Before you register...
First, you decide on which courses (plus alternates, just to be on the safe side in case courses are already full when you register) you wish to take. Of course, you'll be carefully consulting your program planning worksheet, and contacting your advisor if you have questions.  Make sure to view the upcoming course schedule(s)--the Spring schedule is generally available in late October/early November; the Summer schedule in November; and the Fall schedule in January.  Then, consult the University Academic Calendar for upcoming Advance Registration dates, and mark them on your personal calendar.

Second, obtain an AVN# (Advisement Verification Number). This is a number you’ll need for each registration period that allows you to register. AVN#s are only given out to students in good standing (i.e., no holds on their records, currently active), and are available from your advisor. For additional information on the AVN process and to contact your advisor click here.

Some reading courses require an CPN# (Course Permission Number), which is used to control access to closed courses—ERDG600, 605, 620, 623, and all online courses. (You have to sign up for the practicum courses—deadlines vary from semester to semester, and are posted on the website. All online courses are currently controlled by the Online Advisor, Trudy Walp (trudy@chestercreekpress.com).

Third, you should check to see if you have a HOLD on your account, because if you do, you will not be able to register. We encourage you to check if you have a hold on your records well before the first day of registration. It's a simple thing to do, just log on to MYUALBANY, and you'll see any HOLDS right there. A HOLD may be placed on your records for reasons such as parking tickets (you thought you could ignore that little ticket, didn’t you?), overdue library books, health forms that haven't been submitted, and missing transcripts in your admission file. We have no control over these, so it’s something you’ll have to take care of yourself. (Very occasionally, a student is prevented from registering because of a glitch in the university’s computer. In these cases, we’ll do our best to help out).

Fourth, you should mark the date and time of advanced registration on your calendar (or wherever you keep critical dates). Many of our courses fill up very quickly, and so early registration is strongly advised. By that, we mean logging onto MYUALBANY as soon after it opens on the advanced registration date (always posted prominently on our website) as you can. Typically, advance registration starts at 6 a.m.

Actually registering...
Once you have this authorization and registration has started you simply log onto MYUALBANY and follow the instructions. You will need your Student #, your PIN number (when you first call, your PIN is your birthday. For example, a June 12 birthday has a PIN number of 0612), the AVN#, and the call numbers (not course numbers) of the courses you wish to take. If you are registering for a closed section course (e.g., ERDG600, 605, 620, 623), or a course that requires permission of instructor or Department, the system will not let you register without a CPN# (Course Permission Number). Depending on the Department, the CPNs are held either by the Department Office, or by individual faculty. In the Reading Department, CPNs are NOT held by individual faculty, and NO instructor of a Reading courses can let you into a course by simply showing up. If you are looking for a seat in a closed course, contact Linda Papa or Mary Unser via email, and they'll tell you what to do.

There is a 9-day period after Registration at the beginning of each semester in which courses may be added or dropped. To add or drop a course, you must use MYUALBANY. Dropping and adding works exactly the same way as registering the first time.

What if a course is full?

The Reading Department works hard to make sure there are openings in required courses each semester. However, there are times when courses fill quickly. If you want to take a course that is already full, here are the procedures to follow:

• The Schedule of Classes on the Main UA site (http://www.albany.edu/schedule_of_classes/) may indicate that a course has seats when it doesn't (often, this is because it's a closed course, and not all students with CPNs have actually registered). If this is the case contact the Reading Department to see if you are eligible to take this course.

• We are always interested to know how many people are unable to enroll in an ERDG course, in case it becomes possible for us to open a new section. Send an email to Mary Unser at reading@csc.albany.edu to let her know which course you have been closed out of taking. List the courses you are signed up to take and indicate if this is the last course you need to graduate.

• Do not contact a course’s instructor to see if you can be added to a course. Also, do not attend the first session of a course unless you are registered for it. Instructors do not have the authority to add students to their courses, nor to accept walk-ins.

• Keep trying to register via MYUALBANY. Every semester, many students change their plans, and drop courses they’ve registered for. The moment they do this, their seat becomes available to anyone who happens to log on. You’d be surprised how many seats become available, even in core courses. (This technique, however, is not nearly as effective as registering within one minute of the start of advanced registration).

• If you were admitted to the program after advanced registration has already begun, you will find it very difficult to compete with other students who may have had two or three months to register before you even were accepted. In this case, still try to register, but be prepared to take electives or concentration courses in the first semester, until you can compete on a level playing field with other students.