Module 4 – Advising & Registration

Advising / Course Selection – Each degree student at UAF must obtain academic advising prior to enrolling in courses for the following semester. An advisor keeps students on track toward their degree and helps them understand other university degree requirements. Information about advising can be found here.

Associate Degree – An undergraduate academic degree awarded to students who complete 60 credit hours (typically two years).

Baccalaureate Degree – An undergraduate academic awarded to students who completed over 120 credit hours (typically four years).

Coursefinder / Class Search – Students can search for courses they want to take through UAF’s Coursefinder or through the Class Search menu at UAOnline.

Credit Hour – A standard measure that gives weight to the value and time (or contact hours) invested in an academic course of colleges and universities across the country. At UAF, one credit represents satisfactory completion of 800 minutes (one hour per week for the entire semester).

CRN – A Course Reference Number is a five-digit number that identifies a specific course in each term. It will be used to register for courses next semester.

Degree Plan / Degree Works – A road map for which courses a student needs to take to complete their degree requirements. Degree Works (available at UAOnline) is a digital road map which shows not only the courses a student needs to complete but also the history of which have already been completed.

Drop / Withdraw – Students can drop a class with a full refund within the dates (usually two weeks) specified in the academic calendar. If students are having academic difficulty or determine other circumstances might impact their performance in a course, they can withdraw. Withdrawing results in a “W” on the transcript, and no refund is provided. Information on dropping or withdrawing can be found here.

Fee Payment / Drop for Nonpayment – Once enrolled in a course, students become responsible for the costs of that course. Students must pay for their tuition and fees (fee payment) each semester they enroll. In some terms, the university may drop for not paying.

FERPA –  The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act regulates how education records are handled by institutions of higher education and when the institution can and cannot disclose personally identifiable information.

GER –  General Education Requirements (math, English, communication, etc.) must be completed within each degree by each student. Sometimes UAF’s GERs are referred to as Core Requirements.

LMS – A Learning Management System is a software application use in the administration, reporting and delivery of online asynchronous or synchronous courses (see the definition below). At UAF, we use Blackboard as the Learning Management System. If you take an online course, the course will be delivered through Blackboard.

Online / Distance Learning – A delivery mode for various university courses. All UAF eCampus courses are asynchronous, meaning courses are delivered online without the constraints of time and place. Other distance courses (i.e., audio, teleconference) are synchronous courses that require a specific meeting time.

Placement Testing – These tests assess a student’s current abilities in math, reading and writing. Based on these scores, the student “places” in the corresponding course, which provides students much greater possibility for success. Here are helpful links to Placement Testing:  ALEKS, 

Payment Plan – Students who will not be able to pay their full account balance by the deadline for tuition and fee payments should set up a payment plan. Payment plans allow you to pay your balance in three installments during the semester.

Prerequisite – Course prerequisites indicate what previous preparation (i.e., previous courses) a student needs to enroll in another course. The UAOnline system will block registration if the student has not taken the appropriate prerequisite course.

Proctor – If students are taking online classes, instructors may require their exams be proctored. A proctor is someone who oversees an examination in place of university faculty or staff. Find proctor information here.

SAP  – A student must maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress toward their educational goal to be eligible for student financial aid. Information on SAP is available here.

Undeclared (General Studies) – Many students are admitted to UAF in the General Studies program. This means they plan to take courses and find an interest, major and career field at a later time. The Academic Advising Center advises all General Studies students.

Wait List – When a course is filled to capacity, it is listed as “closed.” Some courses offer a wait-list option to allow students to wait for a space (in priority order), in case one becomes available. Further information is available here.