Below are the important graduation dates and deadlines for conferral and the communication plans for students. Please familiarize yourself with these dates so that you can help monitor your student's progress and advise them appropriately.
Advisors receive a system-generated email whenever an advisee applies to graduate. This should alert you to review the student's degree audit and verify that any substitutions you discussed with the student were recorded and the student's audit is clearing. There is no value to you or the student in waiting to submit adjustments.
The Advisee-Listing in myWCU has a column that shows which advisees have applied to graduate. Any status that starts with "C" or "PN" indicates clearing. Any Status that starts with "F" indicates failing. Any other status means they have applied but have not been checked yet.
A list of degree candidates may be generated on demand in the Banner Report Portal. The All Candidates by Term report is a good option. You must start the VPN to run reports if you are off campus.
*** Communication plans are included in clearing and failing check e-mails to students each semester. Please pay special attention to the due date for adjustments so that your advisees are on-track for ceremony participation and degree conferral. ***
Below are the dates and deadlines for the upcoming semesters.
Important Dates | Communication to Expect |
---|---|
January 13 - January 24 | Clearing/Failing Check Notifications for January |
January 27 - February 4 | Clearing/Failing Check Notifications for January for late applicants |
February 5 | Spring 2020 Graduation Application CLOSES (Please tell your friends who haven't applied yet!) |
February 19 |
Changes to Degree Audit DUE to the Office of the Registrar (Substitutions, Waivers, Transient Permission Forms, etc.) If you aren't clearing check, you don't get the emails to record your name. Make sure you're clearing check before this date! |
March 2 |
Marching Order Opens Look for your Marching Order email to record your name for the graduation ceremony! |
TBD |
Bulletin and Attendance Survey Available in myWCU MAKE SURE YOU HAVE RECORDED YOUR NAME IN THE MARCHING ORDER SYSTEM!! |
TBD | Graduation Fair - Date TBD - University Bookstore (Details to come via future email) |
March 27 |
Marching Order Closes If you have not recorded your name by this date, you will not have access to the site to record your name for the ceremony. |
April 6 - April 15 | Diploma Name and Address Confirmation (Sent only to students clearing the check process) |
TBD | Line-Up Number (Sent only to students clearing the check process) |
TBD |
GRADUATION DAY! |
May 14 - May 31 ***If you are doing transfer work, your transcript needs to arrive in the Office of the Registrar NO LATER THAN May 20, 2020. If your transcript does not arrive by May 20, we cannot guarantee that your degree will be conferred for the spring 2020 semester. ***Please use this address for all OFFICIAL transcripts for graduation: |
Official Degree Conferral Begins for Spring
|
Information about graduation and future commencement ceremonies can be found online at graduation.wcu.edu. Faculty and staff are encouraged to incorporate the webpage-redirect graduation.wcu.edu into their communication with students regarding graduation and commencement. A WCU web search for keywords "Graduation" or "Commencement" also direct students to the Registrar's Graduation and Commencement webpage.
The application for graduation is available to students in their myWCU. Faculty can help students find the online application by instructing them to do a myWCU menu search for keyword "Graduation"
Faculty Marshals are senior members of the faculty who are nominated by the academic deans based on their outstanding service to the institution, excellence in teaching, and the respect of their faculty colleagues. They serve the institution as official ambassadors at university events including commencement and convocation.
Additional Information about the duties of the Faculty Marshals, Chief Faculty Marshal, and Assistant Chief Faculty Marshal..
Faculty participation at commencement is covered in section 5.19.2 of the faculty handbook. All faculty members are required to attend one commencement ceremony each academic year.
Below are helpful instructions on how to report attendance, academic progress and final grades.
During the first and second weeks of class (prior to reporting our census and prior to financial aid disbursement) instructors need to report which students are attending and which students are not attending. Reporting is done through the fifth-week grade sheet in myWCU.
Expectation: Reporting attendance is an expectation of all instructors regardless of student or class level. Instructors are expected to report first-week attendance as soon after the first class meeting as possible.
Deadlines: The deadline for reporting first-week attendance is 5:00 pm on Friday of the first week of class. Did not meet is a reporting option. Instructors are expected to report second-week attendance by 5:00 pm on Friday of the second week.
Intermittent Attendance: Within the week, please do not switch students from "attended" to "did not attend" except to correct a reporting error. Students only need to attend one class meeting during the week to be reported as attending.
Online Classes: The standard for reporting attendance in an online class is one of engagement. A student needs to do more than login for a minute or two to be reported as attending an online class.
Instructions for reporting attendance are sent as an email attachment to all instructors at the beginning of each semester.
Login to myWCU
Once you select "Reporting Attendance..." from the myWCU menu, use the pull downs to select the correct term and course. The screenshots below illustrate how to report attendance 1) student-by-student from the main grid or 2) in-mass using the mass update form.
When using the mass update form to report attendance, make sure the names and not just the numbers match.
Misreporting a student as "attended" can cause serious financial implications for
the student and the University.
Important notes about 5th Week Progress Grading
Important notes about 8th and 11th Week Progress Grading
To Enter Progress Grades
The Last Attend Date must be entered when assigning a grade of F, U, I or IP for a student. Federal regulations for Financial Aid require that this information be reported to determine the amount of funding that the student might have to repay. The Last Attend Date should be the last date on record that the student attended your class. It must be recorded whether the student earned a non-passing grade due to poor performance or due to non-attendance. This is a required value and grades cannot be successfully submitted without providing this information. If a student never attended the class, enter the first day of class as the last date of attendance.
1. If the student has stopped attending class, please enter the student’s last date of attendance, using the format MM/DD/YYYY, in the Last Attend Date field.
Hints on how to Determine Last Date Attended
The date must fall within the term,
Last date an assignment was turned in,
Last test student participated in,
If you take attendance, last roster with student on it, or
Last communication you had with the student
a. Email
b. Phone
2. If the student never attended class, please enter the first day of the semester, using the format MM/DD/YYYY, as the student’s last date of attendance in the Last Attend Date field.
Grades do NOT roll from Blackboard. They must be entered into myWCU / Banner on the Final Grades sheet.
Final grades must be submitted through myWCU / Banner before the deadline published by the Registrar.
Deadlines are typically set at 10:00 am on the Monday after exam week. For summer courses and courses that do not give an exam during the FINAL Exam Week, the deadline is 48 hours after the course end-date (includes holidays and weekends).
Instructors must report a grade for every student listed on the grade sheet.
Availability of Grading: When courses can be graded is determined by the part-of-term in which the course was built. In the fall and spring terms, grading for courses in the full part-of-term generally becomes available midway through the last week of classes to give instructors time to enter grades for courses that do not have a final (i.e. labs and independent study courses).
Grades of "I": A grade of incomplete may be awarded only when there is a reasonable prospect that the student can pass the course by making up the work missed. The instructor is required to list the conditions to remove the grade of incomplete and forward it to the department head. An Explanation of an Incomplete Grade form is available from the Office of the Registrar's form page. If a grade of "I" is submitted, a final grade must be submitted through the myWCU "Submit a Grade Change Request" process by the last day of classes of the next regular semester (excluding summer) or the grade will convert to an "F".
Grades of "I" vs. "IP: Thesis and research courses that by their nature are likely to span across multiple terms, may have "IP In-Progress" as a grading option. I and IP have very different meanings and should not be confused. Regardless of choice, I and IP grades disappear completely from the transcript when a final evaluative grade is submitted.
Audit Grade: A student's registration cannot be changed at grade reporting time. Audit grades (AU) are recorded on the class lists for students who are officially auditing a course.
Early Release of Grades: In the fall and spring terms, grades are held on the myWCU / Banner grade sheets where they are not visible to students. During Exam Week, grades are released from the grade sheet via email to students who complete the CoursEval. Students who do not complete the CoursEval receive their grade on the Monday following Exam Week (when the grade is rolled to academic history).
Final Grade Changes: Instructors can change final grades on the grade sheet until they are rolled to academic history. Grades roll to history at the grading deadline; typically 10:00 a.m. on the Monday after exam week. After grades roll to history, the instructor uses the "Submit a Grade Change Request" process in myWCU. Grade changes that go through the "Submit a Grade Change Request" process require a Department Head and Dean approval before any adjustment is made to the academic record. Students are allowed 35 days after the end of final exams in which to report an error in grades as released by the Registrar.
Many faculty prefer for their advisees to be registered while they are being advised. If you want students to register in your office follow these simple instructions. An Alt-PIN is not required.
Student Early Registration Times are published within myWCU and on the Office of the Registrar’s website. Faculty should keep in mind that the information system will not permit students to register before their designated time. The following informational message will appear when students attempt to register before their time. Step-by-Step Registration Instruction for Faculty/Advisors
The official census date for the university is the 10th class day of the term. We will not receive credit from General Administration or funding from the State of NC for any student not properly registered by census day.
All degree-seeking undergraduates and teacher certification students are required to have an Alt-PIN in order to register for class. Alt-PINs control registration times and are distributed through the student’s advisor. They are set approximately four weeks prior to registration and are set based on student-earned hours. The higher the earned hours the higher the range in which the Alt-PIN is set, and the earlier the registration time. Only the last four digits of the Alt-PIN are randomly generated.
Students with a priority registration option such as Brinson Honors College students, students with disabilities and student-athletes are assigned Alt-PINs in the 980000 to 999999 range regardless of their earned hours.
Graduate students, exchange students, DLP students, and part-time non-degree-seeking students do not need an Alt-Pin in order to register.
No student, regardless of their Alt-PIN, may register before her/his designated registration time.
Students are required to enter their Alt-PIN once per term. Students do not need to remember their Alt-PIN as Alt-PINs are only required for the initial web registration. Students are assigned the same Alt-PIN for summer and fall. They must enter the Alt-PIN once for summer and again for fall.
myWCU > Personal Services tab > Faculty & Services > Advisor menu > Select the Correct Registration Term > Advisee Listing
Learn how to troubleshoot registration messages from myWCU/Banner
Instructors teaching courses whose only prerequisite is “permission of the instructor” must give permission according to the instructions below. Once permission is obtained the student must still register for the course. Permission of the instructor will not over-ride prerequisites or other registration restrictions. Students who do not meet prerequisites should be referred to the department head of the department that owns the course.
Log in to myWCU > Personal Services > Faculty & Advisor > Registration Overrides > Select Term > Query for Student > (page below will display)
The instructor initiated drop for non-attendance is part of a broad effort to:
The instructor initiated drop for non-attendance is a part of the University’s Class Attendance Policy. The policy does not differentiate by level, campus or instructional method and is intended to apply uniformly to all students.
Students that are dropped for non-attendance may re-enroll on a “seats available” basis through the end of drop/add. Students who attempt to re-enroll after the drop/add deadline are required to complete a late registration form and turn it in to the Office of the Registrar. Under no circumstance will students be allowed to register after the tenth day census.
Department heads are responsible for assigning advisees to their faculty. Changes are made by departments sending lists to the Office of the Registrar (when faculty members retire or leave the university) or by advisors sending an email to changeofmajor@wcu.edu
Names are removed from Advisee Lists when the department sends an email to changeofmajor@wcu.edu or when the student's record becomes inactive. Student records become inactive when they apply for graduation or are not enrolled for three consecutive terms.
If the student declares a second program they will remain your advisee. The department owning the second program will need to assign an advisor for their program. Even though the system permits multiple advisors to be assigned to a student, the system only allows one advisor to be designated as primary. Primary advisors are indicated by an asterisk (*) in the Advisor Type column.
Departments may request that the Office of the Registrar remove or switch students when their programs change or when a faculty member retires or leaves the university. If you find errors in lists, your department should notify the Office of the Registrar to have the changes made.
The enrollment indicator gives a quick visual indicator of whether or not a student has registered. The indicator evaluates five terms -- the term of interest, two previous terms, and two future terms. The x's represent enrollment and the tilde's (~) represent non-enrollment. The term of interest (usually the current term) is in the center and contains a capital X if there is enrollment in that term.
These students are most likely newly-admitted students or readmits who have not yet registered. Readmits may need to get their Alt-Pins from you if they are in a population that requires an Alt-Pin in order to register. New freshman and new transfer students will be advised and receive their Alt-Pins through the orientation process. (Effective Fall 2010, orientation became required for all new students and transfer students.)
Verify that you are looking at the right term. We remove Alt-Pins from old terms to prevent them from being given out accidently.
If the student has applied to graduate in the term selected or in a future term the graduation indicator will be populated. Term and status are displays. The "good" statuses are: AP - applied to graduate, C1 - cleared first check, C2 - cleared second check, AW - awarded. The system clears students automatically based on their degree audit. Second check does not occur until after the registration for the term ends. Other statuses indicate problems that require advisor interaction to fix.
Suspension and Probation.
A malformed mail address will cause the button to fail. Call or email the IT Client Services Help Desk.
The URL is https://app.adastra.live/
Department Heads, Associate Deans and Deans should have Platinum accounts. Accounts can be created for program chairs and others by request. The Registrar’s Office must create an account before you can login.
Login Credentials: Your WCU email address formatted as shown is your Ad-Astra login name – username@wcu.edu. You will need to use the password recovery tool to set your initial password. SSO was a feature on the previous platform but its not yet a feature on the new site
Yes. Predictions are in the “Align” module. Align allows users to review upcoming class schedules and compare currently planned courses and seats against Ad-Astra’s recommendations. Course recommendation in Align will help you make data-drive schedule decisions.
Login and click on the “Align” module.
Select your term and campus using the drop-down filters.
Note About Terms: Terms flagged as ‘roll forward’ are what that term would be if the previous like-term had been rolled forward. Roll forward is a way of simulating offerings before the exist in Banner. ‘Roll forward’ terms become available after the last like-term’s census day passes. Actual term data is available after the deadline for creating the schedule of classes.
Learn how to use Predict here:
You can create a filter for the courses you are looking for or simply type that class in the “Find” function.
Yes, the “Monitor” module tracks registration and monitors trends over time leading up to the start of the term. It updates nightly.
Login and click on the “Monitor” module.
Select your term and campus using the drop-down filters.
Learn how to use Monitor here:
The bubbles are still in beta. Each user must enable for themselves under settings.
Login to the Platinum portal; click on the face in the upper right hand corner; then
click on Settings. Click on ‘Monitor’; then check Enabled.
Navigate out of settings and into Monitor. Refresh the browser window and you should
see them.
Until SSO is released on the new Ad-Astra portal, portal accounts must be provisioned and deprovisioned manually. Accounts have been created for the groups listed below. If you forget your password or need to set an initial password use Ad-Astra’s password recovery tool Your login name is your email address formatted as usermane@wcu.edu. To request access email registrar@wcu.edu
Banner checks prerequisites at the time of registration. It evaluates credit earned at WCU, credits earned through transfer, and courses in-progress at WCU to determine if a student should be allowed to register.
Department Heads can issue an override permit that will allow the student to register.
The Failed Prerequisites report in the Banner Report Portal lists students on a course roster who failed an in-progress course. The Registrar’s Office has a procedure in place to remove students when a department asks to have a student dropped. Processes vary by department; typically the instructor, department head or admin will inform the student via email that they need to adjust their schedule and that the Registrar’s Office will force-drop them from the class if they do not self-adjust. CC’ing the Registrar’s Office when you email the student initiates the drop action by the Registrar’s Office.
Students should be dropped before the start of the term. Drops affect status and financial aid. Students need an opportunity to recover from a force-out. Add/drop is over at the end of the first week of the semester.
UNC Online students self-attest that they meet the prerequisites for a course and are allowed to enroll. Other visiting students including international students that Banner cannot evaluate need an override permit to register.
Banner checks PREQs and registration restrictions at the section level. Open the searchable schedule of class in MyWCU (menu search schedule). Locate and click on any section title. The PREQs being enforced for the section will display. PREQs are programmed in Banner based on the prerequisites approved in the catalog. They occasionally get out of sync especially if the PREQs change after sections are built. Discrepancies should be reported to the Registrar’s Office.