Add/ Drop System

Add/Drop Dates

Visit Admissions and Records to see a calendar of important deadlines.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What are permits? How does the permit system work?

A: The class capacity is set in CMS; when the capacity is met, the system does not allow additional students to register for the class. The instructor may allow additional students in the course (up to the legal capacity of the room) by issuing a “permit to register”. Departments do this in different ways, but most often the instructor gives the appropriate staff member the list of student names and campus-wide ID numbers (CWIDs) and the staff member accesses the system to issue the permit. Once this is done, the student must go to TITAN Online and add the class. The permit issued in the student’s name allows the student to add the class even though that puts the number of enrolled students over the class enrollment limit.

Q: The student tells me that he still cannot add the class even though I requested a permit for him. What’s wrong?

A: If the student attempts to register for the class before the staff member has issued the permit, the system will not recognize the permission. Check with the staff member to find out if the permit has been issued. Remember: The staff may be severely overloaded with these requests at the beginning of the semester, so it may take a few days for them to input all of the permits.

Q: What happens if a permit is issued but the student does not go online to officially add the class?

A: The student will not be officially enrolled and will not appear on the class roster. If the student fails to officially enroll, the student will not earn credit for the class, the department loses the funding credits for teaching the student and it negatively impacts the college’s ability to meet its enrollment target.

Q: How long does the student, who has been issued a permit, have to conduct the add transaction in TITAN Online?

A: Permits expire at the end of the second week of classes. It is of utmost importance that the instructor verify that all students attending class are officially enrolled by reading the class roster regularly prior to this date so that students with registration issues are alerted to the problem.

Q: Is the student officially enrolled as long as his/her name appears on my Blackboard Class List?

A: No! Only students whose names appear on the class roster produced by TITAN Online (or CMS) are officially enrolled in the class.

Q: On the first day of class I had 5 “no shows”? Is it reasonable, therefore, to issue 5 permits to students who are physically present?

A: Only if you are comfortable “over enrolling” by that many students (and 5 more students does not exceed the legal capacity for the room). Even if all 5 of the “no shows” drop the class, the seats made available will be available to any student attempting to register; therefore the seats could potentially be filled by new students and then the students with permits would account for 5 additional students.

Q: What is census and why should I care?

A: The census date marks the day we “capture” enrollment lists for the purpose of reporting our official enrollments to the state via the Chancellor’s Office. If a student is not officially enrolled by the census date, the University (and the College as well as the Department) do not get funding for teaching that student. Consequently, the administration is extremely reluctant to sign add petitions after the census date.

Q: When do students need paper add/drop petitions and should I sign them?

A: Students must use the paper petition process beginning with the third week of classes . It is to everyone’s advantage and convenience to resolve adds and drops prior to this date. There are a variety of reasons why this does not occur and we generally encourage faculty members to accommodate students whenever possible and if it seems reasonable to do so. A good reason not to sign a petition to add a class would be if the student has not attended class in the first few weeks and does not have a reasonable chance to succeed when joining the class this late. Paper petitions require the signature of the Department Chair or Program Coordinator and the signature of one of the College Associate Deans.

More information about registration can be found in the Registration Guide .