The Faculty of Arts & Science is changing the process of course enrolment for when priority enrolment controls are lifted.

After the priorities drop, the August 5 enrolment start time will no longer be the same for all students; it will instead be staggered by year of study. Fourth years and up will start course selection at 9:00 am, followed by third years at 10:00 am, second years at 11:00 am, and first years at 12:00 pm.

During the priority enrolment period, some courses have controlled status for students, determined by factors such as subject POSts or year of study. These courses are made available to other students — provided that there is space in the course — during the general course enrolment period.

In previous years, priorities would drop for every student at 6:00 am, and ACORN and ROSI were susceptible to crashing due to excessive website traffic.

U of T Media Relations Director Althea Blackburn-Evans identified two reasons for this change: to avoid overloading the website and causing difficulties with selection; and to provide upper-years with first access to courses, addressing previous student feedback and consultations with staff at the colleges.

Blackburn-Evans also identified the benefit of immediate access to assistance should difficulties arise, now that the 9:00 am start time aligns with the start of the business day.

By the end of the summer, the Faculty of Arts & Science will collect feedback from students regarding this change and assess whether their goals of improvement were achieved.