§ 8 · The student journey

Semester registration

Registration is how a student on the register becomes a student in this semester. It opens only inside a dated window, it can be automatic or by request, and it is what every later module — timetable, attendance, examinations, results — takes as its list of who is actually studying.

What it is for

Opening registration for a term and processing the requests that follow.

Who can do it

RegistrarAcademic Registry StaffCampus Director

Needed first
  • An academic year and term
  • Students with Active standing and a curriculum version
  • Fee clearance rules decided
Where it ends

Registered students, which is what the timetable, class lists and examination eligibility all read.

Registration windows open the door

Nothing can be registered until a window says it may be. A window is a dated permission, scoped to a slice of the university.

The Registration Windows screen listing windows, each with a name, a Draft or Open badge, an Auto-register badge, its scope across year, term, campus, programme, intake, level and mode, and its opening, closing and late-until times.
Registration Windows. Each window shows its scope on one line and its three times on the next: Opens, Closes and Late until.
SettingWhat it doesWatch for
ScopeAcademic year, term, campus, programme, intake, level and mode — any of which can be AllA window scoped to one programme will not let anyone else register. Two overlapping windows is the usual cause of "some students can, some can't"
Opens / ClosesThe normal registration periodTimes are exact, to the minute. A window closing at 17:00 refuses at 17:01
Late untilA grace period after closing, during which registration becomes a request rather than an actLate registrations land in Late Requests for a decision, and may attract a fee
StatusDraft or OpenA window with perfect dates does nothing while it is still Draft. Set the status with the dropdown, then Set status
Auto-registerEligible students are registered without askingConvenient, but it registers everyone the scope covers. Narrow the scope before you tick it
Draft is the commonest mistake

A newly created window defaults to Draft. Students then report that registration “is not open” while the screen shows a window with correct dates. Look at the badge, not the dates.

The registration workspace

The Semester Registration screen with seven tabs — Registrations, Create registration, Late requests, Add/drop, Late course registration, Retake authorizations and Registration windows — a Waiting on a decision panel, six stat tiles, a filter strip and the registrations table.
Semester Registration. Seven tabs, one task each. The tiles count the term; Waiting on a decision is your queue.
TabUse it to
RegistrationsBrowse and filter what has been registered this term; export it
Create registrationRegister one student by hand — for a case the window does not cover
Late requestsDecide registrations submitted inside the Late until grace period
Add / dropChange a registered student's course list after registration
Late course registrationAdd a course after the course-registration period has closed
Retake authorizationsPermit a student to retake a failed course — a separate permission, semester-registration.retake-authorize
Registration windowsThe windows screen above

Reading the tiles

  • Total — registration records for the filtered term
  • Registered — completed and verified
  • Submitted — waiting on a check
  • Cancelled / void — withdrawn registrations, kept for the record
  • Legacy credit hours — credit carried in from before UniMIS
  • Open windows — how many windows are currently letting students in
Statuses you will see in the table

Pending Academic Registry Verification is the common one: the student has registered, and registry has not yet confirmed it. Until it is verified it is not a registration for the purposes of class lists and examination eligibility.

Worked example

Worked example

Opening registration for September 2026, Juba Campus

OpenStudents & Registry›Registration Windows
ExpandNew window
Name2026/2027 Semester One — Juba. Name it so a colleague can tell two windows apart at a glance
ScopeYear 2026/2027 · Term Sep-Dec 2026 · Campus Juba Campus · Programme All · Level All · Mode All
Opens2026-09-01 08:00
Closes2026-09-19 17:00
Late until2026-09-26 17:00 — a week of grace, decided case by case
Auto-registerLeave off for a first run. Watch one day of real registrations before automating
Save, thenSet the dropdown to Open and press Set status. It does nothing while it says Draft
VerifyStudents & Registry›Semester Registration — Open windows should have gone up by one
Day oneWatch Submitted. If it stays at zero while students say they tried, the scope is too narrow — check campus and level first

Late requests, add/drop and retakes

All three are the same shape: a student asks, an officer decides, the decision is recorded with a reason.

Student requests→ Appears in Waiting on a decision→ Officer reviews→ Registrar approves

Retake authorisation

A retake is not automatic. It needs an authorisation on this screen before the student can register for the course again, and it may be billable — retake fees are configured in Student finance and are one of the charges that is switched on. Authorise the retake first, then let the student register; doing it the other way round produces a registration the fee rules do not recognise.

The Retake Authorizations screen listing students, the courses they failed and the authorisation decision.
Retake Authorizations. Its own permission, because it changes what a student is charged as well as what they may study.

If registration refuses

What the student reportsCauseWhere to look
“Registration is not open”The window is still Draft, or today is outside its datesRegistration Windows — the badge and the times
Some students can register, others cannotThe window's scope excludes them — usually campus, level or modeThe scope line on the window
They can register but see no coursesNo curriculum version for their entry year, or the curriculum is not activatedCurriculum & academic structure
Blocked with a finance messageFee clearance rules require a payment or a threshold firstStudent finance — clearance rules
Blocked and their standing is not ActiveDeferred, suspended or withdrawn students cannot registerStudent records
A failed course will not appearNo retake authorisationThe Retake authorizations tab
Registered, but missing from a class listStill Pending Academic Registry VerificationThe Registrations tab — verify it