waitlist feature in ROSI/SWS

Students are able to waitlist themselves via the waitlist feature in ROSI/SWS (ROSI). ROSI will notify students through their UTOR email if they are assigned a place in the course.
This procedure benefits students in two ways:

  1. Students will not have to try repeatedly to enrol in a course that has filled
  2. ROSI will indicate their place on the waitlist

This procedure should also remove any perception of arbitrariness about how students obtain a place in a course, once the maximum class size is reached.

Placing your name on a waitlist does not guarantee you a space in the course, but does let you wait in sequence for a space to become available.

Consult our Waitlist FAQ for more information.
 

Course cancellations

On occasion, a course may be cancelled due to unanticipated low enrolment, or staffing issues.

iSchool Student Services staff will contact enrolled students as soon as possible, if a course in which they are enrolled is cancelled.    
 

Adding, dropping & withdrawing from courses    

If, for extraordinary reasons, you are unable to use the Student Web Service/ROSI to add or drop a course, contact your department office as soon as possible.

Adding or dropping

A student may add or drop courses during the designated period listed in Academic Dates

Withdrawing from courses

After the add/drop period has passed  a student may withdraw from a course before the withdrawal deadline; however, a record of the course will appear on the student's transcript as WDR.

A withdrawal after the deadline has passed, will be recorded on the transcript with an appropriate non-grade report.

Withdrawal from a course may result in a changing the student's status from full-time to part-time.  This may affect the student's eligibility to hold a fellowship.

Students who withdraw from all courses in which they are enrolled must also withdraw from their program.

Withdrawal from the program

Withdrawal from a program requires that the student submit a withdrawal form to SGS.  The form must be authorized by the iSchool.

Tcards, e-classroom access cards, locker keys, and registration cards (student card) must be surrendered.

Withdrawn students must re-apply for admission, and will be in competition with all other applicants, unless School of Graduate Studies (SGS) approves an iSchool recommendation made at the time of withdrawal, that the student should be eligible to re-register at a stated date.

Normally, SGS approves such recommendations, and students are eligible to re-register any time within 12 months following the withdrawal.

Any fee rebate will be determined by the date on which written withdrawal notification was received by SGS.
 

Courses outside the iSchool

Courses in other programs

  • Students may take up to four graduate-level courses in other SGS divisions
  • Permission is conditional upon:
    • recommendation from the iSchool
    • approval of the other department(s) concerned
    • approval from SGS
  • iSchool grade submission deadlines must be met, regardless of the deadlines of the other department(s) involved

Procedure to enrol in courses outside your program, but within UofT:

  • This applies to MSL courses for MI students and INF courses for MMSt students, as well any other graduate course at UofT. Undergraduate courses do not count towards any degree.
  • You enrol in an external course on ROSI (if allowed).
  • REQ status will appear
  • You must fill out a Course ADD/DROP Form and take it to the appropriate host department for approval first (if applicable). Some departments may want you to have it authorized by us first.
  • After getting the form signed by the department, you must bring it to the Student Services main office (BL211) to get it processed.
  • A course outline, description or similar, as well as a brief statement outlining the reasons why you wish to take a particular course, must accompany the request.
  • Student Services at the iSchool always gets the completed form with all signatures.

Courses in other universities

  • Students may take up to two (2) half credit graduate-level courses (1 FCE) at other universities.
  • For universities within Ontario, students will need to fill out the Ontario Visiting Graduate
    Student Application
  • For universities outside Ontario, but within Canada, students will need to fill out the Canadian University Graduate Transfer Agreement.* For universities eligible, please see the Canadian Association for Graduate Studies directory. This directory, however, does not guarantee that the institution subscribes to CUGTA.
  • Permission is conditional upon:
    • recommendation from the iSchool
    • approval of the other department(s) concerned
    • approval from SGS
  • Forms, accompanied by the course description and/or course outline, as well as a brief statement outlining the reasons why you wish to take a particular course, must be submitted to Student Services first in order to start this process
  • iSchool grade submission deadlines must be met, regardless of the deadlines of the other department(s) involved

*Please note important information regarding the Canadian University Graduate Transfer Agreement (CUGTA):        

  • Students pay fees directly to host university.
  • Students will usually take more than one course at the host institution and will not be registered at their home institution..
  • Students are responsible for arranging to have the transcript from host university sent to SGS directly
  • Some universities may not subscribe to this Agreement. University of Alberta for example does not use this form; it uses a letter of permission instead.”* Once you submit the form to us, we will need to write a letter of permission for UA.         
  • Students are responsible for seeking permission from both institutions and making sure the university subscribes to CUGTA.
  • SGS does not provide us with a list of those that don't subscribe.
  • Grades will appear in parenthesis on the UofT transcript and will have CR, not the actual grade.

Letters of registration/enrolment confirmation

  • Students who need letters confirming their registration status, or enrolment status, must contact the School of Graduate Studies
  • The Faculty of Information cannot issue these letters
  • Domestic students may need these letters because of government grants
  • International students may need these letters for banking or immigration purposes
     

Student responsibility

Students are responsible for keeping their personal and academic information up-to-date at all times. The Student Web Service/ROSI makes checking and correcting this information easier for students. 

All regulations, requirements and deadlines of the University of Toronto, the School of Graduate Studies, departmental, and program(s), must be followed/observed.

Academic advisors, faculty, and staff are available to assist and advise students. If questions about requirements, policies, and procedures arise, students are responsible for seeking answers.

Use of the Student Web Service/ROSI for course enrolment means that the student agrees to abide by all academic and non-academic rules and regulations of the University, the School of Graduate Studies, and the department in which they are registered.  The student also assumes the obligation to pay academic and incidental fees according to the policies and requirements of the University of Toronto.