Registration
General Information
The main campus Ofice of the Registrar will e-mail you your TeleBEARS appointment time. You should log on to BearFacts to get your time. If you did not receive the e-mail, please bring your Cal Photo ID card to the Registrar’s Office for assistance.
To maximize your chances of obtaining a seat in all of the classes you wish to take, it is essential to use TeleBEARS at your appointed Phase I and Phase II times. Many courses are in high demand; in addition, enrollment limits are often imposed by instructors. Furthermore, enrollment for every course is necessarily limited by classroom size. Third-year students have a slight appointment time advantage over second-year students, but in some cases, it is only a ten-minute head start. And if you don’t enroll until the Adjustment Period at the beginning of each semester, you are likely to encounter a great many closed courses.
Phase I Enrollment
Phase I enrollment begins at your appointment time and runs until Phase I registration ends. You may enroll in a maximum of 12 units during Phase I, so select the courses you need the most.
Open Hours
If you miss your appointment, you can visit the TeleBEARS website anytime during open hours, which are 7:00 a.m.-8:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.-midnight until Phase I registration ends. However, you can only avail yourself of the open hours once your appointment window has passed.
Phase II Enrollment
Phase II enrollment is available from your Phase II appointment time through the end of Phase II registration. During Phase II, you should enroll in the rest of the units that you need. If you miss your appointment, log-on to TeleBEARS during open hours, which are 7:00 a.m.-8:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.-midnight until Phase II registration ends. Once again, you cannot gain access during open hours until your appointment window has passed.
Grading Guidelines
When enrolling through TeleBEARS, you must follow the Boalt Hall grading guidelines for each course. With the exception of Law 299 and those specified in the Course Schedule enrollment notes, all courses are offered for a grade (High Honors, Honors, Pass, or Substandard Pass). Regardless of what TeleBEARS says, all Boalt students must take each course with the designated grading option—there is no choice.
How To Enroll
To enroll in courses you need to do the following:
- Student Identification Number (SID): You also need your SID number to enroll. This number can be found on your Cal Photo ID card. We can’t serve you in the Registrar’s Office without your Cal ID card, so if you lose it, have it replaced immediately at the Cal Photo ID Office, 110 Cesar Chavez Center on Lower Sproul. The office is open Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Replacement cards are $15.00. Their phone number is 1-866-2UCBCARD or visit http://www.housing.berkeley.edu/photoid/.
- Course Control Numbers: Course Control Numbers (CCN) identify classes to the TeleBEARS computer. This is the number you will enter into TeleBEARS to select the class that you want to take. The CCN’s are the five-digit numbers listed on your Course Schedule. They are displayed in the first column, just to the left of the course numbers.
Web Enrollment
The site was set up by the main Office of the Registrar at Sproul for the entire Berkeley campus, therefore, it is not tailored for law students. Nonetheless, it is very easy to enroll this way—just follow the instructions
Confirming TeleBEARS Transactions
Complete every TeleBEARS transaction with a confirmation. Wait for the BEAR to tell you that your transaction is confirmed. Failure to confirm a transaction is the most common TeleBEARS error. Transactions which are not confirmed are invalid and will not take effect.
Course Updates
Check for course updates often since changes are regularly made. Go to: http://www.law.berkeley.edu/students/courses/updates/index.html
3L-Only and 3L-Preference Courses
A few instructors limit their courses to third-year students in the early enrollment but will allow second-year students on the waiting list for possible later enrollment. If you are a second-year student attempting to add the class, you will only be allowed access to the waiting list. In certain other classes, the instructor might indicate a preference for third-year students, in which only 2/3 of the seats in a class are reserved for third year students. Second-year students who don’t make it into the class during early enrollment may be added later from the waiting list.
Waiting Lists
If a course is full, the only way to possibly obtain a place in the class is to get on the waiting list. Select the Waiting List item on the TeleBEARS menu to confirm the transaction. As space in the class becomes available, your name will advance on the waiting list. If enough students drop the course, you may be automatically enrolled from the waiting list (see below). TeleBEARS counts courses for which you are wait-listed in your course unit total. There are two types of waiting lists:
1. Automatic Waiting Lists: If you are on an automatic waiting list for a course, you will be automatically added to the course when a seat becomes available. This means that if you are on a waiting list and decide not to take the course, you must remove yourself from the waiting list via TeleBEARS. If you remain on the waiting list, you risk being automatically enrolled and taking a space from somebody else who may want to be in the class. It is your responsibility to check the accuracy of your schedule and to drop any unwanted courses and remove yourself from waiting lists as soon as you know that you are no longer interested in taking the course. If you don’t check before the drop deadline, you will be assessed a late fee. Worse yet, if you do not drop an unwanted course before the last day of classes, the course remains on your transcript and the permanent notation of IP (in progress) is entered.
2. Manual Wait Lists: A manual waiting list (“processed at departmental level,“ according to TeleBEARS) is one over which the instructor has control. Instead of students advancing into the course from the waiting list on a first-come, first-serve basis, the instructor has the ability to select individual students and add them to the class when a seat becomes available. The instructor may base these decisions on a student’s class year or the fulfillment of a prerequisite.
Please note that waiting lists vanish when the campus processes its 5 th week data processing updates. If your name doesn’t make it onto the class list by that time, but you have been admitted to the class by the instructor, you will need to add the class via a Petition to Adjust Schedule, which requires the signatures of the instructor and the Dean of Students. The cost is $5.00.
Enrollment Information
Class Meeting TimesAll classes begin at the exact time stated in the Course Guide or as updated on the Courses page. Maximum Units
You must obtain the permission of the Dean of Students before you enroll in more than 15 units. An acceptable overload is 16 to 17 units. You may only carry this many units with the permission of the Dean of Students, obtained on the Academic Rules Petition. Overlapping Courses/Time Conflict Warning
The law school does not give credit for courses with overlapping class times. When you try to enroll in two courses which overlap, TeleBEARS usually warns you of the conflict, and then allows you to enroll in both. There is one instance in which TeleBEARS will not alert you to an overlap at all. If one class meets at two different times in a week (for example, Monday 2 p.m. - 3 p.m and Thursday 11 a.m - 12 p.m.), and you have another class that meets Thursday 11 a.m.- 12 p.m., you will not get the warning. Please remember that you are responsible for the careful reading of the schedule to avoid overlaps. All new courses as well as course cancellations will be posted on the Courses at Boalt Updates webpage. If there have been changes, make sure that there are no class time conflicts in your schedule and no final exam conflicts. Obtaining Official Enrollment Status
To be officially registered for the semester, you must have no blocks, must have enrolled in at least one class and must have paid your first fee installment on time. You must be registered in order to use campus services such as parking, health services, and the sports center. If you have to clear a registration block with Loans and Receivables (642-3190), make note of the name of the person with whom you spoke. Deadline for Adding Regular Courses
Friday of the second week of law classes is the last day to add a course. Students may drop a class with the instructor's permission and as long as the requisite number of units are maintained through Wednesday of the second week. The only adds that are allowed after Friday of the second week are to correct clerical errors that prevented regular classes (as opposed to 295-299, see below) from appearing on your schedule. To add a class to correct a clerical error, use the Petition to Adjust Schedule. A $5 charge will appear on your account for this transaction. Adding Courses in the 295-299 Series (Journals, Moot Court, Clinicals, Externships, Independent Study)
You may take a total of 15 non-law and non-classroom units. Non-law units include legal studies courses and courses taken at other departments on the UC Berkeley campus. Non-classroom units are those in the 295-299 series, including law journals, clinicals, externships, Moot Court Board, moot court competitions, and independent studies. Journals: Obtain the Course Control Numbers from the editors. Clinics: The instructors will give you the Course Control Number. You then need to call TeleBEARS and add the clinical units to your course schedule. Independent Study: These courses consist of faculty-supervised research, study, and writing projects. The project and the amount of credit must be approved by both the supervising faculty member and the Dean of Students. Use the Petition to Enroll in 297-299 form. Law 299 projects may be added only with the approval of the instructor and the Dean of Students. The $5 late add fee may apply. There are three kinds of independent study:
- Law 297 is an individual self-education project conducted under the active supervision of a faculty member. Such a project will usually consist of the study of a subject not available through the regular curriculum or in-depth study of part of the materials covered in a regular course. These projects are graded on a Credit/Not Pass basis.
- Law 298 consists of group research-and-writing projects conducted under the active supervision of a faculty member. These projects are graded on a Credit/Not Pass basis.
- Law 299 consists of individual research-and-writing projects conducted under the active supervision of a faculty member. Independent projects to fulfill the Writing Requirement are generally Law 299 projects. The grade option (either Credit/No Pass or a regular grade) must be agreed upon with the instructor in advance and entered on the petition. The grade option may not be altered once the petition has been filed.
Changing Units in a Variable Unit Course
If you are in a clinical or a 299 and you want to change the number of units for which you enrolled, you will need to drop the course entirely and add it again at the different unit value.
Dropping Courses
Deadlines and Fees: The last day to drop a course without paying a fee is Wednesday of the second week of classes. The deadline also applies to part-semester courses. For courses outside the law school (other departments on the UC campus and at other law schools), students must adhere to the drop procedures and deadlines established by the individual department or school. To drop a course after Wednesday of the second week, a Petition to Adjust Schedule, which requires the signatures of both the instructor of the course and the Dean of Students, must be completed. If you are unable to obtain both signatures by that date, you will not be allowed to drop the class, and it will remain on your transcript. If you do not drop a course by the deadline and do not complete the work for the course, a grade of IP (In Progress) will be recorded on your transcript. Note that petitions will not be approved if the drop leaves you with fewer than 10 units. A $10 charge will appear on your account for each transaction.
These rules and policies apply whether you were in the class all semester and decided to drop at the end or whether you never attended the class. You should check your schedule often to make sure you are not enrolled in any classes that you do not wish to take. If you don't check and don't find out until after the drop deadline, you will not be able to drop the course from your transcript, and you will receive the NR.
Instructor Drop: The Academic Rules require students to attend all classes and instructors expect it particularly during the first two weeks of the semester. If you miss any class during the first two weeks, you may be dropped from the class by the instructor even if TeleBEARS has given you a space in the course. Do not assume that you have been or will be dropped for non-attendance. If you have signed up for a course and decide not to take it, it is your responsibility to drop it.
Other Drop Policies: Instructors may announce their own drop deadlines, which may be sooner than the general drop deadline. If an instructor announces such a policy, please take heed.
The law school requires all law students to add and drop classes by November 1 for Fall Semester and April 1 for Spring semester.
