Registration FAQs
Registration Worksheet: Yale College students officially enroll in courses by using a registration worksheet within Yale Course Search. While the registration system is open, students may add and remove courses one-by-one in real time. When a student has enrolled in a course using the registration worksheet, they will appear on the Canvas roster with a “Student” status.
Canvas Worksheet: All current students at the university who are eligible to enroll in courses may use the Canvas worksheet within Yale Course Search to gain access to a canvas course site. When a student has added a course to their Canvas worksheet, they will appear on the Canvas roster with a “Visitor” status.
The registration period takes place prior to the term of enrollment and is intended to be a gauge of student interest in course enrollment and to provide advance notification of permission to enroll in courses that have limited enrollments. It allows departments to manage demand for enrollment, the number of discussion/lab sections and teaching fellows needed, and the size of the room needed.
The add/drop period takes place shortly before the start of classes and runs for about eight days. The add/drop period is for refinement of the student course schedule and culminates with a final schedule.
The Preference Selection process and other course application processes takes place prior to the opening of the registration period.
Visitors will be removed from Canvas sites after the close of the add/drop period for Yale College.
Start with the Yale College Advising Resources website.
Questions related exclusively to the use of Canvas should be directed to the Poorvu Center for Teaching & Learning at askpoorvucenter@yale.edu
The term “Shopper” has been replaced with “Visitor.” Students who have not officially enrolled in the course will appear on the Canvas rosters as “Visitors.” When the Add/Drop period ends, all Visitors will be removed from Canvas rosters.
The registration worksheet will not open until the registration period begins. If you participated in Preference Selection, a registration worksheet will become viewable with results of the Preference Selection process.
Canvas is not the official record of enrollment. Course demand statistics and Canvas rosters update at different times of the day, and when registration is open to students, they may add and remove courses from both their registration worksheet (official enrollment) and their Canvas worksheet as often as they would like. When registration is closed, fluctuations in rosters and course demand statistics should mostly cease with the exception of administrative changes.
No. Canvas is the learning management system and it has no impact on formal instructor permission or course enrollment.
If instructor permission is required in order to enroll in your course, students must submit the permission request through their Yale Course Search registration worksheet. If you grant permission to the student, they will then be able to enroll and gain automatic access to your Canvas course site.
Instructions regarding reviewing and granting permissions requests are here.