Faculty Recruiting Support CICS

Undergraduate Overrides

The Manning College of Information and Computer Sciences only allows students who have met the stated prerequisite(s) and who meet the eligibility requirements to enroll in our courses, subject to available seats.

An override request is essentially a petition for special permission to enroll.  Not all requests result in enrollment - it depends on the course and whether there are available seats.

SPIRE Enrollment

Enrollment numbers on SPIRE do not always reflect the true picture while we are managing override requests. DO NOT ASSUME THAT THERE IS PLENTY OF ROOM IN A COURSE. Register as early as possible.

GOAL:  Eligible students enroll themselves, either directly into the course or to the SPIRE Waitlist.  If the course is FULL, then keep trying to enroll (do NOT request overrides).  Students not meeting prerequisites and/or not meeting eligibility cannot enroll on SPIRE, even if the course is open.  BEFORE requesting an override, try to enroll on SPIRE.

Your registration is successful if you are enrolled in the course or added to the SPIRE Waitlist, so keep trying if you meet prereqs/eligibility restrictions. Be sure to check the Class Notes on SPIRE and the Registration Updates webpage for additional eligibilities: https://www.cics.umass.edu/registration-updates

SPIRE WAITLISTS

Some courses will offer automated waitlists through SPIRE while others will not. If you see that a course is full, add yourself to the SPIRE waitlist (if one exists).

You will be assigned a position number on the waitlist, but departments and instructors may exercise their own judgment in altering positions on the waitlist. A position on a waitlist indicates a possibility, not a promise. You will never move from the waitlist to enrolled if the move would cause a time conflict in your schedule, or if you are fully registered into another section of the same course, or if you are already registered for the maximum number of credits in your unit limit.

If you are on a waitlist and there is a time conflict in your schedule or maximum credit issue, you may be removed from the waitlist without notice if your position number on the waitlist prevents others with no time conflicts to register. Once classes have begun, CICS is in total control of which students, if any, will be moved from a waitlist into newly-opened seats in classes.  More information about waitlists can be found on this webpage: Registrar Waitlist

Priority

Priority for seats in the CICS's courses: Majors, Applicants, Other Majors requiring our courses, Minors.

Override Requests (not on SPIRE)

The Academic Program Staff (working closely with the Program Committees/instructors) handle override requests manually and enrollment decisions vary depending on the course. Some decisions will happen quickly while others may take several weeks.  Certain decisions are made in groups and may not be made until closer to class start.

  • One request per course (duplicate requests are not considered/deleted).
  • Decisions are emailed to students using @umass addresses. We know your schedule is important.
  • CS Major requests will be reviewed, but decisions may be delayed, depending on the course.  In general, CS Majors should not be requesting overrides, unless there is a legitimate reason specified in the Chart below (See FAQ).
  • Informatics Major requests will be reviewed, but decisions may be delayed, depending on the course.  In general, Informatics Majors should not be requesting overrides, unless there is a legitimate reason as specified in the Chart below (See FAQ).
  • CS Applicant requests (AOC) will be reviewed after grades are finalized for the current semester.
  • Informatics Applicant requests will be reviewed after grades are finalized for the current semester.
  • CS Minors (On List) requests will most likely be reviewed after grades are finalized for the current semester, but decisions may be delayed until closer to class start. 
  • Non-Major requests (not listed above) may be delayed until major/applicant/minor requests are processed. Decisions may be delayed until just prior to class start (maybe during Add/Drop).
  • Non-majors/IT Minors may request overrides for non-major/IT CS courses without having to worry about priority issues. CS Majors/Minors are not allowed to enroll in non-major/IT CS courses (see FAQ).
  • Five College requests will be dealt with as quickly as possible, but could be delayed until class start, depending on the course (see FAQ).
  • UWW (formerly CPE) requests will most likely be reviewed closer to class start, but this could depend on the course (see FAQ).
  • Graduate Student requests.
     

UNDERGRADUATES:
How to Register for COMPSCI, INFO, CICS courses?

CHART: How to Register-Undergraduates

OVERRIDE FORM - Spring 2024 The Spring Override form is currently closed.

OVERRIDE FORM - SUMMER 2024 

Conflicts, Maximum Credits, Registration Holds

We do our best to give seats in courses given classroom size limitations. CS and Informatics Majors should use SPIRE to self-enroll (or SPIRE Waitlists if available).  For others, if your override request results in a seat and we can't enroll you because of conflicts or credit overloads, etc., we will contact you to adjust your schedule. Please reply immediately to let us know that you are working on the problem.  Your immediate response is required so we can help you to enroll via override.

Frequently Asked Questions: