Registration

ELIGIBILITY:
FYS are intended for first year students and in most circumstances, a first year student may take only one FYS. First year students who take a FYS in the fall semester may enroll in a second FYS in the spring after courses have begun (or when they have received permission from the FYS Dean to register), but they cannot enroll in a second FYS during normal registration.  FYS have no prerequisites, and although relevant previous experience can be helpful in some FYS, each FYS is designed such that motivated students can develop the skills necessary to be successful. One important goal of the FYS Program is to facilitate the success of our students who are in their first year of college. Thus, although transfer students are in their first year at Carolina, they are not considered first-year students from the perspective of FYS eligibility.

FALL FYS REGISTRATION:
Registration for Fall FYS takes place on campus during the CTOPS summer orientation sessions.  Seats in the FYS are apportioned and released systematically throughout the summer so that each CTOPS session has some seats available for each FYS.  After the last CTOPS session, first year students can drop and add FYS from their schedule using the on-line registration application at Student Central. 

DROP-ADD REGISTRATION:
Registration for FYS continues during the drop-add period, but most FYS become flagged as “permission of instructor required”.  This limitation is imposed because some FYS move so quickly that missing the first classes can put a student too far behind to be successful in the course.  If Student Central shows that a seat is available in an FYS and on-line registration is not successful, the student should contact the instructor (via e-mail, phone, or office visit), and if it is feasible to add the class, the instructor will notify either the departmental course registration officer or the FYS Dean.

SPRING FYS REGISTRATION:
First year students who did not take a FYS during the fall receive an e-mail in October from the FYS Dean inviting them to participate in a special priority registration opportunity for spring.  Specifically, on a specified date, these students may pre-register for an FYS.  A few weeks later, when students log-in to begin regular registration for the Spring semester, the FYS that they pre-registered for will already be on their schedule.  Please note that students can only participate in this pre-registration if they are eligible to register. For example, students must have met with an advisor and must have no “flags” on their account that would block their registration.

SELECTING A FYS:
First Year Seminars are not required courses, yet they offer an exciting opportunity for high quality learning, and they open the door to active participation in intellectual life at UNC.  Many students select an FYS by scanning the list of courses to find one that is most directly relevant to their interests.  This strategy has some advantages, but from some perspectives, it is a big mistake.  Given that most students major in the topic that they are most interested in, their path through the major will eventually include a wide array of advanced courses on that particular topic.  From this perspective, the FYS is a snack drawn from the meal to come.  An alternative strategy is to use the FYS as an opportunity to explore a topic that is totally new, unfamiliar, and highly unlikely to be included in subsequent semesters.  For example, a FYS provides a unique opportunity for a humanist to get up close and personal with science, a scientist to explore the humanities, a history major to see what a mathematician does for a living, or a physicist to read some poetry.  Not only does this experience expand the mind, but also, it can establish a relationship with a faculty member who will know the student from a unique perspective.  Related, all FYS meet some General Education requirements, and some students relish the opportunity to meet their most burdensome requirements in such a pleasant way.

FYS registration is tricky business because with only 20 seats per class, FYS fill up very quickly during registration periods.  A student who attempts FYS registration with only a single target seminar in mind has a high probability of coming up empty.  A strategy that is more likely to be successful is to prepare a list of 5-10 FYS that would be of interest and quickly run through the list attempting to find an open seat during pre-registration. When registration is available on Student Central, the list can be examined daily, and if an FYS is not on the student’s schedule yet, expanded.  Indeed, Student Central allows students to view FYS that still have open seats, and the FYS Dean will send out reminders about FYS that are still available. Course evaluation feedback indicates that students have extremely positive experiences in FYS.  From that perspective, any FYS is a better alternative than taking no FYS!