Operating Principles for Waitlisting Courses

(approved May, 2008)

The following approach to waitlists was adopted by the campus, with the goal of increasing the utility as a tool that reflects accurately student demand for scheduled courses and course sections. This approach has the effect of assuring respect for established limits on class size while not adversely affecting overall enrollment.

It remains the responsibility of the Academic Unit to determine if waitlists will be used for a course and to set the maximum number for a waitlist.

Under these guidelines:

1. The opportunity for students to waitlist courses will remain open through the first eight days of class for a full term, and the first three days of class during a half term.


2. The responsibility for managing enrollment in a course section is the responsibility of Registrar’s Office/Enrollment Services for all courses except those in the College of Business and select lecture/lab Natural Sciences courses. The College of Business will monitor and enroll students from the waitlist into business courses. Faculty will, therefore, not have the responsibility of signing students into a class from the waitlist.


3. Individual faculty will have the authority, but under no circumstances any obligation, to authorize (with the approval of the department chair) the enrollment of a student into a section outside of the waitlist process. If faculty authorizes, by signature, permission for a student to get into a class, faculty will do so with the possible effect of exceeding the established enrollment limit.


4. A student who places his/her name on a waitlist for a specific section agrees to automatic registration in the section if a space becomes available during the registration/drop/add period or if a new section is opened at a time identical to that of the existing section.


5. Students will receive, via official UM-Dearborn email, notification that a waitlist action has occurred.


6. Students will not be permitted to remain on a waitlist for more than one section of a given course.


7. Students will not be permitted to remain on a waitlist for a section of a course when they are already registered for a section of the same course.


8. Students will not be permitted to remain on a waitlist for a section of a course that conflict in time with another course for which they are registered or waitlisted.


9. The same standard of prerequisite and restriction checking will apply to waitlisting a course as applies to registering for a course.