Below are step-by-step instructions on the key aspect of course registration. This walkthrough will teach you how to search for courses, add them to your schedule, enrol, and other important functions that exist in Bear Tracks.
⭐If you are registered or are planning to register with Augustana’s Accessibility Resources, this may influence your course registration.
Connect to Discuss your Schedule
⭐Screenshots were taken from both desktop and mobile versions of Bear Tracks. Depending on your device, the screen may look slightly different but the functions will be the same.
Picking your courses in Bear Tracks may seem daunting at first! In this video, we’ll share some tips on using some key features available to you in your Shopping Cart. Learn how to identify time conflicts, see your schedule in a different way, and get that verification we are all looking for from time to time! Troubleshoot as you go to make that final click to enrol in courses as exciting and fulfilling as it should be!
Search For Classes
Step 4
A “Search For Classes” search bar will appear. You can search by typing in a keyword using the search bar or by clicking on “Additional ways to search”. Below, we will walk you through the different ways that you can search for courses:
Searching for a Specific Course
If you know the specific course that you are wanting to take, you can enter the course code in the search bar. For example, search for AUIDS 101 (a required course for all first year students).
⭐All Augustana courses start with the letters “AU”.
Searching for a Partial Course Number
If you want to look for 100, 200, 300, or 400-level courses in a specific discipline, you can type the partial course number in the search bar, such as “AUIDS 1”.
Searching by Topic
If there is a specific topic of interest, such as drama, you can search for that too!
⭐Searching by topic will show you all of the courses taught at the University of Alberta that meet this criteria, including North Campus and Campus Saint Jean courses. You can refine your search results to show just Augustana courses by clicking on the AU course code in the “subject” section on the left-hand side menu. Remember – all Augustana courses start with the letters “AU”.
Searching for courses using “Additional Ways to Search”
This function allows you to search for an available subject, catalogue number, or even an instructor's last name. A drop down menu will appear when you click on “Available Subjects”.
⭐You will want to select “Augustana Faculty courses.” All courses offered at the Augustana Campus are grouped together in the drop-down menu alphabetically starting with “AU”.
Search by specific meeting day or time
If you have a specific time slot in your schedule, want to avoid an early morning class, or are searching for a 3-week course, consider using the advanced filters when viewing your search results.
Watch a video walkthrough on enrolling in courses
Learn to navigate the Bear Tracks to build your schedule in this easy how-to video! “AU” courses can be found in a number of ways and an Advisor from the Student Academic Services (SAS) Office will take you through each of them. Search for your courses and refine the results to ensure you are getting the courses you need when you need them!
Step 5
Under the search results, you will see the available sections that meet your search criteria. Notice that the top of the screen says that it is only showing open classes? Sometimes, a course you need may be full and will not appear in the search results, so we recommend removing this filter.
Step 6
By selecting your course of interest, you can access a description of the course by clicking on “Course Information”. This description will list any pre-requisite(s) or co-requisite(s). In the “Class Selection” section you can view the available sections, course times, and availability.
Important notes
- Look under “Room” to see the location of a course.
- If a room is listed, the course is in-person.
- If “ONLINE” is listed, then the course will be offered remotely.
- If a course beginning with “AU” has “MAIN” as room, it does NOT mean that it is on the North Campus.
b. When selecting courses, the course status will be listed as "Open", "Full", "Cancelled", or "Closed". You may successfully enrol into a course that is listed as "Open".
⭐Other criteria may need to be fulfilled, in order to successfully enrol into a 200-level or above course (e.g. pre-requisite courses, year standing and/or no time conflicts).
c. The course offerings available at Augustana may vary in their class dates for each term. When selecting courses, you can determine the duration of the course, using the "Dates" listed to inform whether it is a 3- week, 5-week or 11-week course. The Augustana Course List Tool can also help with this!
⭐Students are permitted to take one ★3 course in the 3-week block and up to four ★3 courses in the 11-week session.
d. Some science courses have a lecture and a lab component. When this occurs, the system will display all available combinations and you can select your desired lab/lecture combination.
e. Some courses have important notes associated with them. You can view any notes associated with the course section by clicking on the note icon next to the section number.
Step 7
Choose the course section you wish to add to your schedule and click “Add to Cart”.
⭐ If your enrollment date has already arrived, you will also see an ‘Enrol’ button. We recommend first adding courses to your cart to ensure that the course does not conflict with any other planned course.
If the course you are interested in is full, you can add the course to your ‘Watch list’. This enables Bear Tracks to notify you when a seat(s) becomes available. All students on a Watch list are notified of an open seat and registration is first come, first served.
If the course you are interested in is full, you can add the course to your ‘Watch list’. This enables Bear Tracks to notify you when a seat(s) becomes available. All students on a Watch list are notified of an open seat and registration is first come, first served.
Step 8
Once you have added a course to your “Shopping Cart”, you can view the course in your cart by clicking on “Shopping Cart and Watch List”.
Step 9
The “Shopping Cart and Watch List” section has 3 headings: “Watch List”, “Time Conflicts”, and “Your Shopping Cart”. In this example, when looking at the “Shopping Cart” you will notice that the AUENG 102 course is flagged as a time conflict. You can look in the “Time Conflict” section to see what it is conflicting with. To correct time conflicts:
- Review the two courses that are conflicting and see if there is another section of one of the courses that you can enrol in.
- Remove the conflict by selecting the class and clicking “Delete”.
- Add another course or section that does not conflict. It’s useful to have a list of courses, including the semester(s) they are offered, written down (as suggested on the Choose your Courses page)
⭐If you prefer to see a visual of your schedule, you can click on the “Open your Draft Schedule in a new tab” link at the top of the page.
⭐ If a class appears on the right side of the day, it is an 11-week course. If it appears on the left side, it is a 3-week course. Two adjacent courses may look like the times are overlapping but they run during different parts of the term.
⭐If you encounter a situation where courses are crossed out, it is because there is a time conflict that needs to be resolved.
Step 10
Once you have successfully scheduled five courses for the Fall term (one 3-week course and four 11-week courses), you will want to review your shopping cart and make sure there are no time conflicts. If there are no additional time conflicts, select the courses that you wish to enrol in and click the “Validate” button. The validation button will alert you to any issues with your schedule prior to enrolling.
Step 11
If your course schedule does not have any time conflicts, the pre/co-requisites are met, and does not exceed the allowable number of credits per term, there will be a green checkmark beside each course. If your enrollment date has arrived, you can now enrol in the courses. If your enrollment date has not yet arrived, you can continue this process and build your draft schedule for the Winter Term.
Step 12
Once you have enrolled in courses, you can go to “My Schedule - Calendar” to see a copy of your Fall Term schedule.
⭐Once your schedule for the Fall Term is built, repeat this process for the Winter Term. When building your Winter Term schedule, you may run across time conflicts that require you to switch some courses from the Winter Term to the Fall Term. Use the Augustana Course List Tool to help you find courses that are offered in both terms.
⭐Once you have finished building both your Fall and Winter Term schedules, you are ready to complete your registration by enrolling in the courses in your “Shopping Cart”, if you have not already. You can enrol in courses on your enrollment date.
On your enrolment date, you will be able to complete your registration by enrolling in the classes in your “Shopping Cart”. Once you have enrolled in courses, you will see them appear in your “My Schedule - Calendar”.
⭐Some courses have seats reserved for specific majors and/or professional intentions. If you are unable to enrol in a course because of a reserve cap, please enrol in another course in its place for the time being. Reserves will be lifted on the first business day after August 1st. As a result, you may be able to enrol in the course then.⭐If you are unable to enrol in a course required for your major and/or professional intention, please email augsas@ualberta.ca
Add/Drop Deadlines
Be sure to know the Add/Drop deadlines for the 3-week block. They will often be the day after a classes begins. The Add/Drop Deadline for the 11-week session is generally 8 business days after the start of classes." To confirm the Add/Drop Deadline, check out the “Important Dates” page.
If you plan to drop your 3-week course and add a new class ensure you complete this right away!
Watch a video walkthrough about how to drop a course
Enrolling in courses does not mean your schedule is set in stone! In this video, we’ll walk you through the necessary steps to remove a course from your schedule, no sweat! We also highlight some key things to watch for to ensure you are dropping your course(s) at the right time.
Note: AUIDS 101 is a required course for all Augustana Faculty degree programs. As a result, you cannot drop this course on your own since it is required to graduate. In certain situations if a student is unable to complete AUIDS 101 as their first course, they will still be required to take it the next time it is offered, even if that is the start of their second year.
Drop vs. Swap
Dropping a course removes a course from your schedule leaving nothing in its place. It will free up time and credits for you to enrol in another course if you wish. Swapping a course means you are dropping and adding a new course simultaneously (replacing) without the risk of losing the seat in one (or both) courses. If you are unable to enrol in the new course, the swap will not take place.
⭐The swap feature is great to use when courses start to fill up!
When searching for classes be sure to take note of the course status on the left hand side. The class will show as Open, Full, or Closed (Contact Department). Please read the error message you received carefully to help determine the underlying issue.
If you have having trouble enrolling in a class the issue could be one of the following:
Closed Class
A class may be closed to web registration due to department restrictions. Study-abroad, field studies, and practicum courses require students to complete a separate application prior to being enrolled. Please speak to a Student Advisor about the process for getting enrolled.
Financial Hold
You will be unable to add any classes to your schedule if you have any outstanding fees. In Bear Tracks, click on the “Financial Account”" tile to see if you have a hold on your record, the amount owing, and which department you need to contact to clear the hold. Once your fees have been paid the financial hold will be lifted and you will be able to enrol in classes. Students should contact the Student Service Centre if they require assistance or have questions about their fees.
Full Class
If a class is full you will be unable to enrol. You can add the class to your Watch List. An email notification will be sent to your UAlberta email account if and when a spot becomes available, at which time you can log in to Bear Tracks to attempt to register in that class again. (Watch List registration is first-come, first-served. All students are notified so don’t delay!) If you prefer a text message notification you can update your notification preference in Bear Tracks.
Pre/Co-Requisites
If you are missing the listed pre and/or corequisite in the course description, Bear Tracks will not let you enrol. If you are missing the corequisite, enrol in the specified corequisite then try enrolling again. If you have taken a prerequisite from another faculty or institution Bear Tracks may not recognize it, please contact the Student Advisors for assistance.
Repeat Class
If you are enrolling in a class that you have already been granted credit for, Bear Tracks will allow you to enroll but will receive a message stating “you have registered in a class that you have previously taken.” Students at the U of A are not permitted to receive credit for the same course twice with exception to Selected Topics courses.
Restrictions & Reserves
Certain classes will have specific restrictions associated with them, for example: reserved seats for specific year standing or majors (these are removed on August 1st). Most travel abroad options are closed to web registration. Students should visit the (Inter)national course page for applications.
Time Conflicts
Check your draft schedule in your "Shopping Cart" to confirm which classes are in conflict. If a class has multiple sections, switch to a different section.
Unit Load
Students are permitted to take a maximum of 3 credits in the 3-week block and 14 credits in the 11-week session. You will receive an error message if you are attempting to enrol above the maximum allowed unit load.
