Registration

Advising Week

Advising week takes place once during the fall and spring semesters. Students are required to meet with their academic adviser to discuss course and degree planning prior to advance registration. Following this meeting, academic advisers may remove the advising hold, permitting students to access advance registration.

Advance Registration

At advance registration in November for the spring semester and in April for the fall semester, students must indicate their intention to continue academic study by enrolling in courses for the following term. The registration process involves selecting courses, obtaining approval of the faculty adviser and instructors, and enrolling in courses using TCOnline, Trinity’s online registration system. Enrollment in some courses, such as a thesis, teaching assistantships, research assistantships, and independent studies, requires the submission of the properly completed Special Registration Online Form to the Registrar’s Office. To make normal progress toward the degree, a student is expected to enroll in and complete an average of 9 course credits each academic year. A normal course load for a semester is 4 to 5 course credits. Degree candidates must register for at least 4 course credits each term unless they are admitted to the College as part-time candidates, have the permission of the Academic Affairs Committee, or have an accommodation from the Student Accessibility Resource Center. Students cannot register for courses that meet at the same time. For courses that overlap, students must request permission from both instructors and ask them to submit a Time Conflict Override Form available on the Registrar’s Office website.

Graduate courses may be taken by undergraduates with the written permission of the faculty adviser, the instructor, and the director of graduate studies.

Enrollment in more than 5.75 credits generally results in an additional tuition charge. Some independent courses, such as independent studies and teaching assistantships, may be exempt from the tuition surcharge. Contact the Student Accounts Office for more information.

Registration outside Trinity

Students who wish to study at a school with which Trinity has a cross-registration agreement, such as the member institutions of the Hartford Consortium for Higher Education, Wesleyan University, or Connecticut College, should make arrangements through the Registrar’s Office.

Auditing

Courses may be audited by degree candidates with permission of the instructor. No examinations or credit are given for audited courses. Audited courses do not appear on student transcripts. Spouses of undergraduate students may audit a course with the permission of the instructor and are not required to register formally for the course. If spouses should wish to take courses for credit, they should seek admission as special students and will be charged the same rate special students are charged for individual courses.

Check-in

At the beginning of each term, all students who intend to study in that term must “check-in” using TCOnline. At check-in, students must update their home address, phone numbers, emergency contacts, and off-campus addresses. Check-in is required of all students and failure to do so by the deadline will result in a late check-in fee of $50.

Add/Drop Period

The add/drop period starts shortly after Advance Registration and runs through the first six class days of the next semester. (An add/drop period occurs mid-semester for second and fourth quarter courses.) During this time, students may add courses when space is available or with the permission of the instructor. The add/drop period for the January Term and summer terms are proportional with those of the fall and spring semesters; deadlines are posted on the academic calendar and on the summer sessions website.

Late Adds and Drops: Students occasionally are granted permission by the Academic Affairs Committee to add or drop a course after the deadline. Permission is granted usually only for requests within a week after the deadline. Late drops usually are only approved when the course was never attended (as verified by the instructor). Since the Academic Affairs Committee believes that course withdrawals and the grade of W are not punitive, that option is usually offered instead of late drops.

Midterm

Mid-term, the day exactly halfway through semesters, is marked as "Mid-term" on the academic calendar.

Course Withdrawal

Students may withdraw from courses (with a non-punitive grade of W) up to the posted deadline on the Academic Calendar. The withdrawal deadlines for the January Term and summer sessions are proportional with those of the fall and spring semesters; deadlines are posted on the academic calendar and on the summer sessions website.

Late Withdrawal: Following the withdrawal deadlines, students who wish to make changes to their enrollment must petition the Academic Affairs Committee for approval. Students occasionally are granted permission by the Academic Affairs Committee to withdraw from a course after the deadline. Permission is granted only for extenuating circumstances, which include, but are not limited to, verified, wholly unusual, or unforeseen difficulty of the magnitude of serious illness or death in the immediate family, and when the student cannot complete the course by being granted an incomplete. Students who feel their circumstances warrant late withdrawal should schedule a meeting with the dean of students. The dean will advise the student on the procedure for petitioning the Academic Affairs Committee. Petitions will not be approved if a student wishes to withdraw from a course due to poor academic performance, difficulty with the material, or too great of a workload (including coursework, co-curricular activities, and employment).

Review Period

After classes have concluded and before final examinations have begun, time is set aside during which no classes are held. This review period has been established to enable students to finish papers and study intensively for final examinations. During this period, students are expected to behave in a way conducive to creating an atmosphere appropriate for focused study. Social events are prohibited during review period as well as during final examination periods. It is College policy that no final examinations may be scheduled before the conclusion of classes or during review period.

Final Examination Period

This period is the five days following the conclusion of the review period. Each course will be assigned an examination time based on its course meeting pattern. The pattern shifts every term so that the examination will not always occur at the beginning or end of the examination period.