Advising and Registration Information

You may view degree requirements (requirements for all students seeking a degree) in the current issue of the MSU Catalog; The requirements for your specific major option are in the B.S. in Biological Sciences section of the catalog. You can also view the departmental curriculum worksheets on the Ecology Academic Resources page. If you have questions about your requirements, please contact your Advisor. (See more info on Advisors below.)

All first-year freshman, new transfer students, and some continuing students are assigned to visit with Liz Donald, Natural Sciences Academic Advisor in the College of Letters and Science, before they can register for classes for the next semester. The Department of Ecology Academic Services Coordinator will assign faculty advisors for all other freshman, sophomore, junior, senior, and post-baccalaureate students. Current MSU students who change their major to Biological Sciences will be assigned an advisor as part of the Change of Curriculum process.

Once your advisor is assigned, their name will be in the top left corner of your DegreeWorks worksheet. To find it, go to MyInfo>Student Services>DegreeWorks. To find their contact info, search their name in the search bar at the top right-hand corner of any montana.edu page.

To request an advising meeting, most of our faculty prefer their advisees to email them to schedule. Feel free to also call or stop in their offices during their posted office hours. Students assigned to Natural Sciences Advisor, Elizabeth Walsh, may make appointments through the appointment scheduler by searching her name, or by following the link on the CLS Advising Center site.

Advising for registration of the next term officially begins around mid-semester of the previous term, and registration opens up several weeks after. (Ex: Advising for Fall 2016 Course Registration began March 21, 2016 and actual Course Registration opened March 28, 2016 for Seniors.) Registration Dates and other deadlines are available in the Academic Calendar of the Registrar’scurrent term handbook or on the Registration page. The Registration timetable shows the date by which students can register. First days to register are based on your total earned credits, which can be found at the bottom of your unofficial transcript, available to you on MyInfo in the Student Services tab. If you are a returning student who is assigned to an advisor other than Elizabeth Walsh, your first date of registration will also be listed with your PIN in your DegreeWorks Notes section.

You may also wish to schedule a meeting with your advisor if you are unsure that you’re in the correct major, if you have questions about internship possibilities or job opportunities in this major, or if you have questions or concerns about your courses. To schedule with a faculty advisor, simply email them or stop in during their open office hours. Students may schedule appointments with Natural Sciences Advisor, Liz Donald, on the CLS Advising Center site.

The Department of Ecology requires first-year freshman and new transfer students to meet with advisor Liz Donald before registration for the next semester, but does not require returning students with a faculty advisor to meet with them before registering. We do encourage advising conversations, as our advisors are great resources for choosing classes or asking academic and professional questions. If you wish to structure your own course work, paper curriculum worksheets are available in the Ecology Office that can be used as a checklist along with your DegreeWorks worksheet on MyInfo. Note: Many of our required 300- and 400-level courses are only offered in select semesters, and may have a required sequence based on prerequisite offerings. Please take planning your courses seriously, and meet with your advisor if you have questions.

To request an advising meeting, most of our faculty prefer their advisees to email them to schedule. Feel free to also call or stop in their offices during their posted office hours. Freshman and transfer students may schedule appointments with Natural Sciences Advisor, Liz Donald, on the CLS Advising Center site.

In order to register on or after the date registration opens for you, you will need a Registration PIN. Freshman & Transfer students will get this PIN from advisor Elizabeth Walsh during their advising meetings, and Sophomore through Senior students will find their PIN on DegreeWorks, in the Notes section at the bottom of the worksheet. Scroll to the bottom of your worksheet and you’ll see “Fall Semester 20xx - ######” – this number is your Registration PIN for the registration period; The PIN changes each semester. The date that registration opens for you will also be listed. If you cannot find your PIN or think you don’t have one, please ask your advisor.

Registration Dates and other deadlines are available in the Academic Calendar of the Registrar’s current term handbook or on the Registration page. The Registration timetable shows the date by which students can register. First days to register are based on your total earned credits, which can be found at the bottom of your unofficial transcript, available to you on MyInfo in the Student Services tab. Closer to advising/registration for the next semester, the date that registration opens for you will populate in the top left of your DegreeWorks worksheet. (DegreeWorks can be found by logging in to MyInfo.)

CatCourse is an efficient course schedule planning tool, available in your MyInfo>Student Services>Registration>CatCourse. It allows you to choose your required courses for that semester, then shows you all available schedule options. You then pick the best option for you, and register from that schedule. If you need help, instructions on how to use CatCourse are on the Registrar’s website.

For students who are familiar with registering with CRNs, this option is still available to you. You may use the Schedule of Classes to search available times, create a schedule on your own, write down the CRNs (a 5-digit number associated with each section), then plug the CRNs into the boxes at MyInfo>Student Services>Registration>Add/Drop Classes. This method may also help you to add or drop a single course after you have registered for your courses from CatCourse.

See section below "Where do I get my Registration PIN?" for department-specific information on receiving your Registration PIN. More information on Registration is available on the Registrar's website.

In order to register on or after the date registration opens for you, you will need a Registration PIN. First-year freshman & new transfer students will get this PIN from their advisor Liz Donald during their advising meetings, and all other students will find their PIN on DegreeWorks, in the Notes section at the bottom of the worksheet. Scroll to the bottom of your worksheet and you’ll see “Fall Semester 20xx - ######” – this number is your Registration PIN for the registration period, and changes each semester. The date that registration opens for you will also be listed. If you cannot find your PIN or think you don’t have one, please ask your advisor.

There are a handful of reasons that you could receive a registration error. MyInfo will tell you a brief reason for the error for each section that does not allow you to register. Common errors are:

Class Restriction - Some of our courses restrict registration to Juniors and Seniors only. If you're still at Sophomore class standing, you will get this error. Occasionally instructors may allow an override of this requirement (ex: if you're just a few credits under the next class standing). See instructors on a case-by-case basis to discuss errors.

Consent of Instructor - This restriction is placed on courses for several different reasons. You must contact the instructor directly (or you may contact the main departmental office) in order to receive instructions on how to register for the class. 

Linked Class Required - Many courses include a lecture and lab, both sections of which must be registered for at the exact same time. If they are not registered together, you will get this error reminder.

Major Restriction - A course is restricted to only students in certain majors, and does not include your major.

Prerequisite error - You either have not passed the prerequisite, or you took the course at a transfer institution and must have the instructor okay use of that transfer course as a prerequisite.

Time Conflict - Two of your courses overlap in time by at least several minutes. You'll need to choose a different schedule.

If you are unsure about what an error means or why you're unable to get into a class, you may contact the Ecology Academic Services Coordinator or discuss the error directly with the instructor. The Schedule of Classes lists instructors for each course section. If no instructor is listed, you can contact the main department that manages the course (listed on the left side of the schedule table). If the instructor of an Ecology course is willing to give an override and let you into their class, they must provide written permission to the Ecology Academic Services Coordinator who will help you register in the course. Instructors for courses in other departments will communicate with you about how to register for the course. After the deadline for adding courses online, students must use an Add/Drop form (available in the Ecology Office or on the Registrar's website) instead of registering for Ecology courses with the Academic Services Coordinator.

1. Perform an Evaluation in DegreeWorks with your Academic Advisor.
   
   - Please make sure that you have a Degreeworks plan that is up to date before you meet with your advisor.
   
   - The Department of Ecology expects all students to create a plan by the start of their junior year. Your plan is not binding. It just gives you and your advisor the chance to make sure you understand what courses you need to graduate, and the order in which they need to be taken.  The plan becomes locked during or shortly after the meeting with your advisor, signifying that you have finalized the list of courses that you need to take in order to graduate.
   
   

2. If you need help with Degreeworks- including how to make a plan-, see this link for help with all things Degreeworks. Your advisor will send a note to the Certifying Officer (the Ecology Academic Services Coordinator) to add the ”certifying officer note”.
   
   - You will receive a note from the Certifying Officer informing you that the application is open.
   
   
3. Complete an Application for graduation online via MyInfo. *The online application in MyInfo will not be available to you until your Notes are updated by your Advisor and Certifying Officer.*
   
   
4. Participate in Priority Registration for the upcoming semester.
   
   
5. Attend your Commencement ceremony (optional).
   
   - Note from the Registrar: Spring and Fall term degree candidates must walk in the term in which they are completing their degree. Summer undergraduate level candidates are invited to walk in the Spring ceremonies.  Summer graduate level candidates are invited to walk in the Fall ceremonies.
   
   
6. Receive your Diploma to the address you provide.

 

 

You can find more Ecology student resources on our Academic Resources page. If you have questions on any of the above or other advising questions after viewing those resources, please contact the advisor assigned to you (see "Who is my Advisor?" section above). If you do not yet have an assigned advisor or are having trouble reaching them, you may contact the Ecology Department Academic Services Coordinator at ecology@montana.edu or 406-994-2911.