Policies and Procedures
Advising
Before registration, all undergraduate students must receive approval from their faculty advisor. All add/drop requests, except for change of section, also require advisor approval. The faculty advisor will provide the student with a PIN (also referred to as an alternate PIN), which will be used in registering for classes in the myIIT portal. (Please refer to the next section "Registration" for more information on registering.)
All graduate students registering for research courses numbered 591, 594, 597, and 691 must receive approval from their faculty advisor, in the form of an electronic permit, before registration.
All graduate students are encouraged to consult with a faculty advisor prior to registration.
* Some academic departments require advising of their graduate students. Students should check with their respective academic departments.
Load Limitations
Fall and Spring:
The maximum study load for most students is 18 credit hours. Armour College graduate students have a load limit of 13 hours. Computer Science and Electrical Engineering graduate students have a load limit of 13 credit hours.
Registration beyond these limits requires an approval from the appropriate academic dean (graduate dean of the Graduate College or the associate dean for Undergraduate Academic Affairs). Part-time undergraduate degree-seeking students registering for more than 9 credit hours must receive approval from the associate dean of Undergraduate Academic Affairs.
Non-degree students registering for more than 9 credit hours must receive approval from the appropriate office (undergraduates: Undergraduate Academic Affairs; graduates: Graduate College). Office locations and phone numbers can be searched at phonebook.iit.edu.
Summer:
The maximum study load is two courses for all students. Registration in excess of two courses must be approved by the appropriate academic dean. Non-degree students registering for more than two courses must receive approval from Undergraduate Academic Affairs or Graduate College.
Auditing a Course
Students who wish to audit a course need to make the request during the current semester's registration period. Graduate students must complete an Audit Request Form and submit it to the Office of the Registrar (Suite 2016, Tech South Building). Undergraduate students will need to submit a request from their IIT email account to registrar@iit.edu. Audits will not be accepted after the last day to add a class. (Please see calendar for specific dates at www.iit.edu/registrar/important_dates/academic_calendar.shtml.) An auditor must pay full tuition, cannot take examinations, and does not receive credit for the course. After registration closes, courses cannot be changed to or from an audit status. Audited courses do not count toward degree requirements at IIT.
Course Repeat Policy
Undergraduate students may repeat a course for a change of grade. A request to repeat a course for a change of grade must be submitted through DegreeWorks, the online degree audit system, during registration. Both grades will be recorded on all transcripts issued. Only the second grade will be used to compute the GPA, even if the second grade is lower, except when the second grade is I, R, S, U, W, X, or AU. The undergraduate course repeat policy is as follows:
- A course repeated for a grade change must be taken within one calendar year after initial enrollment in that course or the next time it is offered, whichever is longer.
- The same course may be repeated only once for a change of grade.
- No more than three courses may be repeated for a grade change in a student's career.
- Re-registration for courses in which a student received a passing grade requires the approval of the student's academic advisor and academic dean.
- If a course is no longer offered by the university, the provision to repeat the course for a grade change does not apply.
Graduate students may repeat up to two distinct courses with each course being repeated once. Both grades will be recorded and the grade used in the calculation of the GPA will be the latest recorded. Re-registration to repeat a course will require the permission of the student's advisor, academic unit head, and the associate dean for Graduate Academic Affairs, and will also require completion of the "Course Repeat/Audit Form", or the G702 Probation Contract, when applicable. This form must be submitted at the time of registration and can be accessed online at www.iit.edu/registrar/registration_tools/pdfs/grad_course_repeat.pdf. The original course grade earned will remain on the student's academic transcript and the last grade issued for the course will be used to compute the cumulative GPA and the program of study GPA.
Undergraduate Approval for a Graduate Course
An undergraduate student who wishes to enroll in a graduate course (500 level of above) must obtain the approval of both the course instructor and his or her advisor. Non-degree-seeking undergraduate students may enroll in a graduate-level course with permission from Undergraduate Academic Affairs.
Prerequisites
Prerequisites for courses are found in the course description for the course. Students must meet prerequisites to receive credit for the course. A grade of C-, D, E, or I (incomplete) in a course taken at another institution will not transfer to the university and cannot be used as a prerequisite.
Full-time Status
Full-time status requires registration in at least 12 hours for undergraduate students or at least 9 hours for graduate students.
Graduate students are eligible for federal aid and continued deferment of existing loans if they are registered for half-time (4.5 hours) or greater. Graduate students taking less than half-time hours can file for a forbearance to extend their deferment. Continuing graduate students taking one or more hours of 591, 600, 691, or PSYC 599 are automatically forced to special full-time status due to thesis research or Ph.D. candidacy continuation.
International students taking less than full-time hours must apply for full-time equivalency with the International Center using the form at www.iit.edu/~internat/forms/LTFT.pdf to remain in compliance with SEVIS requirements. International students who meet the ICenter’s criteria for full-time equivalency are reported as such by the ICenter and do not have their actual student time status adjusted on their academic record.
Requirements
Please note that all students requesting registration for classes must first be admitted to the university. Click here for information on both graduate and undergraduate admissions.
Continuing students who wish to register for the current term, but were not enrolled in the previous term, must be reinstated before registering. This can be done through the Office of Undergraduate Academic Affairs for undergraduate students, and the Office of Graduate Academic Affairs for graduate students.
Priority registration is followed for students beginning each registration period and it is based on a student's earned credit hours as follows:
- All graduate and U5 (fifth-year) undergraduates having more than 130 earned hours register on the first day of registration.
- All U4 (fourth-year) undergraduates having 90 or more earned hours register on the second day of registration.
- All U3 (third-year) undergraduates having 60 or more earned hours register on the third day of registration.
- All U2 (second-year) undergraduates having 30 or more earned hours register on the fourth day of registration.
- All U1 (first-year) undergraduates having less than 30 earned hours register on the fifth day.
Alternate PIN
Prior to registration, each student must obtain the current semester's registration PIN (also referred to as an alternate PIN). For undergraduate students, the PIN must be provided by their faculty advisor. Most graduate students can see their PIN on the Welcome tab in a student's myIIT account or may acquire the PIN from a faculty advisor or their respective department. Newly admitted graduate students must get their PIN from their faculty advisors.
Please note that a PIN is only valid for a single semester. At the beginning of each term, a new PIN must be obtained in order to register for that semester.
Registering
Registration must be done online through the myIIT portal system. The schedule of classes can be accessed through the myIIT portal.
The following is the procedure for registering for courses:
- Log into myIIT.
- Select the Academics tab.
- In the Registration Tools channel, select "Add or Drop Courses."
- Select the term from the drop-down menu and submit.
- Enter the proper PIN and submit.
- Enter the CRN for the course you wish to register.
- Click "Submit Changes" to add the course.
Courses can be dropped in this manner as well. After entering the PIN, the screen will display all currently registered courses. To drop a listed course, select the "Drop" action from the drop-down menu for the course and click "Submit Changes." For more information on dropping courses, please refer to the "Policies and Procedures, Change of Registration" section below.
If you have any questions, please contact the Office of the Registrar at 312.567.3100 or registrar@iit.edu.
Add/Drop and "W" Marks
Adding or dropping courses is done using the same procedure as initial registration. This is described in the "Registration" section above. Before the Last Day to Add/Drop Classes, courses can be added or removed to a schedule.
The changes made at this point will not be displayed on an official transcript, but will affect the total number of credit hours enrolled. This could affect the full- or part-time status of a student, and should be duly noted. Please refer to the "General Course Information, Full-time Status" section above for details.
Classes cannot be added after the Last Day to Add/Drop Classes. Any classes that are removed from a schedule after this date are considered to be withdrawn. In such cases, the course will appear on official transcripts with a "W" mark. This mark indicates that a student withdrew from a course, but the mark does not affect the student's GPA.
Withdrawal from a Course
Non-attendance or expressing intent to the instructor of a course does constitute withdrawal from the course. Students may withdraw from one or more courses by the published withdrawal deadline, which is approximately the 60% point of the term. Withdrawals are performed through the myIIT portal in the same way as adding or dropping a class. Students who do not attend class and fail to withdraw officially are assigned a failing grade of "NA" indicating an apparent withdrawal for non-attendance. There is no credit or tuition refund associated with this status. Students seeking to withdraw from all of their courses are effectively seeking a leave of absence or withdrawal from the university. The procedure for requesting a leave of absence or withdrawing from the university (see below) must be followed when a student attempts to drop or withdraw from their only or last registered class.
Leave of Absence or Withdrawal from the University
Undergraduate Students
Withdrawal from the University:
Undergraduate degree-seeking students who withdraw from all of their courses are in effect withdrawing from the university. Non-attendance does not imply withdrawal from the university. All requests for withdrawal begin with the Office of Undergraduate Academic Affairs which will provide assistance with the successful resolution of all outstanding obligations to the university.
International students must comply with additional regulations when withdrawing from the university.
Any undergraduate student who is not in attendance for a semester must apply for reinstatement in the Office of Undergraduate Academic Affairs.
Full-time students who withdraw from the university with the intention of returning to complete their degree program may apply for a Leave of Absence (see below).
Leave of Absence:
Undergraduate degree-seeking students who wish to withdraw from the university with the intention of returning to complete their degree program may apply for a Leave of Absence. All requests for a Leave of Absence begin with the Office of Undergraduate Academic Affairs. Students must contact the Office of Undergraduate Academic Affairs at 312.567.3300 or ugaa@iit.edu to request a Leave of Absence.
This designation cannot exceed one academic year, however, it my be extended if the proper documentation is submitted. You will still be considered part of the IIT community while on a leave and any IIT scholarships will be held until you return.
Students on a medical Leave of Absence may be required to contact the Counseling Center and submit documentation relating to treatment prior to resuming their studies.
International students must comply with additional regulations when requesting a Leave of Absence.
Graduate Students
Student Leave of Absence or Official Withdrawal Process:
Students wishing to request a Leave of Absence from their course of study or complete an official withdrawal from the university should initiate the process online. To begin the process, log into the myIIT portal and look for the Academic Affairs channel under the Academics tab. More information is available by selecting the appropriate link.
Questions regarding the leave of absence or withdrawal process should be directed to gradcoll@iit.edu or 312.567.3024.