Posted on Aug. 27: Graduate Studies launches online course selection

Forget waiting for days to select the courses you want. Now graduate students can select their courses using the Student Online Academic Registration (SOLAR) system.

McMaster's School of Graduate Studies introduced SOLAR to graduate students today. Launched for undergraduate students in December, this new Web portal is offered through McMaster University General Student Information (MUGSI) and now allows graduate students to select, add or drop courses for the September 2003 to August 2004 academic session. The deadline for graduate students adding first-term courses is Sept. 26.

There are numerous benefits to online registration, says John Scime, graduate registrar & secretary of the School of Graduate Studies. Not only does it allow students to select their courses from virtually anywhere, it allows them to do it in real time, he says. “With the Web access and the real-time connection to the student records system, students obtain feedback instantaneously about the courses they selected.”

There are many other benefits, he adds, noting it reduces confusion about available graduate courses across the University, it eliminates the possibility of transcription errors and it reduces workload and paper work in the departments and at Graduate Studies.

MUGSI is available off McMaster's home page at http://www.mcmaster.ca. A seven-digit McMaster Student Number and four-digit PIN must be entered in order to use the site.

For more information, visit the School of Graduate Studies Web site at www.mcmaster.ca/graduate/solar.htm