Registering for Classes

Auburn University and the Graduate School
Course registration for Auburn University will be via AU ACCESS, following the procedure given below. Graduate School and University information and guides to registration can be found at the following site:  http://www.auburn.edu/administration/registrar/

• • Log into AU ACCESS.
  
• • Go to the MY ACADEMICS PORTALS.
  
• • Use TIGER SCHEDULER to create a tentative schedule.
  
• • ADD OR DROP CLASSES.
  
• • CONFIRM schedule using STUDENT SCHEDULE (from the My Academics page).

Be particularly mindful of schedule adjustment information (changing classes) that is posted on the University's academic calendar and the Graduate School’s academic calendar. The rules every term are as follows:

• • Classes dropped prior to the 6th class day incur no drop fee.
  
• • Classes dropped from the 6th to the 15th class day incur a $100 drop fee. Note that changing sections of a class involved dropping and adding.
  
• • Classes dropped prior to the 15th class day of fall and spring semesters do not appear on the transcript.
  
• • Classes may be dropped from the 15th class day until mid-semester. Withdrawal will be noted on the transcript, and there is no tuition refund.

The procedures for a graduate student to add or withdraw from a class after the 15th class day differ from undergraduates. These are:

• • For CADS course registration, students must provide Ms. Candice Lewis in 308 Spidle Hall with the course number and credit hours, the student’s major professor (MP) name (if declared), and the student’s Banner ID number.
  
• • For non-CADS courses, students need to communicate and obtain permission directly from the course instructor in other units, and communicate with the directed staff in that unit for the registration.

Online Courses
There are some graduate courses offered in an online format as one section in a multi-section course (e.g., ERMA courses). Recognize these based on the section number beginning with a “D” (e.g., ERMA 7000-D01). If you have tuition benefits as a graduate assistant, DO NOT register for the online version unless you are willing to pay separate tuition. The tuition fellowships do not cover online courses.

Graduate Credit Courses

• • Graduate courses are numbered 6000-8000.
  
• • 6000 level courses are paired with 5000 level undergraduate courses taken by junior and senior students. In most cases, you will complete the same or nearly the same requirements plus have an assignment specific to graduate students.
  
• • 7000 and 8000 level courses are graduate students only.

Full-Time Status
Nine credit hours are the minimum number needed to be considered a full-time student. International students must be full-time.

• • When an international master’s student takes fewer than nine hours while working on a thesis after required coursework has been completed, they must submit the ABT (All-But-Thesis) form, which must be approved by MP and the Graduate School. The ABT form and submission directions can be found here. Once ABT is approved, the Graduate School will put GRAD 6@@0 hours in your semester schedule to make you be considered full-time. The ABT form must be submitted every semester (Fall/Spring only; Summer not required) with fewer than nine credit hours, and may be submitted up to 4 semesters.
  
• • A Ph.D. student who has completed their General Oral Exam and all course work for their degree may register for 1 or more CADS 8990 credit hours. In such cases, even if their registration is below 9 credit hours in the semester, the Graduate School will register the students for GRAD 6@@0 course (Fall/Spring only; Summer not required) for the remaining credit hours toward 9 hours in total (e.g., if only 1 credit hour of CADS 8990 is registered, 8 hours of GRAD 6@@0 will be automatically applied) to indicate their full-time student status.

Taking an Undergraduate Course 
If you have a different subject matter background, you may have to take one or two undergraduate prerequisite courses in order to take some specific graduate courses; the professor makes that determination. The Graduate School advises you take any undergraduate course for S-U credit (satisfactory-unsatisfactory). To do that, you will need to complete the following form: Satisfactory-Unsatisfactory Grading Form.

Graduate School Continuous Enrollment, Residency, and Other Registration Policies can be accessed online.

Consumer and Design Sciences "Blanket" Number Courses
These are courses that involve individual work with professors and/or are not regularly scheduled. Ms. Candice Lewis will have to register you, but you must first complete a purple form (available in 308), for the following courses:

CADS 7900 – Directed Studies
CADS 7910 – Supervised Teaching
CADS 7920 – Graduate Internship
CADS 7930 – Advanced Design Projects
CADS 7960 – Special Problems
CADS 7970 – Special Topics in Design
CADS 8960 – Current Issues
CADS 8970 – Special Topics
CADS 7980, 7990, and 8990 – Graduate Project, Thesis, and Dissertation

The Department purposely blocks registration to the preceding list. There are other graduate courses (especially 6000 ones) that have undergraduate prerequisites built into the registration system. If you are unable to register for a CADS course that you need to take, check with Ms. Candice Lewis. She may have to register you and will tell you if you need to check with the professor.

CADS 7910, Supervised Teaching is a one credit hour course that is required for Graduate Teaching Assistants who will have classroom responsibilities (instructor or lab/studio instructor). It should be taken under the direction of the faculty member responsible for the course and during the first term of your teaching responsibilities. It may be repeated in another term only if you are assigned to teaching responsibilities with a different course.

Graduate Assistantships & Tuition Fellowships

Graduate School policies are accessible online.

Graduate Assistantships
Graduate teaching or research assistantships offered in the Department of Consumer and Design Sciences are subject to availability of funds. All graduate students accepted into the M.S. and Ph.D. programs in Consumer and Design Sciences are considered as applicants for available assistantships.

Graduate assistant (GA) appointments are temporary and may be made for a year (9 months) or on a term-by-term basis. Appointment and continuation depend on availability of funds, levels of enrollment, and teaching or research needs. Summer term appointments are very limited.

Renewal also depends on a high level of academic performance, excellent performance as a graduate assistant, and satisfactory progress toward the degree. Each GA will be evaluated each semester by the faculty member directing their assistantship (GA evaluation form). Assistantships for M.S. students are generally awarded only for a maximum period of two years; for Ph.D. students, the normal maximum is three years.

Graduate Tuition Fellowships
CADS graduate assistantship appointments are generally made at the .25, .33, or .50 level. As per the Graduate School policy, all GAs at the .25 or higher level have the out-of-state portion of the tuition waived. GAs at the .25 level are charged one-half of in-state tuition; those at .33 or higher have the in-state tuition waived. GAs with fall and spring appointments receive the same benefits for the following summer semester even if they do not have an assistantship appointment in that term. The Tuition Fellowship Program Policy is reviewed by the University every two years.

Graduate Student Contact Address
Share your current residential address, phone number, and email address with Ms. Candice Lewis, Administrative Assistant in the Consumer and Design Sciences Department Office (Spidle 308). It is your responsibility to keep this updated.

Also make sure that your name, address, and phone number listing in university records is correct and updated as needed. This can be done on AU Access. Sign up for AU Alert for emergency notifications.

Access to Department and Graduate Student Offices
If you are a GA, you will be assigned to a graduate student office space on first or third floor. Some of these have card-swipe access and others require checking out a key from Auburn University Facilities Management (334-844-4810). All GAs should get a key for access the Department Office (308). (A single key can open both your office and 308. You will be accountable for returning the key/s to Facilities Management when your assistantship is completed.

Use of CADS Office and Supplies
Department-purchased supplies housed in 308 are only to be used if needed for completion of GA responsibilities and tasks. This includes using the copier/printer. Supplies, printer, and copier are NOT for personal use, e.g., course, thesis, or dissertation requirements. You will be given an access code for the copier only if you regularly require its use for your assistantship, e.g., in teaching tasks. Otherwise, your assistantship supervisor may need to allow you to use her code to complete a specific task.

Access to Spidle Hall and Computer Labs
Your Auburn ID card will give you card-swipe access to Spidle Hall when it is locked following business hours except on the weekends of home football games and during holiday breaks. (Building locks at 5:00 p.m. Friday and does not unlock until noon on Sunday.) Your card will also give you card-swipe access to the two computer labs in Spidle (110 and 302). These doors are automatically locked in non-business hours. If you have problems with your card working, contact Walter Tolbert (Spidle 266) with CHS IT Help (chshelp@auburn.edu).

Card-swipe cautions: The names associated with all swipes are recorded in the locking system. DO NOT leave any door of the building propped open to let someone else enter sometime after you; doing so will cause your swipe privileges to be removed. DO close the classroom or computer lab doors after you enter in off-hours. If you do not, and someone enters after you, and then you leave, but they do not, and they do not close the door when they leave, then your swipe privileges will be removed.

The CADS manuals for the master’s and doctoral programs present guidelines and regulations required to obtain each degree. CADS guidelines should be used in conjunction with those of the Graduate School. If you have questions about interpreting rules and policies for the University or CADS, consult your Major Professor, Graduate Program Officer (GPO), or Department Head.

• M.S. Manual - Thesis and Non-Thesis
• Ph.D. Manual
• Accelerated B.S./M.S.

In general, in order to get clearance for graduation each student must have taken the following steps:

• • Submit the Committee, Transfers, Exceptions and Candidacy (CTEC) Form no later than the semester prior to the expected graduation.
• • Submit a final (revised if necessary) approved Plan of Study (POS) to the CADS Graduate Program Officer (GPO) no later than the semester prior to the expected graduation;
• • finish the course work and fulfill all entries in the POS;
• • finish the research and thesis/dissertation or project work, and have the thesis/project/dissertation approved by the your MP, Graduate Advisory Committing (GAC), and the outside reader (for a dissertation);
• • submit a Graduation Application (AU Access > My Academics > Grad Application) to the Graduate School in the semester preceding the graduation semester and notify the Graduate School advisor of the intention to graduate prior to the beginning of the graduation semester;
• • register for the semester of graduation;
• • clear incomplete grades by the deadline indicated on the Graduate School academic calendar;
• • meet the due dates on the GS calendar.

The Master’s Degree Checklist and Doctoral Degree Checklist can be consulted for further information.

Also, check whether you are on track to graduate HERE.

If, as you approach your final semester, you find that you cannot meet the deadlines posted for submission of thesis/dissertation or completion of non-thesis requirements, but you can completely finish and have your work approved by your GAC by the end of the semester, contact the Graduate School to ask about the absolute deadline for submitting your final approval paperwork at the end of the term. If you meet the deadline for that, you will have to pay a “clearing for graduation fee” the next semester and officially graduate then, but you will not have to enroll and pay tuition. If you wish to do that and participate (early) in the graduation ceremony of the current term, the deadline will be at least three weeks prior to the end of the term, but the Graduate School can tell you that.