Film Production (FIPR), Cinema Studies (CINE), and Theatre (THTR/THFL) Waitlists
When a course section fills up, a waitlist will automatically be generated for those who wish to register for the course. Not all courses will have an automatically generated waitlist. If a course has a manually managed waitlist, students will be moved from the waitlist into the main section of the course as seats open up, with priority given to majors/minors within the department. If a course has an automatic waitlist, students are notified when seats become available, and have 24 hours to claim their open seat. After three attempts to notify the student of an available seat without action, the student will be removed from the waitlist.
You can register for as many waitlist sections as you like in Workday, without your total credit limit being affected. Click on the ‘waitlist’ button on a course to register for the waitlist.
Please ensure your waitlist course sections do not conflict with your registered course sections. If a seat becomes available in a course and a scheduling conflict is found, the student with the course conflict may be emailed to alert them, giving them 2-3 business days to clear the conflict. If the waitlisted student does not contact the department by the deadline indicated on the email, they will be removed from the waitlist.
Waitlists for all courses managed by Theatre Department of Theatre & Film will be in use until two weeks before the term begins. One week before the course start date, the waitlists for courses starting within the term will close and all waitlisted students will be dropped. After this date, students are responsible for monitoring their desired courses for open seats and registering themselves when spots become available.
WAITLIST FAQ
Q: The FIPR, CINE, or THTR/THFL course that I want to register for is full. What should I do?
A: If there is a waitlist for the course, you should register for it. The waitlists appear on Workday. You can register on a waitlist in the same way that you register for any other course using Workday. If a space frees up in the course (because of students dropping, additional seats becoming available, etc.), we will manually move students from the waitlist to the lecture section.
You will be automatically registered in a discussion/lab section if required. If you wish to switch to a different discussion/lab section than the one you are registered in, you will need to check Workday to ensure there are seats in the other section.
The department will contact students by email to inform them when they have been moved into a class, but please note that it may take up to 24 hours to see the registration changes reflected on Workday. If a student receives an automatic notice that a seat has become available for them in a course, they are able to register themselves in the open seat.
If there is no waitlist for a course you may contact the Department to see if one is planned. If the waitlist is full you will have to wait until other students are moved off the waitlist into the main section.
(Note to 4th year students who are graduating, require FIPR, CINE, or THTR courses for graduation, and are wait-listed: See the final question for special instructions.)
Q: In what order are students moved from the waitlists?
A: Until classes start, students are moved from the wait list on a priority basis. If seats become available, they are given to:
- Students in Department of Theatre and Film specializations;
- Students in other specializations who require specific FIPR, CINE, or THTR courses;
- All other students on a first-come, first-served basis.
In some cases, higher priority may be accorded to students in a certain year or specialization. Within a category, students are moved in order of the date that they joined the waitlist.
From the start of term until the add/drop deadline, most courses will continue to use this policy. However, some courses may use a different policy. Check the webpage of individual courses to see whether they have a different policy. For example, students on the wait list for THTR 130 should be aware of its distinct policy that gives priority to first- and second-year students who plan to major in Theatre.
After the add/drop deadline, students will no longer be admitted to courses. Before then, our staff will move as many people from the waitlists into courses as possible, often on a daily basis. Keep in mind that administrative staff work during business hours so your registration will not usually be switched after 5 pm. Also, the department may be lightly staffed during summer or winter breaks when administrative personnel take vacations.
Q: There is room in the course, so why is the waitlist not moving? Can somebody bypass the waitlist and register through Workday?
A: Once Workday creates a waitlist, the main course section will be blocked. In many cases, we manually move students from the waitlist into the course in batches, so a course may have seats available for several days before we fill it from the waitlist. If the waitlist is automatically managed by the Workday system, students will be alerted when a seat becomes available and they should be able to register themselves. If students fail to respond to alerts about open seats, they will be removed from the waitlist.
Q: Can I contact the course instructor or department advisor to improve my priority?
A: Until classes start, all waitlists will be managed according to the priorities described above. Do not contact instructors or advisors to ask about waitlist positions or priority access to classes.
Q: A FIPR, CINE, or THTR/THFL course is already full, but I really need to take it in order to register for courses in subsequent terms. What should I do?
A: You can only register on the waitlist and hope for the best. We accommodate as many students as possible in our courses and will move students off the waitlist as soon as space frees up in the course. You might want to consider making an appointment to see your departmental advisor to discuss course planning for future terms, in case you cannot get into the courses you want in the current term. We strongly urge all students to plan their courses well in advance, taking into account prerequisites and recognizing that many upper-level FIPR, CINE, and THTR/THFL courses are only offered once per year or even alternate years. Be sure to register as soon as your registration date and time permits.
Q: How do I know what position I am in on a waitlist?
A: There is no way for you to determine this. However, you can estimate your position by noting how many people are on the wait list when you first registered on it. Please note that the course instructor, program advisors, staff, departmental administrators and assistants are not able to provide you with your position on the waitlist.
Q: What are my chances of getting into a full course, assuming I’ve registered on the waitlist?
A: Each course and each term is different, and your chances of getting in can be hard to predict. Generally speaking, a small number of seats in almost every course become free for various reasons.
Q: The waitlist for a FIPR, CINE, or THTR/THFL course is very large. Why don’t you add more seats and/or another section?
A: We may attempt to do so. However, additional seats require additional teaching assistants, bigger lecture halls and, in many cases, more studio space. It may not be possible to meet the demand for additional sections.
Q: I am a final year student waitlisted for courses. I need them to graduate. Will I automatically be registered?
A: Please contact your program advisor to see what is possible under the circumstances. You may not be registered in the original course you were waitlisted for but we will do everything possible to help you to graduate as planned.