Taking Online Classes

Online Waitlist Policy Overview

Our Reading online courses are reserved for our online matriculated Reading students. Their program is part-time and courses are distributed to them so they will be able graduate within a reasonable time frame.  However, at times we do offer online courses for both online and on campus students.  Students can see what courses and when they are being offered by checking the course schedule on the Schedules link located to the right of this webpage. Each course is clearly marked for different types of students.

Eligibility for Online Courses

Online Matriculated Students
If you are a matriculated online student in the Reading Department, please contact Trudy Walp, your advisor, and obtain your AVN and a CPN (Course Permission Number) for your online courses.

On Campus Matriculated Students
If you are not in our online program but a matriculated student in one of our on campus programs, or in another department, you can ONLY register for our online courses if there are seats, on a first-come, first-served basis. Trudy Walp maintains waitlists for online courses. See the new policy on how to get onto a waitlist here.

Non-Degree Students
If you have been admitted as a non-degree student in Reading, your chances of getting into an online course are quite slim, but not completely impossible. Matriculated online students have first priority, and matriculated on campus students have second priority, and non-degree students have third priority. See the new policy on how to get onto a waitlist here.

Online Waitlist Policy Procedures

We do allow matriculated and non-degree Reading students to be placed on waitlists for online courses on a space-available basis. Students can request to be placed on the waitlist for one course only; his/her placement on this waiting list is determined by the date and time that the request was received.  Matriculated students will  have priority over non-degree students for all waitlists. Once seats have been offered to matriculated students, they will be offered to non-degree students strictly according to the date/time of emails requesting a course.

As the start of a new semester approaches, if an online course has not been filled by students eligible for it, seats will be offered to students on the waitlist, starting with the first one on the list.

The procedure for requesting that your name be placed on a waitlist for an online course is as follows: 

1. Email your request to the Online Program Manager, Trudy Walp, as soon as possible after the date that waitlists are available. Waitlists will be open beginning with the first day of advanced registration for that semester.  No early-bird requests will be accepted--if you make a request early, it will be returned to you, and you will have to make another one.
2. Students may request to be placed on a waitlist for ONE course only.  If you request more than one course, your email will be returned for you to choose the one you want, and then the date/time of the second email will determine your place on the list.
3. It is your responsibility to check that the course applies to your degree program so please be sure to check with your advisor.
4. Include a valid email address.  Be sure that this email address is current, and it isn't bouncing emails back because the mailbox is full.
5. Requests for waitlists will ONLY be accepted via email to Trudy Walp. No phone calls, no snail mail, and no emails to individual instructors.  CPNs for online courses can only come from Trudy Walp.
6. Email requests will be acknowledged but no further correspondence will occur until the point that waitlists are being used to fill online courses, provided the online course(s) has space available. That means there will not be any correspondence until close to the start of the new semester. The only email you will get is if you have been selected for an online course--no emails are sent if you aren't selected for a seat.
7. Please do not email to check on the status of a course and its waitlist. Please do not contact the Reading Department or online instructors as neither have course permission numbers for online courses, nor do they keep the waiting lists for online courses.  The only allowable emails will be to notify Trudy Walp of a change in email address.

Remember that being on a waitlist for an online course carries no guarantee.  Make sure to register for on campus courses first. Treat the waitlist the same way as you would trying to get a stand-by seat on an aircraft that leaves earlier than the one for which you have a confirmed reservation.