Course Selection Procedures

(A) Course Enrollment Period (December 11, 2012– December 20, 2012)

Students are required to register the core courses and faculty/school/departmental courses by semester, i.e. students will only register for Semester 1 courses in August/September 2012 and Semester 2 courses in December 2012.

The Course Enrollment Period for Semester 2 is from December 11, 2012 (9 am) to December 20, 2012 (5 pm). Priority will be given to (i) part-time students since the choice of evening courses are very limited and the total number of our part-time students is small; and (ii) all MPhil and 4-year PhD students who are in the last semester before their probation end date since they must complete all Graduate School courses and 50% of the faculty/school/departmental course requirement before their candidature can be confirmed. Other students may register for the courses starting from December 13, 2012 (9 am). The Course Enrollment Period is divided as follows

Dec 11, 2012 (9 am) - Dec 12, 2012 (5 pm) (Tue - Wed) :	for part-time students and MPhil & 4-year PhD students in the last semester before their probation end date ONLY
Dec 13, 2012 (9 am) - Dec 20, 2012 (5 pm) (Thurs - Thurs) :	for ALL students

(B) Accessibility of the System

Students are allowed to do the on-line course registration anytime during the above period except the system backup time from 12am to 6am everyday. The On-line Course Registration System can be accessed using any computers connected to the world-wide-web. Within the campus, you may make use of computers in the computer laboratories managed by the Information Technology Services (Rooms 101, 103 & 201 of the Run Run Shaw Building; Rooms 134, 135 & 136 of the Library Building Old Wing). To access the system outside the campus, please see the step-by-step guide in Section (C) below.

Course selection is done on-line via your HKU Portal on a first-come-first-served basis. You are advised to check if your account is working properly before the course enrollment period and seek help from the Student Information System (SIS) at 2819 0777 or AskSIS@hku.hk> if you have any problems with your account. Please click here for the system user guide for the step-by-step instructions.

(C) On-line Course Selection

The on-line course registration system allows students to select courses and obtain approval on-line. After the course selection is finalized, the supervisor and the Departmental Research Postgraduate Committee (DRPC) will be invited to indicate their approval on-line. The students could NOT choose the courses again during the Course Enrollment Period if the supervisors/DRPCs disapprove some of the courses. In the light of the above, students are strongly encouraged to consult their supervisors on the courses they should take before the course selection.

The following is a step-by-step guide for selecting the courses on-line:

Step 1 – Log-in

Students should access the system via HKU Portal. Please visit the HKU Portal and click “Student Information System” > "SIS Menu" > “Enrollment” > “RPG Course Selection” to enter the course selection screen.

Step 2 - Course Selection
You may now choose your courses on-line. Courses available for selection will be shown at the bottom right-hand side of the screen. Click "Details" after each course title to view the course syllabus and click course code to show the sub-classes of the course at the top right-hand corner of the screen. The timetable of each sub-class can also be shown at the top right-hand side of the screen. Click the subclass number to add the course to your enrollment list. Sub-classes which are full cannot be added. Places will be filled on a first-come-first-served basis.

You can save your course selection and go back to modify it as long as you have not finalized your course selection. Press "Save" before you exit the screen or else the data will be lost the next time you log into the system. After pressing the "Save" button, the system will temporarily reserve a place in the chosen sub-class for you. It will also check possible timetable clash and the fulfillment of pre-requisite and co-requisite requirement for the courses you have selected. A remark code will be shown after each course if the system detects problems in the above two aspects. Please try your best to rectify the problems by choosing another course or sub-class.

Please refer to the User Guide on On-line Course Selection & On-line Add-drop for the detailed procedures.

Step 3 - Finalization of Course Selection
Your data will be submitted only after you have finalized your selection. No further changes can be made once you have clicked the "Finalize" button on the course selection screen. Hence, please only finalize your course selection when you are absolutely sure that you will not make further changes to your course selection. You do not need to finalize your selection in order to secure a place, since a place will be reserved for you once you have successfully saved your selection. As you press the "Finalize" button, an email will be sent to your supervisor by the system and invite him/her to endorse your course selection on-line. The system will finalize the course selection for you at the end of the Course Enrollment Period even though you have not clicked the "Finalize" button.

Step 4 - Approval
Your course selection should be endorsed by your primary supervisor and approved by the Chairman of the Departmental Research Postgraduate Committee (DRPC). Supervisors will be invited by email to endorse the course selection on-line. The DRPC will be invited to approve the course selection after the supervisor endorsement period. An email will be sent to each student informing him/her about the decision of his/her supervisor and the DRPC. DRPC approval is expected to be completed by January 4, 2013.

Step 5 - View Course Selection via the SIS
Students may check the approval status of the course selection from the SIS on January 9, 2013.

(D) On-line Add-Drop (January 21, 2013- January 28, 2013)

Starting from the first day of teaching, students are allowed to change their course selection and obtain approval on-line. New students who arrive after the Course Enrollment Period may also make use of this period to do the course selection on-line. The on-line add-drop period is as follows:

Jan 21, 2013 (2 pm) – Jan 28, 2013 (5 pm)

The interface of the on-line add-drop will be the same as the one used in the on-line course selection. Students may follow the step-by-step guide in (C) above to enter the system, save the course selection and finalize the change for approval by the supervisor and the DRPC. Supervisor and DRPC approval is required to add or drop a course. For change of sub-class, approval is not required. Please refer to the user guide for the detailed procedures.

Students can do more than one round of add-drop during the on-line add-drop period as long as the supervisor and the DRPC have completed approving the course selection of the last round. For example, if a student adds a course on September 17, 2012 and finalizes the course selection on the same day, the student’s supervisor will be invited to indicate his/her endorsement to the student’s course selection within 2 working days, i.e. by September 19. The DRPC will then be invited to indicate their approval to the student’s course selection within 2 working days, i.e. by September 21. After the DRPC approves/disapproves the course selection by September 21, an email will be sent to the student and one round of add-drop will then be completed. This student can make further changes to the course selection anytime after September 21 until September 24.

(E) Course Which Cannot be Enrolled via the On-line Course Registration Syetem

In some cases students may wish to take courses which are not offered to them via the On-line course registration system. They should complete a hard-copy application form (Form GS2). The form can also be downloaded from the Graduate School homepage. Please seek endorsements from your supervisor and the Chairman of the DRPC by asking them to sign on the relevant sections of the form. If you are taking course(s) from another department's MPhil/PhD curriculum, please obtain the approval and signature from the relevant Head of Department. The duly signed forms have to be submitted to the Graduate School office for processing within 2 weeks after the commencement of the relevant course(s). However, requests for adding those 4-week Graduate School courses have to reach the Graduate School office within the first week after commencement of the relevant course(s).

(F) Course Enrollment / Change of Course after the On-line Add-Drop Period

Students who are not able to do the on-line course selection during the Course Enrollment Period and On-line Add-drop Period, or those who would like to change their course enrollment after the On-line Add-drop Period will have to complete a hard-copy application form (Form GS2). Please follow the procedure in (E) above.