Registration Regulations

Registration is an official process. You are not permitted to attend class without formally registering in that class. When you register, you accept responsibility to pay for the classes you register in and you accept responsibility for the outcome (i.e. your grades). If you want to withdraw from a course you are registered in, you must formally do so via the Course Change/Withdrawal Form; otherwise you will be assigned a final grade.

Add, Drop, Withdrawal Procedures

You can register for sections (courses) any time after your assigned registration time (Time Ticket) until the end of the add/drop period.

Adding, or registering for, a section means adding it to your list of enrolled courses. Once a section has been added to your registration, you become responsible for full payment and you are responsible for attending and completing the course. Not attending or not paying does not un-register you. To get un-registered, you must drop.

Dropping a section means removing the course from your list of registered courses. Dropping sections reverse charges, however, depending on when you drop, there may be a small penalty for dropping.

• Drop 1 or more days prior to start of classes: Refund of 100% of tuition, plus all Student & Instruction-Related fees (minus the non-refundable deposit)
• Drop First Week during the add/drop period (1st to 7th day of classes): Refund of 60% of tuition
• Drop Second Week during the add/drop period (8th to 14th day of classes): Refund of 40% of tuition
• Withdraw after the add/drop period: No refund

Students are not permitted to drop classes after the end of the add/drop period. This is usually about two weeks after the first day of the semester. See the Academic Schedule   for specific add/drop deadlines each semester.

After the Add/Drop Deadline and until the Withdrawal Deadline, you may choose to withdraw from a class; withdrawals are recorded as a ‘W’ on your official transcript and are not eligible for refund.

Sometimes staying in a course until the end is not desired by a student. Students may withdraw from classes until the end of the withdrawal period (typically mid-way through the semester).  After this time, withdrawal is not permitted.

There is no refund when withdrawing, and the student’s academic record will show the course with a final grade of “W”. A “W” (withdrawal) status will be entered on the student’s record to indicate an official withdrawal has taken place. Withdrawing from credit courses does not affect grade point averages (GPA) provided students officially withdraw before the deadline.

Withdrawals will not be permitted after the withdrawal deadline date. Students who do not officially withdraw prior to the published deadlines, and who fail to successfully complete required course work, will be assigned the final grade earned

Note: Students are recommended to assess the impact of adding/dropping courses, as it may affect completion of NLC programs or transfer to another institution. Students may wish to consult with Program Chairs. Adding/dropping courses during the academic year may also jeopardize student eligibility to continue to receive financial aid during that year. It is imperative that students receiving assistance consult a Financial Aid Officer before any drop of courses, or change of program.

Auditing Courses

Students interested in taking a credit course for general interest only, and who have no intention of completing course work or writing exams may audit the course. An Audit student attends class but is not evaluated; credit is not granted and a final grade of AUD is assigned.

The deadline to switch from credit to audit status in a course is the course withdrawal deadline. Once designated as audit status in a course, students may not switch to credit status.

Audit student:

• will pay 100% of the tuition and fees for the audit course;
• will be expected to attend classes regularly. No assignments are expected, no examinations are written;
• cannot use audited courses as credits for student loan purposes;
• are assigned a grade “AUD”, which is not calculated in GPA; and
• cannot use an “AUD” grade as a prerequisite for other courses.

Course Requisites

• A prerequisite is a course or requirement that must be completed before you are permitted to register in a specific course.
• A co-requisite is a defined course or requirement that you must be enrolled in at the same time. Please note that being on a waitlist does not satisfy corequisite requirements; you must be registered.
• Restrictions are when a course or section is limited only to students in a specific program. 

All of these are in place to ensure that students are prepared for the courses that they want to register in.

If you are currently enrolled in a prerequisite course, you are conditionally allowed to register in the course that requires the prerequisite. If your final grade does not satisfy the prerequisite requirements the College will de-register you from the subsequent course. 

Do you feel you have met the pre- or co- requisite for a course? 

1. Please read the Prerequisite Waiver Form and compile your proof of learning.
2. Request an appointment with a program advisor by contacting ssh@nlc.bc.ca.
3. The Program Advisor will submit the Pre-requisite Waiver Form and your supporting proof of learning for evaluation on your behalf.

Course Waitlists

Each course-section has a maximum number of available seats. Once that maximum has been reached, no additional students may be registered.

However, most sections have a waitlist option. If you want to register in a section but it is full, you can choose to add yourself to the waitlist. If a seat becomes available, the vacant space will be offered to the first student on the waitlist.

Waitlist seat offer procedure

1. Seat offers are sent by email to waitlisted students.
2. If you receive an offer, you have 48 hours to accept it.
3. Log into Borealis and select “Register for Classes” from the Academics menu in the vertical grey menu on the left-hand side.
4. Click Register Now to accept your seat offer.

Regulations

• Students must meet prerequisites, co-requisites, and program restriction requirements to qualify to be on a waitlist.
• Students may not waitlist for a section if they are already registered in a different section for the same course in the same semester
• Students may only waitlist for one section of a course in a semester. However, students may be on as many different course-waitlists in a semester that they want
• Waitlists only apply to the applicable semester and do not carry forward to future semesters
• If seats become available, seats are offered on a first-waitlisted, first-offered basis. NLC reserves the right to manage waitlists to meet specific enrolment needs.
• If an additional section is offered after waitlists have started, all waitlists for the course will be combined and seats in the new section will be offered in the order of the combined waitlist.
• NLC reserves the right to add additional spaces to meet specific enrolment needs.

Registration Times

Students are assigned a schedule of registration as part of the registration process.  Registration times are emailed to students prior to the first day of registration. Questions or concerns about registration times should be emailed to StudentHelp@nlc.bc.ca.

Student Responsibilities

Prerequisites and Co-requisites

Students are required to meet prerequisites and co-requisites as stated in the Academic Calendar Course Descriptions. To facilitate registration, the College allows students currently attending a prerequisite course to enrol in the desired course. Students will be dropped from the desired course if a final grade for a prerequisite course does not satisfy pre- or co-requisite requirements. A reduced refund may be assessed as a result.

Co-requisite courses may be taken concurrently or prior to the desired course. Dropping a co-requisite course requires the desired course be dropped as well.

Waitlisted sections do not satisfy pre- or co- requisite requirements.

Students who meet course prerequisites, but the system is preventing them from registering should contact StudentHelp@nlc.bc.ca. Please include your student ID number, the section desired, and the semester you are enrolling in.

Students who believe they may meet prerequisites through alternative ways should read the Pre-requisite Waiver Form and compile their proof of learning. Then request an appointment with a program advisor by contacting ssh@nlc.bc.ca.

Protecting Your Records

Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy legislation prevents staff from releasing any information about a student’s record or registration to anyone other than the student. We must, therefore, deal directly with the student on any inquiries, transactions or appeals, and require students to provide picture identification for all services.

If, for any reason, you need a parent or other person to act on your behalf, and wish to give them full authority to do so, you must provide NLC with a written release authorizing NLC to provide information to that person.

Restrictions

Courses and sections are often restricted to specific types students. If the restriction is for a specific program, students must have been admitted to that program. To pursue an exception for a restricted section, please contact the program chair of the course.

System Security

Your student number, usernames and passwords used to gain access to D2L, Borealis and any other NLC online systems should be kept confidential so that no unauthorized person can gain access to your student records. Students are responsible for properly securing their username and password.

Time conflicts

Students are not permitted to enrol in sections with overlapping times.  This may include sections that start and stop at the same time.

Waitlists

Most course sections will allow students to go on a waitlist when there is no more space available. When space becomes available, seats are offered on a first-waitlisted, first-offered basis. Students may not transfer their waitlist position, an offer, or a seat to another student.

Students who place themselves on a waitlist:

• Are responsible for checking their email every day until the add/drop period is over.
• Must meet prerequisites (see Prerequisites and Co-Requisites) before adding themselves to the waitlist.
• If a space becomes available in a class, students:
• Will be sent an email to the email address on their student record, containing instructions for accepting a seat offer
• Will be given 2 calendar days (48 hours) to accept an offer if a space becomes available.
• Students can choose Accept an offer (register) or Decline an offer (remove themselves from the waitlist).
• Student who accept an offer must pay deposits or tuition upon registration (see Deposits, Charges, and Penalties).
• Student who do not respond to the offer will be automatically removed from the waitlist 2 calendar days after the seat offer is sent.
• Students may re-add themselves to a waitlist, but will be placed at the end of the list.  The College is not responsible for missed email messages.
• Note:  If not getting registered in a course in a specific semester will delay your graduation, please contact your program chair for assistance.

Withdrawing

Students have the option to withdraw from courses after the add/drop period is over, until the last day to withdraw. Dates and deadlines are available in the Registration Guide or in the Academic Schedule for semester-based programs, and in the timetables for non semester-based programs.

Students who do not withdraw before the deadline will be assigned an appropriate final grade. There is no refund for withdrawing.

If there are extenuating circumstances (situations beyond the student’s control), please contact the applicable Dean.