Nanaimo Campus

Waitlist Procedure

During Registration

Regardless of how you register, if a class you've selected is full you will normally be offered the opportunity to place yourself on a waitlist. On the Course Enrolment History page in your student record you will be able to see how many students are ahead of you on this waitlist. Please note, however, that you may enrol or waitlist for only one section of any course. For example, you may not place yourself on waitlists for two different sections of English 115, or register for one section of English 115 and place yourself on a waitlist for another section. This ensures that as many students as possible get fair access to the available seats in a class.

Sometimes you may be temporarily placed on a waitlist even when there are seats available and you meet the eligibility requirement for a reserved seat. Monday through Friday our Web Registration system will check for students in this situation and automatically register them overnight. If you are enrolled in your course from a waitlist before the semester starts you will be sent an email informing you of this.

If you are placed on a waitlist and later decide you do not want to take that course, it is your responsibility to drop the course to make room for other students. If you are still enrolled after the semester starts you will be charged for that course.

After the semester starts

The first six* weekdays of the semester are critical. Attend any class you are hopeful of getting into and let the instructor know you remain interested. Space permitting, most instructors allow waitlisted students to attend their classes.

Once the semester begins it will be your responsibility to check the waitlists each day and to claim a seat if you want it. During the first days of each semester, the waitlists are updated every Monday to Friday night between 11:30 pm and 1:30 am (no changes are made Saturday or Sunday). When waitlists are updated, the next available seat in a class is "held" for the next eligible student at the top of the waitlist.

During the first six days of the semester (or the first 2 days for Summer Session May or June courses):

  1. From the first day of classes until waitlists are removed, you must check your online student record each day for a seat offer.
  2. If a seat becomes available for you, it will be “Held” temporarily. You must claim your held seat that same day online in your student record or in person at the Registration Centre (B200).
  3. If you do not claim your seat on the day that it's held, you will be removed from the waitlist.**

Claiming a Held Seat

To claim a seat using your Student Record, login and click on "Course Enrolment History" on the Academics tab. There will be a "Claim Seat" button by the course you are waitlisted for. When you click it, you will be taken to the Web Registration page where you must click "Submit Changes" at the bottom of the page to complete the process and claim the seat.

Remember to drop waitlisted courses if you are no longer interested in them or you may find that you are charged tuition for them.

Late Registration

After six* days, waitlists are removed and any course you are on a waitlist for will disappear from your Course Enrolment History. It may be possible to still be admitted to a course using the Late Course Registration process via your student record. Follow the instructions for the Late Course Registration process to request enrolment in a course after the waitlist ends.

*or the first two (2) days for Summer Session May or June courses.

**waitlists are updated every Monday to Friday night between 11:30 pm and 1:30 am (no changes are made Saturday or Sunday).