Managing Enrollment for Your Course (YC & GSAS)

Departments and instructors maintain the option to manage enrollment as they have always done; however, the Yale Course Search registration system offers several different options for managing enrollment.

NOTE: Only the primary instructor may review and approve pending permission requests.

Instructor Permission

In this instance the instructor controls which students are admitted to the class.

  • A course that is marked as “Instructor Permission Required” in CourseLeaf WEN and in Yale Course Search requires all students  to submit a formal request to enroll. This is the strictest option and allows instructors to choose every single student in the class.
  • Instructor Permission is best used when added before registration begins, but it can be added to a course at any time. However, if students registered before “Instructor Permission Required” is activated, they are registered and cannot be removed.
  • The only way to remove registered students is for the instructor to write to them and ask them to remove themselves from the course.
  • Instructors may revoke permissions granted up until the time the student has accepted the permission and is registered for the course.
  • Instructors receive email notifications during the registration period alerting them to outstanding permission requests awaiting review.

Maximum Enrollment Number without Waitlisting

In this instance students register for the class on a first come basis. There is no instructor permission associated with this method of enrollment.

  • All courses are required to have a maximum enrollment number, which restricts enrollment in the course to that number.

Maximum Enrollment Number with Waitlisting

In this instance students register on a first come basis. If there are no seats available, students may sign up for the waitlist. There is no instructor permission associated with this method of enrollment. Not all courses are set up with a waitlist.

  • Instructors may choose to add a waitlist to any course that does not have required discussion section.  Lectures with discussion sections may not have waitlists.
  • Waitlists can be added by department registrars through CourseLeaf WEN, by adding the number of seats that should be available for waitlisting to the Wait Cap field.
  • When a course reaches its maximum enrollment number, students are asked if they would like to join the waitlist for the course. If they choose to do so, they can see their position on the waitlist, and as seats become available, students are invited to claim a seat. Students are notified by a system-generated email when a seat is available, and they have 24 hours to claim the seat, otherwise the seat is offered to the next student on the waitlist.
  • Instructors are not able to manage  the waitlist or see who is on the waitlist, but waitlist numbers are available through Course Demand Statistics and Discussion Section Statistics.

Other Considerations

  • Waitlisting is only an option during the registration period. Waitlists are removed after registration closes and are not an option during add/drop period.
  • Department Applications: Departments who have current application processes in place may continue to use them.
  • Preference Selection (PrefSel): Any courses that have used PrefSel in the past may continue to do so.
  • Other Informal Processes: Any other informal processes used by instructors in the past may also continue to be used (e.g., qualtrics surveys, asking student to email interest, etc.).
  • Maximum Enrollment: The maximum enrollment number on your course automatically limits the course to that many students, and it is required for all courses. You may increase or decrease this number at any point.  You may also authorize exceptions to the limit through the process explained above.
  • For questions or help in deciding which option is best for you, email courseleaf@yale.edu.