FAS Registration
On this page: About · Registration Updates · Faculty Resources · Student Resources · Timelines · Details
Teaching at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences - a website of resources of support for faculty teaching at Harvard College and Harvard Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.
About
In May 2022, the FAS faculty voted to shift course enrollment to the semester before courses start, beginning with registration for Spring 2024 courses. This new registration process will provide Harvard College and GSAS students with an earlier period to register for courses, more flexibility to adjust class schedules, and the ability to set their class schedules ahead of time and therefore be more thoughtful in their planning. Students will have time during the first week of classes to adjust their schedules during the add/drop period.
Shortly after the approval of the new FAS Registration process, a Registration Implementation committee was convened, comprised of faculty, administrators and students to be representative of main constituency groups across the FAS. The FAS Registration Implementation Committee is comprised of a smaller steering committee and a larger advisory group. The committee will continue to meet regularly and is considering important questions and challenges, and moving FAS towards implementation.
| FAS Classes Held | FAS Registration Period |
|---|---|
| Fall 2023 | Fall 2023 |
| Spring 2024 | Fall 2023 |
| Fall 2024 | Spring 2024 (Returning FAS students) |
| Fall 2024 | Fall 2024 (Incoming FAS students) |
FAS Registration Updates
Faculty
Departments
GSAS
Harvard College
Download Fall 2024 Registration (Returning) PDF
Fall 2024 registration for returning students (actively enrolled FAS students who will be returning for the following semester) will run from April 3–17, 2024.
Download Fall 2024 Registration (Incoming) PDF
Fall 2024 registration for incoming students (newly admitted students who have not enrolled in courses yet) will open on August 19, 2024.
Advising
Course Credits
- The course enrollment limits remain unchanged.
- To figure out how many classes to take, students should consult the Harvard College Student Handbook or Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Policies for relevant minimum and maximum required course loads.
Declaration of Concentration Due Date
- The due date for students to declare a concentration for Spring 2025 will be determined shortly.
- Concentration advisors will lift advising holds for newly declared students.
- Students should submit their declaration early to allow departments time to match students with concentration advisors.
Returning Student Advising
- Advising meetings will take place during registration, but you should also be in contact with your advisor at the start of term, particularly if you need guidance regarding changes to your course enrollments.
Check-In
Incoming Students
- Before registering for Fall 2024 courses, you will be asked to check-in via my.harvard.
- During check-in, you are required to update your personal information and clear a variety of holds.
- If you do not clear these holds by the start of term, you will be prevented from making any enrollment changes and will have to pay associated fees. Further, if the hold persists you could be prevented from registering in an upcoming term.
Returning Students
- The timing of the check-in process will not change – you will be prompted to check in at the start of each term via my.harvard.
- During check-in, you are required to update your personal information and clear a variety of holds.
- If you do not clear these holds by the start of term, you will be prevented from making any enrollment changes and will have to pay associated fees. Further, if the hold persists you could be prevented from registering in an upcoming term.
Classrooms
- Departments will be able to submit room preferences for discussion section/s to the Registrar ahead of the start of term, in addition to the room preference for the lecture. Please consult with your department classrooms coordinator. All class meetings with preferences submitted by the deadline will be assigned rooms for the entire term by the Registrar.
- If a course has a placeholder section in addition to the timed sections, students should be moved from the placeholder section into timed, capped sections by the deadline. If students are not moved by the deadline, instructors should communicate with their department and the Registrar to request space from the remaining room inventory.
Course Information
Canvas Sites and Syllabi
- For students: Canvas sites (course websites) and syllabi will be available when course offerings are published and registration opens.
- For faculty and departments: Syllabi and Canvas sites are critical to supporting student course exploration. Your Canvas site and basic, critical elements of your syllabus must be available to students on the first day of registration.
Finalizing Course Descriptions and Meeting Times
- The FAS faculty will vote to approve the 2024-2025 course offerings in early March 2024. This means instructors must have firm Fall 2024 curricular plans in place by that date in anticipation of registration in April 2024 for the fall term. Class details such as meeting times, or last-minute edits to descriptions or class notes must be finalized two weeks prior to registration period. Similar to Fall 2023, your Spring 2025 class details will need to be finalized by early October 2024 in time for the FAS spring registration period. See Registration Timelines for more information.
- The FAS Registrar's Office will communicate with you throughout this process as action items are required. Several FAS units collaborated to develop teaching-related resources and processes to align with the new registration timeline, which are compiled on a new website, Teaching at FAS.
Cross Registration
Impact during Fall 2024 Registration
- Students wishing to register for courses outside of FAS will register for those courses as soon as the school’s registration opens.
- Other schools will need to decide when they will permit FAS students to register, or when to permit their own students to cross register.
- Students outside of FAS at other Harvard schools or partner institutions should consult their home school regarding when they will permit cross registration.
- Harvard Divinity School plans to align with FAS registration dates, effective for Spring 2024 term.
Registration for PhD Students in Inter-Faculty Programs
- FAS recognizes that not all PhD students will be able to enroll in a complete schedule during FAS registration. Some PhD students who take courses at other Harvard schools will have to delay enrollment in required courses until other Harvard schools open their registration period.
- Consult with your program regarding your enrollment plans for the upcoming term.
Registering for MIT Courses
- FAS students may register for MIT courses when MIT permits cross registration.
- Consult the MIT Registrar’s Office website for updated details closer to the relevant term.
Faculty Hiring
For course offerings taught by non-ladder faculty
Departments should consider requests in late August in anticipation of a request due date in early October. Faculty Affairs will aim to give authorizations as early as possible, keeping in mind that there will be some unknowns and changes as hiring proceeds.
Departments should obtain the following information from candidates during the hiring process: syllabus; course title and basic course description. Syllabus ideally should cover some of the topics on the basic syllabus information for Canvas where possible.
Before the appointment is finalized, the department may be able to determine the following information so to establish the course offering in my.harvard and to create the basic Canvas site: course credit value; type of course (lecture, seminar); grading basis; course number
Post-hiring decision, but before teaching appointment has begun, departments may correspond with the new hire to clarify logistical information to help facilitate student course enrollment.
For courses where the instructor takes leave late
Departments may add courses over the summer once hiring has taken place, and students may register during drop/add period.
For established course offerings with instructor flexibility
Provide information about the course and a basic syllabus so that the course may be available for registration. The instructor may be added later.
Fees
Late Registration Fee (Harvard College continuing students)
$50
Harvard College students should register for a full course load of 16 credits (equivalent to four Harvard 4-credit courses) during the registration period. While this is the standard, you must be registered for a minimum of 8 credits or you will be assessed a late registration fee of $50 which will be applied to your bill for the following term. For instance, if you fail to register by April 17, 2024 for the upcoming Fall term, the late registration fee will be added to your Fall term bill.
Late Enrollment Fee
$40/week
Enrollment is not complete until you have enrolled in your minimum required course load – typically 16 credits (equivalent to four Harvard 4-credit courses).
- If you are registered for fewer than 8 credits by the first day of classes you will be charged $40 per week.
- Failure to complete the course registration process may subject you to disciplinary action and an involuntary leave of absence.
Leave of Absence
When to register for classes
- Starting in Spring 2024, students who are interested in returning to Harvard College for Fall 2024 should contact their Resident Dean by February 5, 2024
- Students who need Administrative Board approval to return to the College will still need to petition the AdBoard for this approval, no later than August 27, 2024 in order to continue with the Fall 2024 term. Students who do not receive AdBoard approval by that date will have their registration cancelled.
- If you request to return from leave after registration has occurred, you will register for courses during the add/drop period at the start of the term.
Limited Enrollment Courses
About Limited Enrollment Courses
- Limited enrollment courses are courses that only permit a specified number of students to register.
- Each limited enrollment course may have a different type of selection process such as a lottery, application review, audition, etc.
Reserved Seats for Limited Enrollment Courses
- Incoming student and cross registrant seats: Depending on the class, instructors may set aside seats for incoming students or cross registrants who will be registering for limited enrollment courses after returning students for the Fall 2024 semester.
- Jointly offered courses: If you teach a jointly offered course with another Harvard school and it is limited enrollment, think about seats to be offered at the other school versus FAS. Registration at the other schools will take place later than FAS registration.
- Details on how to set up a seat reserve for a course can be found on our Guidelines for Courses page.
Waitlists
Waitlisting is a feature that allows students who are prevented from enrolling in a class without an available seat to be placed in a queue, and automatically enrolled later if a seat becomes available. When one student drops the class, the next available student on the waitlist is placed in that open seat by a program that runs every 15 minutes. Waitlists are not required, instructors must opt-in for waitlists. Waitlists will be open for limited enrollment courses during Add/Drop period only. More details on how to set up a waitlist can be found on our main Limited Enrollment Courses page.
Limited Enrollment Processes
- There are defined FAS dates for limited enrollment course processes. See timelines for deadlines to submit your petition and accept your seat in the course.
- Students must submit petitions for limited enrollment courses by the defined FAS deadline.
- General Education, First Year Seminars and Expos Writing Program may have different deadlines for their selection processes. Please consult their websites for dates.
- Departments will conduct controlled enrollment processes for all limited enrollment courses by the defined FAS deadline and will notify students about placement.
- Students must register by the defined FAS deadline or risk losing their seat in the course.
Sectioning
When to section
- For Fall 2024 Registration, some courses, especially those offered annually and with generally predictable enrollments, you will select your section time as you register. Other courses with less predictable enrollments or space constraints (like lab courses), will prompt you to enroll in an untimed placeholder section when you register. You will be asked to submit section time preferences during registration.
- Courses should complete their sectioning process by April 26.
- Departments will set aside seats in sections and labs to accommodate incoming students.
- More details on sectioning can be found on the sectioning page.
Teaching Fellows
Teaching Fellow Appointments
- Initial Teaching Fellow appointments will be made at the same time as under the current schedule (May for Fall courses and October for Spring courses), but earlier registration will lead to appointment details being finalized much sooner.
- Teaching Fellow appointments for Fall courses will not be submitted until after the course registration deadline, so changes to Teaching Fellow assignments and late hiring based on course enrollment numbers will be much rarer.
- Initial Teaching Fellow appointments for Spring 2024 courses will start on January 1.
Creating Discussion Sections and Labs
- Students will select discussion sections and labs during registration so section meetings may begin the first week of class.