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Priority Registration (Open Enrollment)

Purpose

Douglas College values individual responsibility and prizes excellence. The registration procedures used at Douglas College reflect these values by promoting and rewarding student achievement as reflected in students' Grade Point Averages (GPA). This policy outlines how the registration procedures are structured to achieve that objective.

Policy Statement

Douglas College will construct its registration procedures to give priority to students with superior GPA achieved at Douglas College or elsewhere. Returning students will be given priority over new students within the same GPA registration category. Consideration will be given to mature students who may not have yet achieved a GPA or whose life experiences demonstrate superior achievement. Special consideration may also be given to students in designated groups for whom early registration is institutionally desirable.

Categories of Priority

All students will register in a category determined by their Douglas College term GPA that gives preference to those with higher cumulative GPA. Secondary School GPA will be used in the same way to determine the priority order for new students without Douglas College GPAs. New students with no Secondary School GPAs will register in categories according to their age.

Calculation of GPA and assignment of registration time will be administered by the Registrar's Office. Registration slot times will be ordered in GPA increments of 0.5 alternating between returning student and new students.

Calculation of GPA

For the purposes of priority registration, GPA will be calculated as follows:

Equivalencies are determined by the Standing Sub-Committee on Admissions and Language Competency Standards.

New Students
All new students will register for courses according to the GPA they earned in the Secondary School courses used to calculate GPA. New students who do not possess any GPA as defined above will register after other students who possess a GPA, unless they are placed in a higher slot as a result of special consideration. New students who apply after the deadline date will register in the last slot in priority order.

Returning Students
Returning students will register for courses according to their cumulative GPA earned to date at Douglas College. (If the student is returning after an absence of 5 semesters or more, then the student will be treated as a new student). Returning students taking courses evaluated using a Mastery Model of Evaluation will register according to the percentage of courses for which they have received MAS or EXP grades in their studies to date at Douglas College.

Special Consideration
Students who are aged 21 years or older may apply for special consideration of their life experiences which have demonstrated excellent achievement if they have no secondary school or post-secondary GPA, or if they desire a registration time earlier than the slot they would otherwise receive based on their GPA. Special consideration will be evaluated by the Registrar's Office — in consultation with the program area -- according to appropriate criteria and only upon application by the student for special consideration.

Priority Registration Groups
Douglas College may grant a student a priority registration time that is higher than they would otherwise be eligible for if the student is a member of a special category which Education Council has agreed should be granted priority registration.

This policy was last revised in  June, 2005.