Advising and Registration Information

You may view degree requirements (requirements for all students seeking a degree) in the current issue of the MSU Catalog; The requirements for your specific major option are in the B.S. in Biological Sciences section of the catalog. You can also view the departmental curriculum worksheets on the Ecology Academic Resources page. If you have questions about your requirements, please contact your Advisor. (See more info on Advisors below.)

Students should have an advisor listed in the header of their DegreeWorks page. To access DegreeWorks visit MyMSU > DegreeWorks. If a student does not have an advisor, they should contact ecology@montana.edu or the department's Academic Services Coordinator.

All first-year freshman, new transfer students, and some continuing students are assigned an advisor in the CLS Advising Commons. 

The Department of Ecology's Academic Services Coordinator will assign faculty advisors for all other freshman, sophomore, junior, senior, and post-baccalaureate students. Current MSU students who change their major to Biological Sciences will be assigned an advisor as part of the Change of Curriculum process.

To find their contact info, search their name in the search bar at the top right-hand corner of any montana.edu page or visit the Ecology faculty directory.

Please reach out to your advisor about their preferred method for making an appointment.

Plan to meet with your advisor 1-2 weeks prior to your registration date.

Advising for registration of the next term officially begins around mid-semester of the previous term, and registration opens up several weeks after. (Ex: Advising for the summer/fall semesters begin March 1st and priority registration opens March 25th for seniors.) Registration dates are posted on the Registrar's Priority Registration schedule.

Registration dates are based on your total earned credits, which can be found in your DegreeWorks worksheet. Your registration date will also be posted with your PIN in the "Notes" of your Degreeworks worksheet.

Please reach out to your advisor about their preferred method for making an appointment.

Yes. In order to recieve your registration PIN, you are required to meet with your advisor and create a plan for the upcoming semester. 

Instructions for creating a DegreeWorks plan can be found here.

Please see the Office of the Registrar's Priority Registration schedule for updated dates.

CatCourse is MSU's course schedule planning tool. This tool is available in your MyMSU and allows you to generate potential schedules based on your required courses for the upcoming semester.

You can also view all upcoming courses in the "Schedule of Classes" which is listed in MyMSU. This tool is especially useful when looking for electives or reviewing all of your options within different MSU departments.

More information on Registration is available on the Registrar's webpage.

You will need to meet with your advisor to receive your registration PIN. 

Your PIN changes every semester. Plan to arrange a meeting with your advisor 1-2 weeks before your registration date.

If you receive a registration error, MyMSU will tell you what type of error is preventing your registration.

Common errors include:

Class Restriction - Some courses restrict registration to Juniors and Seniors only. If you're still at Sophomore class standing, you will need to request permission to override the class requirement. 

Consent of Instructor - You will need to contact the instructor for permission to register for this course. If you have received permission, check in with the Academic Services Coordinator about an override. 

Linked Class Required - Your course includes a lecture and lab. Your preferred lab may be full or you may have only selected one of the two required sections for registration.

Major Restriction - A course is restricted to only students in certain majors, and does not include your major.

Prerequisite error - You either have not passed the prerequisite or you took the course at a transfer institution. If you took the course at a transfer institution and it is already approved as a prerequisite, please reach out to the Academic Services Coordinator for an override. 

Time Conflict - Two of your courses overlap. You'll need to choose a different schedule. If this overlap is only a few minutes, please reach out to the instructor for permission to register. 

 

If the course is listed as FULL, please join the waitlist. The Academic Services Coordinator manages all Ecology Department waitlists and courses are set up with artificial caps to ensure graduating students will have a seat.

If there is not a waitlist set up for the course, email the Academic Services Coordinator. Some courses with lots of lab sections do not have waitlists. If this is the case, please sign up for notifications from MSUBot.

1. Meet with your assigned advisor to review your DegreeWorks plan. Instructions for creating a DegreeWorks plan can be found here.
   
   
2. Review and audit your plan with your advisor. Once your plan is audited, your advisor will lock the plan in DegreeWorks and enter an advisor note to open your application.
3. Certify your application.  Your advisor will send a note to the Certifying Officer (the Ecology Academic Services Coordinator) asking them to certify and open your graduation application. The Academic Services Coordinator will let you know that your application is certified and opened. Please reach out to ecology@montana.edu if you are not CCed on this request or response.
   
   
4. Complete graduation application in MyMSU.  *The online application in MyMSU will not be available to you until your Notes are updated by your Advisor and Certifying Officer.*
   
   
5. Register for the upcoming semester according to your DegreeWorks plan. You can make changes to your plan if approved by your advisor. Please register on your assigned date to ensure that you get into your required courses.

Graduation applications are usually due before priority registration. Please see Office of the Registrar's graduation dates and instructions for more information.

Contact your advisor (see "Who is my Advisor?" section above).

If you do not yet have an assigned advisor or are having trouble reaching them, you may contact the Ecology Department Academic Services Coordinator at ecology@montana.edu or 406-994-2911.