1. How do I choose my classes?
Before choosing any semester schedule, you are strongly encouraged to meet with your academic advisor.
New Student Orientation is mandatory for all new students. During New Student Orientation, you will attend an advising session and meet with an academic advisor. You will have a chance to discuss your many academic options at that time.
2. How many courses should I take each semester?
Students must be enrolled in at least 12 credit hours to be considered full time. However, most students will be encouraged to enroll in 15-16 credit hours. Students should take into consideration whether they have other time commitments including jobs, family, extracurricular activities, and/or commuting.
3. How do I find out what classes are available?
Students can search for available courses in MyNIU's Student Center. Click here for a step by step process Registering for Classes.
4. When can I register for classes?
Students can check TRACS Registration Eligible Times via Registration and Records.
Students can also Logon to MyNIU and note their Registration Eligible Time listed in their Student Center tab.
5. How do I make changes to my schedule?
Changes to your schedule can be made via MyNIU and/or in conjunction with your academic advisor. Opportunities for add/drop are abundant prior to the first day of class and through the first week of class. No add/drop is valid unless recorded by the student with the Office of Registration and Records, and no new classes may be added after this period. Please consult the academic calendar for more specific information.
Add/drop procedures include adding a class, dropping a class, changing from audit to credit or credit to audit, changing a section of the same course, and changing to or from the pass/fail option.
6. What is the difference between dropping a course and withdrawing from a course?
Students may drop a course in MyNIU through Friday of the first week of classes in the semester. When the class is dropped, it does not appear on the student's transcript. After the drop period, students may withdraw from courses up to the end of the first eight weeks of the semester; the course remains a part of the student's record and will be recorded as a W on the student's transcript. To withdraw from a course, students must contact their major college (“undecided – any college” students see the Academic Advising Center).
7. How do I withdraw from a course?
All requests for withdrawal from a course must be initiated and processed through the central advisement office of the college in which the student is pursuing a major. “Undecided –Any College” students should make their requests for withdrawal with the Academic Advising Center, Adams Hall, room 404.
8. How long do I have to withdraw from a course?
A student may withdraw from a course up to the end of the eighth week of a semester or the fourth week of a half-semester course or eight-week summer session course.
9. Is there a limit to how many times I may withdraw from a course?
New students and transfer students are limited in the number of semester hours from which they can withdraw. Students with 6 or fewer transfer hours are allowed to withdraw from a total of 17 semester hours during the pursuit of the baccalaureate degree.
The maximum number of hours from which a transfer student may withdraw during the pursuit of a baccalaureate degree at NIU is determined by the number of hours of transfer credit accepted at the time of enrollment at NIU plus all hours earned at NIU prior to enrollment, as indicated in the following table.
|
Transfer Plus Pre-enrollment NIU Hours |
Maximum Withdrawal Hours |
|
1-6 |
17 |
|
7-15 |
15 |
|
16-30 |
12
|
|
31-45 |
9 |
|
46 or more |
6 |
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10 . What are FIGs?
FIGs is short for Freshmen Interest Group or Focused Interest Group, either of which enrolls a common cohort of students in a small, personal "learning community" by linking general education or other undergraduate courses around a common theme or area of interest. Typically, a Focused Interest Group, designated as FIGS 200, consists of two or three courses taken in conjunction with each other, which examine a common theme in disciplines within or across the humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences. Students are enrolled automatically in each of the courses. Faculty members focus on the common theme while teaching their own courses as discrete classes.
Because students are automatically enrolled in related courses with students of similar interests, they all will have a chance to get to know fellow FIG participants more readily than in isolated classes. As a member of a FIG, each student is an active participant in a constant and stable group of peers taking classes together, so each member has greater intellectual interaction and more opportunity for collaborative learning. A FIG provides a wonderful opportunity to form study groups with students in a learning community who share common interests; and it is a great way to make friends.
Freshmen Interest Groups, designated as FIGS 100, on the other hand, link general education courses commonly taken by freshmen. These FIGs are identified under the general headings of Humanities and the Arts, Social Sciences, Natural Sciences, and the like. While they typically link LA&S general education courses, they can also include courses from art, music, and theater, as well as courses from other NIU colleges.
11. Why should students consider enrolling in a FIG?
There are some compelling personal and academic reasons for doing so. Studies repeatedly have shown that participation in focused learning communities throughout the freshman and undergraduate years broadens students' college experience and contributes significantly to their success. By linking courses to a central theme or area of interest, a FIG integrates ideas across disciplinary boundaries and allows students to explore different intellectual perspectives, while synthesizing their own. At the same time, a FIG fulfills key university requirements.
12. What are the requirements to enroll in a FIG?
Registration for a FIG is not difficult at all. Students simply register in T.R.A.C.S. with a single reference number for the particular FIG that interests them. Students who participate in a FIG are thus registered for each of the courses that comprise the FIG. In Focused Interest Groups, students also participate in some out-of-class activities, such as informal discussion groups, field trips, guest lectures, or films.
Current FIGS Course Offerings