Frequently Asked Questions about Registering for Courses
Steven J Zeil
Some Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about registering for on-line and distance learning courses.
1 Why won’t LEO let me enroll in your class? Can I get an override?
There are several reasons why the automated LEO registration system might refuse to let you into a class. As rule, course instructors will need to know what the problem is before they can issue an override for you or before they are even able to decide if they are willing to do so.
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You might be trying to register for a section at the wrong site or room based upon your registration status at ODU.
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The course section might be full. Note that this might change later in the registration period.
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The course has co-requisites (e.g., a required lab or recitation section), you need to register for those at the same time you register for the main section. Review the course syllabus and on-line catalog listings to see what those might be.
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Your records at ODU may indicate that you lack one or more of the prerequisites of the course. Review the course syllabus and on-line catalog listings to see what those might be.
If LEO refuses to allow you to register, it generally gives some indication as to which of the above is the problem. If you ask an instructor to override LEO and let you into the course, they will have to ask you what LEO indicated the problems was. Instructors really cannot enter a blanket override for all possible registration issues.
2 Why does LEO tell me “Campus restriction: You need to select a different CRN”?
When you enrolled at ODU, you were assigned a home “campus” depending on whether you were a local student or a distance student. You have tried to register for a site that does not match that “campus”. You need to pick the course section whose site or room name matches your home location (or you need to contact the Registrar’s office about getting your campus designation changed).
3 Where are the rooms “web2”, “ web5”, “web7”, and “web8”?
In fact these are not rooms at all. These codes are used with “pure” web courses that commonly do not have regularly scheduled meeting times.
A course section listed in “web2” is open to enrollment to anyone on the Norfolk campus or at one of the four Higher Educ. Centers (Virginia Beach, Peninsula, Tri-Cities, and Northern Virginia). A section listed as “web5” is open to anyone else in Virginia, and “web7” denotes a section open to distance students in the U.S. but outside Virginia. Finally, “web8” is open to students outside of the U.S.
Note: For the 2020-2021 Academic Year, students who are registered as being in Virginia can sign up for web2 course sections even if they live outside of Hampton Roads. Consequently, many courses will no longer have separate web5 sections.
4 Where are the rooms “wc2”, “ wc5”, “wc7”, and “wc8”?
Like “web2”, “ web5”, and “web7”, these are not rooms at all. These codes are used with online courses that meet at a specific time via network conferencing.
A course section listed in “wc2” is open to enrollment to anyone on the Norfolk campus or at one of the four Higher Educ. Centers (Virginia Beach, Peninsula, Tri-Cities, and Northern Virginia). Students at those sites may also have other CRNs offering the option of attending “live” at those locations.
A section listed as “wc5” is open to anyone else in Virginia, and “wc7” denotes a section open to distance students in the U.S. but outside Virginia. Finally, “wc8” is open to students outside of the U.S.
Note: For the 2020-2021 Academic Year, students who are registered as being in Virginia can sign up for wc2 course sections even if they live outside of Hampton Roads. Consequently, many courses will no longer have separate wc5 sections.
5 Why does LEO say the course is closed when some sections still have seats available?
Distance courses that are offered in multiple geographic sections are subject to an overall cap on enrollment as well as caps on the individual sections. If the overall course is full, you will not be able to register for any section, even if that section did not reach its individual cap.
6 Why are enrollments capped in CS Distance Learning courses?
When we offer a regular on-campus course, enrollment is limited by physical factors such as classroom size and by our own estimates of how many students can be supported by a single instructor before the quality of instruction begins to degrade.
Distance courses, especially web-based courses, are even more sensitive than conventional courses to the instructor’s ability to respond promptly to individual student’s questions and problems. An online course may be divided into dozens of sections, each associated with a different site or geographic region. Obviously, if each site were to register as many students as go into a normal on-campus class, the instructor’s ability to respond to individual students would be drastically reduced.
To preserve the quality of instruction in web-based courses, the CS Dept. has adopted the simple guideline of limiting distance course enrollments to the same limits that we would impose on an on-campus course. To do otherwise would, we believe, compromise the educational experience offered to the distance students.
7 Why are the caps at my site so small?
To allow students at each site equal access to our offerings, we place caps on each site’s section enrollment so that no one site can monopolize the course during the early enrollment period. (Not all sites conduct registration at the same time, so a simple first-come, first-served policy is not considered fair.)
As the registration period progresses, adjustments may be made in these caps as it becomes clear that demand for the course is higher at some sites than at others. If the total demand for a course at all sites exceeds the overall enrollment cap, we look into alternatives such as finding additional instructors or additional resources to support a higher enrollment load, but this may not be possible (particularly if the situation does not become apparent until late in the scheduling and enrollment process).
8 I want to enroll in a CS course but the section is full. What do I do?
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Does the course have a waiting list?
If so, put your name on it.If not, let your adviser know that you are trying to get into the course. We try to respond to enrollment pressures as well as we can (there’s no incentive for us to turn students away!) but we need to learn from the advisers which sections are in the most demand.
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If you are a Norfolk student or a student at one of the ODU Higher Education Centers in the Hampton Roads area, and if it is still the first several weeks of registration, just wait. As explained above, enrollment caps at these sites start small to give other sites some opportunity to register for the course) but are often relaxed after the first several weeks of registration.
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You can email the instructor asking to be admitted. Don’t be surprised if you don’t hear back immediately. Your request may go into a queue until the overall picture of enrollment pressure becomes clearer. (In fact, a quick response is almost bound to be a negative.) You should indicate any special reasons why the instructor should admit you even though they are turning down similar requests from many other people. Factors to explain include:
- Is this course required for your major?
- How close are you to graduating? What would the impact on your degree progress be if you failed to get this course?
- If other sections of this course are available and have open seats, why can’t you register for one of them?
- Were there legitimate reasons why you failed to register earlier, before the course filled up?
If a course has a waiting list, instructors are usually reluctant to use overrides to let individuals into the course directly, as this would be unfair to students waiting their turn in the list.
9 How do I sign up for a waiting list?
Some courses have official waiting lists integrated into the ODU registration system. You will know that a course has a waiting list when you see something similar to the notice shown on the right appearing in the course listing when you try to register.
The Registrar’s office provides detailed instructions on how this works.
The CS Dept watches the length of these waiting lists to see where we need to add new course sections. And even if a new section is not added, joining the waiting list gets you a place in the line if someone currently enrolled in the course decides to drop it before classes start, which is actually a surprisingly common event.
Note that, if a course has a waiting list, instructors are unlikely to give you a direct override to get into the already-full class because that would be allowing you to “cut” in front of the line of people already waiting, which would usually not be fair to them.
10 I don’t officially have the prerequisites. Can I get a waiver?
If you think that ODU records about you are incorrect or incomplete for some reason, and that you have other courses and/or experience that are equivalent to the prerequisites, contact the course instructor and explain why you believe that you do have the background required to succeed in the course.
You need to make your case clearly and may need to back it up with details. For example, titles of courses you have taken may not be enough. You may need a syllabus and/or outline of the course to make your case.
Don’t be upset if the instructor is skeptical. We don’t want to set up a student for failure by admitting them to a course where they are unlikely to succeed.
If you are uncertain about whether your background is sufficient to take the course, search around and see if the website from prior semesters’ offerings are available. Look for both the course you are trying to get into and for the pre-requisite courses. Find out what those prerequisite courses actually teach and what is expected of students at the beginning of the next course. If the instructor believes that you are making an informed assessment of your own chances in the course, he or she is much more likely to agree to a waiver.