WESMAPS NAVIGATION

WesMaps, Wesleyan's On-line Curriculum Home Page, is a Web-based view of the curriculum. This system is designed to provide information about the courses offered each semester, including course descriptions, schedules, prerequisites, and information about the professor who teaches the course. 

Once an Academic Year has been selected, course information can be found by navigating through the menu or by performing a course search. The academic year is displayed as a watermark behind each WesMaps page.  It is important to pay attention to this watermark, to ensure that you are looking at the correct academic year's curriculum.

Clicking on "All Courses by CID" within the menu will display all departments and programs.  Clicking on one of the options displayed will bring the user to a menu of the department's or program's currently and not currently offered courses, catalog description and any sub-categories, if applicable.  For example, clicking on Anthropology would display: 

Anthropology

• Catalog Description 
• Courses Currently Offered (by CID) 
• Anthropology: Non-major Gen. Ed. 
• Anthropology: Gateway 
• Tutorial, Thesis, Education in field 
• Graduate tutorials & thesis 
• Courses Not Currently Offered (by CID)

Any of the menu options under the heading " Anthropology" are active links.  Catalog Description includes information about the department or program and major requirements.  Courses Currently Offered (by CID) displays those courses that are offered for that academic year.  Courses Not Currently Offered (by CID) indicates those courses that have been omitted for that academic year.  Links to course pages are displayed in RED for the Fall semester and GREEN for the Spring semester. 

Search mechanisms are located at the top of each WesMaps page.  Clicking on " Course Search By CID" will bring the user to a page where the Subject and Catalog number of the course can be entered.  This search mechanism is useful if you already know the course number and wish to get to the WesMaps page quickly.  The "Course Search" option should be used if the user would like to search for a course based on specific criteria (for example; a course that meets (or does not meet) at a specific time, one that satisfies a certain GenEd requirement or has a specific Key Capability, or courses within one or several departments). 

At the top of each course page, the subject and catalog number and semester offered will be displayed beneath the title.  For example, for the course:

Fundamentals of Cultural Anthropology
ANTH 102 FA

ANTH 102 is the course number and it is being offered in the Fall semester.  Clicking on the subject (ANTH) will bring the user back to the department's WesMaps menu. 

An explanation of reserved seats, permission of instructor, prerequisites and related issues follows:

The registration system is designed to provide equal access to courses with limited enrollments.  In order to achieve this goal, instructors have the option of distributing seats in a class based on class year and major.  As seniors (followed by juniors, then sophomores and, finally, first-year students) go to their reservation sessions, an equitable proportion of the seats set aside for their class will be made available to them. Seats set aside for one class that are not taken will be proportionally allocated to the next class's reservation sessions.  The "bins" that appear at the bottom of the course page in WesMaps and Online Registration show how many seats are reserved for each group of students. Below are some guidelines for understanding this distribution, followed by specific examples.

 

• A number in a space means seats are reserved for a group of students during the registration period;

• A '0' means those students may enroll in the course, but there are no seats specifically reserved for them;

• An 'X' means those students are excluded from the course. 

• If a course has an unlimited enrollment, no distribution is necessary.

• If a course requires Permission of Instructor, no class distribution is necessary, as students will be enrolled at the Instructor's discretion.

• If they have not been excluded ('X'), majors have access to seats reserved for non-majors.

• Seats reserved specifically for majors will roll down to non-majors during advisor authorization.  Any major seats not taken during the course reservation periods will be available to non-majors during the advisor authorization period unless a student's class year has been excluded.

Examples:

A.                Reserved Seats (Total Limit 20)

SR major: X JR major: X

SR non-maj: X         JR non-major: X     Sophomore: X     First-Year: 20

In this example (an FYI course), senior majors, junior majors, senior non-majors, junior non-majors, and sophomores are all excluded.  All twenty seats are reserved for first-year students. During Advisor Authorization, leftover seats would only be available to first-year students, as no other class years are eligible. 

B.                Reserved Seats (Total Limit 30)

SR major: 10                JR major: 10

SR non-maj:             JR non-major:      Sophomore: 10     First-Year: X

In this example, the instructor is reserving seats for majors and sophomores. During the senior registration period, the ten seats will be available only to majors.  During the junior registration period, junior majors will have access to the ten seats reserved for them and to any seats not taken by the senior majors.  Junior non-majors will not have access to any of the seats.  During the sophomore registration period, sophomores will have access to their ten seats.  During Advisor Authorization, majors and non-majors will have access to all remaining seats from all registration periods  (major seats and non-major seats). First-Year students will not be allowed to enroll in this course because they are excluded.

If a course is crosslisted, a student may register for any one of the offerings and still have access to major seats.  For example, if a course is offered in the departments of Biology, Psychology, and NS&B, a Biology major may select the course as Psychology, and still be considered a major.

C.                Reserved Seats (Unlimited)

SR major:     JR major:

SR non-maj:             JR non-major:      Sophomore: X     First Year:

In this example, enrollment in the course is unlimited, so no reservations are necessary.  All class years have equal access to all seats, except sophomores, who are excluded.

D.                Reserved Seats (Total Limit: 8)

SR major:     JR major:

SR non-maj:             JR non-major:      Sophomore:      First Year:      

Special Attributes

Permission: Permission of Instructor Required

In this example, no seats have been reserved because this is a Permission of Instructor section.  Enrollment is determined by the instructor; therefore, there are no seat reservations by class year. 

"Permission of Instructor" applies to those courses in which computerized placement is unsuitable, e.g., when an instructor requires review of portfolios, writing samples, auditions, etc. POI courses are available during Pre-Registration (Browsing) or Drop/Add. A Permission of Instructor approval guarantees course enrollment.

Pre-Reg courses- During Planning and Adjustment, students who meet the criteria and intend to enroll in such courses must submit a Permission of Instructor Request thru their Electronic Portfolio. Click 'Add to My Courses' and 'To request a POI electronically, click here' to submit your request.

Drop/Add courses- During Adjustment, students who meet the criteria and intend to enroll in such courses must submit a Drop/Add Ranked Enrollment Request thru their Electronic Portfolio. Click 'Add to My Courses' and assign a rank to submit your request as a Drop/Add ranked enrollment request. Each student can submit up to four ranked enrollment requests.

Many course descriptions include stated curricular prerequisites; e.g., RUSS301 requires RUSS202. Each student's academic record will be scanned for compliance with prerequisites for selected courses. Students will not be able to register in courses unless they have successfully completed the stated prerequisites. The registration system WILL check for prerequisites for which a student is currently enrolled. However, if a student will concurrently enroll for the prerequisite in the term for which he or she is registering, and concurrent enrollment in the prerequisite is suitable to the instructor, a prerequisite override must be obtained before the student can enroll in the course.

Students who wish to enroll in a course for which they lack prerequisites must request a Prerequisite Override from the instructor thru their Electronic Portfolio. Click 'Add to My Courses' and 'To request a Pre-req electronically, click here' to submit your request.

Transfer students who have transferred in a course comparable to a Wesleyan course must request a Prerequisite Override. A Prerequisite Override allows a student to be considered for enrollment in a course but does not guarantee enrollment.