IX. Office of the University Registrar
Detailed information about the Office of the University Registrar and its services can be found at http://registrar.duke.edu/.
ACADEMIC DATA FOR EVALUATION AND STUDIES
Large numbers of reports and records are maintained in the University Registrar’s Office and are available to the DUSs by request to the Assistant Registrar for Reporting (harry.nelson@duke.edu). The response time for information is determined by the availability of existing reports, extent of requested information, and other time constraints and priorities.
ASSIGNMENT OF ROOMS FOR CLASSES
Upon arrival of schedule material in August and December for a given semester, the DUS should coordinate assignment of classes to rooms “owned” by the department with the chair and Director of Graduate Studies, according to the guidelines stated in the form on Room Assignments. If a course is cross-listed, the DUS should also check with the co-sponsoring department. (See Schedule of Courses below).
DROP/ADD
Drop/Add begins immediately after the windows registration period ends each semester. For explanation and instruction for uses of the ACES registration system, refer to the SISS website.
Students may make changes in their schedules and add classes where space is available until the end of the first week of classes without the instructor’s approval. During that time they may also add their names to wait lists for courses that are full. At the end of the first week of classes, the wait lists are erased. In the second week of classes, a course may be dropped without approval, but a course may be added only with the permission number given by the instructor. Class lists are available on-line, via STORM, at any time. (During the Schedule Correction period, which is the week after Drop/Add, students may request permission of their academic dean to correct their schedule, with documentation from the instructors; during this period students may not add courses they did not begin attending before the end of Drop/Add.)
GRADES
Final grades are submitted on-line, via STORM, by the faculty officially assigned to the course. Grades for graduating seniors are due within twenty-four hours of the examination, and grades for other students must be submitted within forty-eight hours of the examination. Graduating seniors should not be given Incomplete (I) grades without the advice of the academic dean because incomplete work may prevent a senior from graduating.
Students should arrange for an Incomplete (I grade) through their academic dean and instructor. Any faculty member who has issued an incomplete to a student is sent a form by the Registrar’s Office to report the grade. Unless continuation is at issue, students must satisfactorily complete the work prior to the end of the fifth week of the subsequent semester in attendance or a grade of F will be recorded for the course. (In cases where a student’s continuation is in jeopardy the work must be completed by an earlier deadline; see Incomplete Course Work.)
3. REQUESTS FOR OTHER GRADE CHANGES
A final grade may be changed only under the conditions cited in the Faculty Handbook:
"It is important to note that with the exception of I grades and X grades, changes in grades may be made only because of an error in calculation or an error in transcription. Changes in grades may not be based on the late submission of required work, the resubmission of work previously judged unsatisfactory, or on additional work. No changes may be made in a grade after the end of the semester following the one for which the grade was assigned although cases of error discovered after the deadline may be appealed by the student or the instructor to the Office of the Provost. The purposes of these regulations are to promote accurate record keeping and careful grade reporting, and to protect instructors from student pressure.” (See Faculty Handbook.)
Requests for a grade change must be made in writing on departmental letterhead to the University Registrar. These requests must be signed by the instructor of record and must include the specific reason for the change.
INDEPENDENT STUDY AND RESEARCH INDEPENDENT STUDY
The DUS must approve enrollment of any student in an independent study or Research Independent Study sponsored by a member of his or her department. (See also The Role of the DUS in the Department and Trinity College.)
PLACEMENT AT APPROPRIATE COURSE LEVELS
Although individual faculty advisors bear primary responsibility for checking the appropriateness of the course selections and placement levels for individual first-year students, transfer students, and readmitted former students, DUSs are often involved in the process of setting appropriate placement levels within their departments. Appeals for a change in level of placement, or questions about appropriate placement levels in marginal cases, are usually directed to the DUS.
The individual academic departments, in consultation with the University Registrar, regularly review their policies on the awarding of credit and advanced placement related to the Advanced Placement Program (AP) of the College Examination Board. Ms. Peggy Lankford, Senior Assistant Registrar, (684-9075) maintains AP records and works with departmental officers on matters concerning AP placement and credit.
Trinity College policy permits, but does not require, individual academic departments to award advanced placement and/or course credit for students who received a score of 4 or 5 on the Advanced Placement Examinations; one department has been permitted to allow such placement or credit for a score of 3. The score of 4 or 5 is the basis for consideration for credit and/or placement in advanced courses in art, biology, chemistry, computer science, economics, English, French, German, history, Latin, mathematics, music, physics, political science, psychology, Spanish and statistics. The Department of Mathematics considers a score of 3 for placement beyond the introductory course. Students with these scores normally receive both advanced placement and credit for specific Duke introductory work, as determined by the department concerned; departments may require that a validating examination at Duke be passed with a satisfactory grade.
Area of Knowledge distribution requirements and Inquiry/Competency requirements may not be satisfied by means of courses for which AP credit is awarded at Duke.
Advanced Placement scores are usually reported to Duke in mid-summer.
2. COLLEGE BOARD ACHIEVEMENT SCORES
Several academic departments have established placement criteria that are based upon College Board (CB) Achievement Test scores, submitted by applicants as part of their admissions credentials. Particularly in the foreign languages and in mathematics, scores are used in conjunction with records of previous preparation to determine the level of each student’s initial Duke course placement. The Achievement Test score levels and placements currently established by the academic departments appear in the Undergraduate Bulletin.
Departments may be asked to review course placement requests after each registration period and during the summer and fall registration periods for entering first-year students and transfer students.
NB: The University writing requirement cannot be met by Achievement Test scores or by Advanced Placement Courses. It may be fulfilled only by passing Writing 20, at Duke or, for transfer students, by transfer of an equivalent course or writing requirement from another college or university. Writing 20 does not transfer for first-year students. Transfer students may meet the requirement by taking the course at Duke or by having fulfilled a comparable requirement at the institution formerly attended.
PLACING FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS IN COURSES AND SECTIONS
FIRST-YEAR REGISTRATION
Entering first-year students are sent registration materials prior to their arrival on campus. They are asked to complete their materials, browse courses, construct bookbags and register for classes via ACES web. Students are instructed to consult self-placement guidelines on the web for chemistry, math, physics and foreign language courses and may also contact staff in the Academic Advising Center with questions or problems regarding placement and foreign language departments may be consulted on placement questions and issues to ensure that first-year students register in the most appropriate courses. Additionally, DUSs in departments with high first-year student demand may be asked to consider the addition of new course sections or expansion of existing sections. First-year summer registration ends in late July. Student schedules may subsequently be changed when the first-year students arrive at Duke and meet with their academic advisor, during the Drop/Add period.
PRIVACY ACT: STUDENTS’ FILES
See Students. Also, a complete copy of the Duke University Student Records policy should be consulted at the University Registrar's website.
REGISTRATION PROCEDURES
Registration for continuing students is held during October/November and March/April for the following semester. The DUSs receive Advisement Reports from Trinity College in the weeks prior to the beginning of registration. The DUSs, in turn, distribute this material to the faculty advisors in their departments.
Advising officially begins the Monday before registration opens and may extend until the next-to-last day of registration. Students are told to go to their advisor with a proposed schedule in their bookbags to request advice and approval; the advisor then gives them their PIN (Personal Identification Number) so they may register through the ACES web registration system. It is important that advisors be ready to provide advising slots in time for seniors to have their PIN to register during their “registration window,” which comes early in the registration process. Students may register for a maximum of four full-credit courses (exclusive of partial credit) at the time of registration, but they may add a fifth course during Drop/Add (see below). To take more than 5.5 course credits during a semester they need the permission of their academic dean. During registration continuing students are allowed to add their names to wait lists of classes that are full.
For details on ACES web registration, refer to the Office of the University Registrar website.
SCHEDULE OF COURSES
In general the following (approximate) schedule is used by the University Registrar’s Office in preparing the semester schedule (Schedule of Courses), but dates vary depending on the date that classes begin.
| Schedule Material | For Fall Schedule | For Spring Schedule |
Arrives electronically (via DSV): |
December 1 |
August 1 |
Due: |
Around the 3rd week of February |
Around the 3rd week of classes in September |
Schedule material is available via the DSV and includes courses taught in the previous corresponding semester, scheduling policy procedures, and instructions containing specific steps for completing the course proofs via the DSV. Note that the footnotes are subject to change each semester.
A second round of course proofs is sent to each department according to the following timetable (approximate):
| Schedule Material | For Fall Schedule | For Spring Schedule |
Arrives: |
Early March |
Early October |
Due: |
One week later |
One week later |
To ensure accuracy in the Schedule, the proofs should be checked carefully for errors. In addition, final changes should be made at this time.
SEMINAR STATUS: APPROVAL OF A COURSE AS SEMINAR FOR ONE SEMESTER ONLY
Any approved course may be changed to seminar status for a single semester upon written notification to the University Registrar by the DUS. The letter must state the enrollment and contain an explanation of how the course is being conducted, i.e., by discussion, not by lecturing. Seminar status may only be requested for courses with enrollment of 18 or fewer. The approval of seminar status for one student provides seminar status for all students enrolled in that class.
Seminars and Pass/Fail Regulation: Students may not elect to take a seminar on the pass/fail basis; therefore, an instructor wishing to change a regular course to a seminar for that term should do so only during the Drop/Add period and should be aware that any student who has enrolled in the course as pass/fail would either need to change back to regular grading or drop the course (if it is still within the Drop/Add period).
If the course is to be changed to a seminar for more than one semester, the DUS should submit an official course revision form to the Committee on Courses through th online course process.
TRANSFER COURSE APPROVAL
1. COURSES TAKEN PRIOR TO MATRICULATION AT DUKE
By first-year entering students: Courses taken elsewhere at accredited colleges before matriculation at Duke are tentatively evaluated by the University Registrar’s Office, with final decisions, as necessary, made by the DUSs. Students must have transcripts from the previous institution sent directly to the University Registrar’s Office. The student must also submit confirmation that regular faculty taught the course on a college campus with other college students, and that the course work did not count toward high school graduation requirements, nor appear on the high school transcript. See also T-Reqs.
By transfer students: See Approval of Courses for Transfer Credit.
2. COURSES TAKEN AFTER MATRICULATION AT DUKE
A student may transfer two semester course credits toward the degree after matriculation (plus study abroad credit). Approval of each course by the appropriate DUS and by the student’s academic dean should be obtained before enrollment. The approval forms are then sent by the dean to the University Registrar’s Office and retained there until a transcript is received. (See Transfer Credit from American Colleges.)
UPDATING LISTS OF STUDENTS MAJORING OR MINORING IN THE DEPARTMENT OR PROGRAM
Periodically throughout the year, the University Registrar sends each DUS a printout of the students who have declared or dropped a major or a minor. (See Students.)