Registration Information & Procedures

In Communication Studies, you are not required to see the department’s academic counselor or a faculty advisor before registering for classes, but if you need or want academic advising, you should make arrangements to do so before early registration begins.

Registration

You will be notified via email each semester regarding Registration Clearance Information!

ISIS - Iowa Student Information System

As a student at Iowa, you will use ISIS to register for classes and to access information regarding your courses and grades, your degree requirements including progress in your major, financial aid and billing services among other things.
ISIS is accessible from any computer with Internet access so you are encouraged to spend time navigating and exploring the information that is available.

Registration

The main purpose of registration is to select and register for courses that you’ll take the following semester.
Registration serves as a good time to check your academic progress toward your major and degree requirements by reviewing your degree evaluation on ISIS.
Registration is also a time when most students see their academic advisor.

In Communication Studies, you are not required to see the department’s academic counselor or a faculty advisor before registering for classes, but if you need or want academic advising, you should make arrangements to do so before early registration begins.

Early Registration

Registration typically starts in mid-November for the winter term and spring semester and again in mid-April for the summer sessions and fall semester.
During the Early Registration period currently enrolled students are given an opportunity to register for classes for the next semester’s or term’s (Spring, Winter, Summer, Fall) before any newly admitted or transfer students.
Early Registration is also the time when Colleges departments throughout the University typically provide priority registration to currently enrolled UI students pursuing a major within their respective College or departments.

Preparing to register:

To register for classes, you need to be prepared –

Pay your U-bill
Get your Health Records up-to-date
Review your Degree Evaluation on ISIS
Identify any unmet requirements
Calculate your GPA using anticipated grades
Preview & check prerequisites for courses on ISIS or in the Department General Catalog
Schedule an appointment to see Monica Madura early if needed
Know the date and time you can register- listed on ISIS under “Registration”

U-Bills

Your U-Bill needs to be paid before you can register for classes. Students with certain unpaid balances on their U-bill may not be eligible to register on the day/time assigned as indicated on ISIS.

The Department is not responsible for providing seats in courses for which you want to take but were not able to register for because you had a balance due on your U-bill – even if you are senior or signed a 4-year plan!!

Students who have balances on their U-bill are encouraged to go the Registrar’s Office, 1 Jessup Hall to request a registration appeal. In some cases, circumstances may warrant a new payment date and the student might be allowed to proceed with registration.

Health Records

The University of Iowa requires students to show proof that they have been immunized. You should check your student record on ISIS to see if your health records are up-to-date.

If your registration is flagged by Health Services, the Communication Studies Department will notify you via email sent to your @uiowa.edu account. You will be required to show proof of your immunizations or you will have to be immunized before you can register for classes. In other words, you may need to get your shots!

Registration Clearance

At the University of Iowa, students must be cleared to register for courses each and every semester. The department listed as your FIRST major is responsible for clearing you to register each and every semester.

How do you get cleared to register if Communication Studies is your only major?

If Communication Studies is your only major, the department will clear you to register for classes automatically. The Communication Studies Department does not distribute any kind of 4-digit codes to majors to register for classes.

What do you do if you have two majors?

When you have more than one major, one major is considered your first major and the other one is your second major. Your advisor or department for your first major is responsible for clearing your to register even if you don’t take courses in your major or in that department that particular semester.
Look in “Student Records” on ISIS in the section labeled “Courses and Grades” to see your major and advisor. The major that is listed first would be considered your first major.

Although it’s always a good idea to meet with your assigned advisor for both majors regarding your progress toward your major and degree requirements, you do not need to be cleared to register by both majors – only your first major needs to clear you to register.

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Once you’ve been cleared to register by your first major, you can register for courses in both majors.
The Communication Studies Department is not authorized to clear students for registration with first majors in other departments.

Only students who have Communication Studies as their first major will be
cleared to register by the Communication Studies Department.

When do you register for classes?

All enrolled students are assigned a registration date and time based upon the number of semester hours earned as listed on the degree evaluation, and, if applicable, according to special circumstances (i.e. athletic participation, students with disabilities, etc.).

Registration times and dates are assigned by the Registrar’s Office. If you have a question or concern regarding the date and time you register, you should go to Room 1 Jessup Hall and ask to speak with someone regarding your assigned registration date/time.

ISIS

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Before Early Registration begins, you need to look up your assigned date and time for registration by logging onto ISIS and then selecting Registration on the top bar as indicated above.

You might need to change the session to find your assigned date and time for early registration – look to see what session is listed and change it if necessary.

Keep in mind that you cannot register for classes until your assigned date or time.

Previewing Courses on ISIS

Prior to early registration, you can see which courses are being offered in the upcoming semester or session.
Sometimes you will need to change the session using the drop-box highlighted below in order to see classes offered for a different session (i.e. Winter Term, Summer Session, Fall)

Course Descriptions

You can read course descriptions and see course prerequisites on ISIS by clicking on the title of a course.
Reading course descriptions, although brief, can help you select courses that meet your educational and career goals.
Faculty are also great resources for information about a particular course as well.

2.5 GPA REQUIRED

Students who have a GPA that is below 2.5 must wait for their grades to be posted in order to know they have the required GPA to register for 036 Communication Studies courses.
Students with a GPA below 2.5 will be dropped automatically and administratively.

Prerequisites

A prerequisite consists of criteria that you as a student must meet before you can register for or take a course. Prerequisites are listed with course descriptions on ISIS.
The department adheres vehemently to its course prerequisites and all students registering for 036 courses are expected to make sure they have completed any and all prerequisites before registering for a communication course.

A prerequisite course must be listed on your UI degree evaluation to be considered completed or in progress.
The department can only verify prerequisites are met by reviewing UI degree evaluations and class schedules.
If you are taking a prerequisite at another college or university you are subject to being dropped from a communication course because the prerequisite does not show up on your degree evaluation until it is transferred.

General Education Requirements

A few Communication Studies courses also meet a general education requirement therefore does not require a 2.5 overall GPA.
You can take these courses and count them toward your major and the general education requirement as long as you meet the guidelines for the general education program and/or courses as defined in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Student Handbook.

Codes in “Spe” Column on ISIS

In the course listings on ISIS you will often see letter codes in the Spe Column. Departments use letter codes to restrict or reserve sections for specific students.
Before registering for a course, you should look to see if there is a letter in the Spe Column and then click “Spe” to check the definition of the code to determine whether or not you are eligible to enroll in the course.

D-Codes

The D code restricts registration to “officially declared majors” or in this case Communication Studies majors.

Non-majors are required to wait until the “D” code is removed from the 036 course before registering.
D-codes are automatically removed from 036 courses on the fourth working day after early registration ends.
Students who circumvent the University’s registration system or the Communication Studies Department’s registration rules – holding a seat for another student or declaring the major just to register for a 036 course – are subject to being administratively and automatically dropped from the course and reported to the College for student misconduct.

H-Codes

The H-code in the “Spe” Column indicates the section is reserved for honors students.
Students must have a UI GPA of 3.33 or higher at the time of registration to register for a section with an H-code.
The department encourages students who do have a 3.33 UI GPA to take an honors section of a particular course.

X-Codes

Whenever an X-code is in the “Spe” Column on ISIS, a department has decided to reserve seats in that course for specific students.
The department offering the course must be contacted to receive permission.
Contact information for the department offering the course is included on the top of each course description page on ISIS.
Only the department that offers the course can grant special permission to take a course – not the Communication Studies Department.

No Waiting Lists

The department does not maintain waiting lists for any of its classes.
Majors should be prepared to register for 036 communication courses during Early Registration.

Closed Classes/Sections on ISIS

It is not uncommon for 036 communication courses or sections to close on ISIS.
When this happens, students who want to request to be added to the closed course/section need to contact the department’s Academic Counselor - Room 111 BCSB or the Department’s Administrator - Room 105 BCSB.

These two individuals are the only onesauthorized to address students concerns regarding 036 Communication Studies courses.
Faculty & teaching assistants are not authorized to add students to closed classes/sections.

Registration while Studying Abroad

Internet access makes it possible for students that study abroad to follow the same registration procedures as other students.
Students studying abroad are also cleared to register by their first major advisor or department even for or during the semester when they are studying abroad.
Students studying abroad should communicate with their major advisor via email.

Add/Drop Forms

After classes start, students must use an Add or Drop form to make changes to their schedule. Forms are available on the ISIS log-in page and should be completed with the course information including the section number.
Communication Studies faculty and teaching assistants do not have the ability to add students to their classes, students should refrain from emailing Communication Studies faculty or teaching assistants to request to be added to a course or section.
To add or drop Communication Studies courses, students need to obtain appropriate signatures from the Academic Counselor in Room 111 or the Department Administrator in Room 105 BCSB.