Course Registration

Starting in 2024, the My Schedule Builder tool is available in Bear Tracks to assist with schedule building and registration.

Student Registration Experience Guide

See below for additional information to help you along your registration journey.

General Guidelines for Enrolment Appointment Times

View your enrolment appointment time in Bear Tracks.

  • “ Manage Classes > My Enrollment Date;” or
  • “ My Schedule Builder > Enrollment Appointment” (displayed under each term when you first access to the tool)

Enrolment appointment times do not change once assigned for changes in registration unless the transfer credit granted is incorrect.

Ensure any transfer credit you have received is accurate by generating an unofficial transcript in Bear Tracks.

All times indicated are Mountain Standard Time (MST), local time in Edmonton.

Undergraduate and Graduate Registration Access

Mid-February

Spring and Summer registration access; all programs, all years. Spring and Summer registration dates exist in the Academic Schedule of the current University Calendar.

Early March

Students begin building their schedules in My Schedule Builder in Bear Tracks. Enrolment appointment date is visible in Bear Tracks via “My Schedule Builder” and “Manage Classes” tiles.

End of March

Advanced registration period opens for students continuing in the same program.

Students who have completed more credits (therefore are closer to degree completion) who are continuing in their same program have priority registration access to support timely program completion. 

  • Withdrawing, failing or taking fewer courses in a term may result in you having a later registration date than students who have successfully completed the maximum courseload per term.

The majority of students can begin registering at 7 a.m. on their enrolment appointment date (unless otherwise indicated)

  • On your enrolment appointment date ONLY: Priority access to the “My Schedule Builder” and all features in Bear Tracks between 6 - 8 a.m.
  • Between 6 - 7 a.m., log in and prepare to register.

If you attempt to register between 6 - 8 a.m. MST on a date other than your enrolment appointment date, an error message will display instructing you to log on after 8 a.m.

Early April and beyond

Open access to register; all programs, all years.

Students who are new to the University of Alberta or students reapplying after taking more than 12 months off — accept offer and pay deposit early (if applicable):

  • Deposits made through Bear Tracks can take several business days to clear; however, new students paying directly through Launchpad is faster.
  • Registration access takes two business days to enable after an offer is accepted and the deposit is paid and posted to Launchpad (this automated process enables registration access).

Continuing Education Registration Access

Mid-May

Fall / Winter registration opens

Mid-October

Spring / Summer registration opens

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How to Register in Courses and Manage Your Schedule

The basic steps for building your class schedule and registering are:

  1. Review your program information and requirements.
  2. Search for courses and build your schedule.
  3. Validate your schedule and register.
  4. Manage your classes; add, swap and drop/withdraw using “My Schedule Builder” or “Manage Classes” in Bear Tracks where appropriate.

Watch the video below to help you build your schedule and register. You can visit the Student Registration Experience Guide for step-by-step instructions on how to build your class schedule, register and manage your schedule.

Watch the video tutorial

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View and Pay Your Fees

After registration, the next steps include viewing and paying your fees. You can view your fee assessment and current balance in Bear Tracks, under the “Financial Account” tile. Note: Your fee assessment only reflects the costs associated with your courses and does not necessarily reflect your balance or any payments that have been made.

You will receive an email notification when your fee assessment is available. Fee assessments are usually released in July for Fall and Winter terms, and in March for Spring and Summer terms.

The deadline to pay your fees for the upcoming term(s) will be indicated in Bear Tracks. Failure to pay on time will result in late payment penalty charges.

Tuition fees can be paid through Bear Tracks or via online bank transfer. For a complete list of payment options, see the Payment Options webpage.

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Need help?

  • See Registration and Courses for additional information related to registration.
  • Contact the Student Service Centre if you have questions about how to register.
  • Contact an advisor in your faculty or department for academic advising specific to your program.
  • Report an issue if you are experiencing system related issues.

FAQ

How do I access the My Schedule Builder tool?

Log into Bear Tracks using your CCID. After logging in, select the "My Schedule Builder" tile.

Where can I find my enrolment dates?

You can see your enrolment dates by going to the “Manage Classes” tile and selecting “My Enrollment Dates” in Bear Tracks. Select a term to view to the enrollment date for that term.

You can also view your enrolment dates through the “My Schedule Builder” tile in Bear Tracks. A list of terms (i.e., Fall 2024, Winter 2024, Spring 2024, Summer 2024) will be displayed when you first enter My Schedule Builder. Enrolment date information is displayed under each term with details related to your specific enrolment appointment date (i.e., the date you can begin registering) and the open enrolment date for the term (i.e., the date that open access to registration begins for all programs and years of study).

Can I use My Schedule Builder on my phone to draft and save preferred schedules and register for courses?

Yes! My Schedule Builder is optimized so that you have a user-friendly mobile experience.

How can I search for classes in My Schedule Builder?

Once in My Schedule Builder, select the term you want to search classes for (i.e., Fall 2024). Make sure to set filters, including those housed in the “Advanced Search” to ensure your search corresponds to your preferences (i.e., location, faculty, course subject, etc.).

There are various ways to search for a course in the search bar in My Schedule Builder, including via course code, course name or instructor. Select the course from the search results.

See the Student Registration Experience Guide for more information.

How can I narrow down my Schedule Results?

Once you have selected the courses you would like to build your schedule around, there may be a number of different schedule variations to choose from. You can narrow these results down and build a schedule that meets your needs by blocking off your personal time, pinning a class and sorting your schedule.

Personal times
Block off times where you’re unable to participate in classes by clicking and dragging on the schedule to block out those times. If all results overlap with your personal time indicated, the first result will have the least overlap.
Pinning a class
Click on a class section to pin it in your schedule. This essentially “locks” that class into your schedule and can help narrow down your search results.
Sorting
Sort your schedule options based on criteria like 'mornings' or 'most time off-campus' using the “Sort By” drop-down menu.

See the Student Registration Experience Guide for more information.

Where can I find more information about course restrictions, prerequisites and additional details?

In the My Schedule Builder tile in Bear Tracks, check course details to ensure you meet all prerequisites and restrictions. To view course details, select the down arrow next to the course title. Restriction information may be found in the ‘Description,’ ‘Requirements,’ ‘Subject Notes’ and/or ‘Class Remarks,’ so read the information carefully.

How can I add a course to my schedule and create my schedule?

In My Schedule Builder, you can select the courses you want and need to take based on your degree requirements. Once you choose a course it will appear in your visual schedule. Once you have your preferred schedule, select "Get this schedule." This will allow you to proceed with adding the schedule to your cart, validating the schedule and registering on your enrolment date if there are no errors identified.

If registration is successful, you'll see "Added" in the results column. If unsuccessful, follow the instructions provided in the results column.

See the Student Registration Experience Guide for more information.

How can I build my extracurriculars into my schedule?

There are a few options you can take to ensure you block off the time you need: A) click and drag a time slot in your schedule to block off times dedicated to your personal schedule (i.e., work, sports, extracurricular activities, ect.), or B) manually add the personal times you want to block off at the bottom of your visual schedule using the “Personal Time” input bar.

Note: If the class schedule results you are shown conflict with the personal time you’ve blocked off, the first result offered will have the least overlap.

See the Student Registration Experience Guide for more information.

Can I see alternate course schedules in My Schedule Builder?

Yes — My Schedule Builder makes it easy for you to find a schedule that works for you! To see different schedule options, you’ll need to locate the visual schedule results page. View different schedules by using the right and left arrows located at the top of your schedule.

Note: Some online courses are asynchronous without scheduled times and will not show scheduled class times.

See the Student Registration Experience Guide for more information.

Why do I keep getting a “No results” notice when I try to see my schedule options?

If the courses you’ve selected conflict, the visual schedule will show a “No results” notice. To see other options, toggle the checkbox on or off of the courses you chose as part of your schedule. If you toggle a course off, it will hide it from your schedule but will not remove it.

Note: Check course details (select the down arrow next to the class code) to ensure you meet all prerequisites and restrictions.

See the Student Registration Experience Guide for more information.

How can I save my schedule preferences?

When you create a schedule that you want or find an alternate schedule that meets your needs, click on the “Save as Favourite” button located under that same schedule. You can save up to 15 schedules as favourites.

Saving more than one schedule is a great way to ensure you have alternate course date and time options that still meet your needs and schedule preferences if the initial class you are trying to register in fills up on registration day.

Note: Some online courses are asynchronous without scheduled times and will not show scheduled class times.

See the Student Registration Experience Guide for more information.

Bear Tracks used to have a feature called “Shopping Cart” where I could validate my courses. Does My Schedule Builder have something similar?

Yes! Validating your schedule will alert you to any restrictions in your course selections such as unmet prerequisites or department permission needed to register.

Note: Validating your courses does not register you in these courses.

Once you have a schedule that you would like to validate, select “Get this Schedule” at the bottom of the Schedule Results pane. In the ‘Action’ column, choose “Add to Cart” from the drop-down menu. and then click on “Do Actions.” If successful, you'll see "Added to Enrollment Course Cart" in the results column. You’ll need to return to the schedule results and select “Validate Enrollment Course Cart” at the bottom of the Schedule Results. If successful, you will see the message ‘OK to Add’ in the results column and if not successful you will see a message with information explaining the issue. You can go back to your schedule to adjust. Once you have your desired courses in in your enrolment cart and validated, you are ready to register on your enrolment date!

Tip: Revise your schedule and continue validating new classes until you have drafted a schedule without restrictions.

See the Student Registration Experience Guide for more information.

My enrolment date is today and I’m ready to register for my courses. Now what?

Log into Bear Tracks and select the “My Schedule Builder” tile. If you do not already have a schedule built, you will need to do that first. If you already built and validated a schedule you can proceed with registration. Make sure you have your desired schedule showing in your Schedule Results pane and select “Get This Schedule” at the bottom of the page. In the 'Actions' column, choose “Checkout (Enroll)” or "Enroll" from the drop-down menu (variation based on if you previously added courses to your cart/validated your schedule or not). Select "Do Actions." If successful, you'll see "Added" in the result column. If unsuccessful, you’ll see “Failed” along with details of the unmet restrictions. Follow the instructions provided in the result column.

Note: Your ability to enrol in your preferred courses will only appear on your specified enrolment appointment date.

See the Student Registration Experience Guide for more information.

A class I am registering in has a lecture, lab and seminar component. Can I continue to register in my labs and seminars separately from my lectures to better fit them into my schedule.

You can still register in a lecture-lab-seminar combination that best fits your schedule. You will need to enrol in them as a package as opposed to separately. When you search for a class that has multiple components, it will bring up all possible combinations. You are able to choose the combination that best fits your schedule.

See the Student Registration Experience Guide for more information.

I was unable to enrol in one of the classes on my enrolment date because the class was full. What should I do?

Prior to your enrolment date it is strongly recommended you create and save alternate schedules of the classes you want to take and to validate a preferred schedule. Doing so will help you navigate to the next available class you can take, knowing the alternate option still meets your scheduling needs.

Enrol in a different class

If you’re unable to find a section of the class with a spot available, you can add another class saved in an alternate schedule in your favourites to fill that spot in your schedule. If you don’t have an alternate schedule available you can search for alternate courses that meet your academic requirements and your scheduling needs.

If you’re not sure which alternative classes you might want to take, you can:

  • Review the requirements for your degree to determine which classes fulfill those requirements.
  • Use the filters and “Additional Search Options” functions to see the class offerings for a subject you’re interested in.

Once you’ve identified which classes you want to take as an alternative, add them to your schedule and attempt to register in them.

Add the Class to your watchlist

Note: The watchlist functionality in My Schedule Builder is coming.

Once it is available, you can add this class by using the watch list function in My Schedule Builder. The watchlist in My Schedule Builder works similarly to the previously used Watch List function in Bear Tracks. If a spot opens in this section of the class, you will receive a notification via text (SMS) and will have an opportunity to enrol.

Enrol in a separate section of the same class

Using My Schedule Builder, find a new section of the course (i.e., SOC 100 Lec A1 for SOC 100 A3) that works with your existing registration. Once your new section is in the schedule results area, click “Get this schedule.” The action will be listed as ‘Swap.’ Click “Do actions.” Alternatively, swap transactions can also be processed in Bear Tracks (Manage Classes > Swap Classes) by selecting the course you wish to swap from and perform a class search for the new class/section. Once you have selected your new section follow the steps in Bear Tracks to complete the registration transaction.

Tip: Before using the “Swap Classes” feature in Bear Tracks you may want to open up your existing schedule in a new tab to ensure that the new section works with your existing registration.

See the Student Registration Experience Guide for more information.

How can I drop a course I no longer wish to participate in?

Prior to the add/drop deadline drops can be processed in Bear Tracks through the “My Schedule Builder” tile or through the “Manage Classes” tile and selecting “Drop Classes and Withdrawals.” After the add/drop deadline you must use “Drop Classes and Withdrawals.”

See the Student Registration Experience Guide for more information.

How do I swap a course with a different course?

All students are encouraged to continue using the swap feature in Manage Classes in Bear Tracks. Swaps in “Manage Classes” are performed at the same time while swaps in “My Schedule Builder” will drop the class prior to adding the new class.

It is highly recommended that you perform class swaps in Bear Tracks using the swap function under the “Manage Classes” tile. Swapping in Manage Classes will ensure you get into your new class before your current class is dropped. You can swap classes up until the term registration deadline.

See the Student Registration Experience Guide for more information.

If I want to get a head start on my course planning across multiple years, what can I do?

Multi-year planning is a great way to get a sense of the requirements you’ll need to take to successfully complete your academic studies.

The planner tool in the “Manage Classes” tile in Bear Tracks is an optional long-term planning tool that can be used to select the courses you are planning on taking as part of your degree in preparation for your ongoing studies at the University of Alberta.

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