STUDENT SERVICES

Registrar FAQs

If you have questions about anything the Registrar’s Office takes care of — academic matters and financial aid to name just two areas — check out our FAQs first for new students, current students, and graduating students.

New students

Innis is a smaller, modern, and innovative college with a strong sense of community. To help make your decision, learn more here about Innis. You can also get a sense of the College from happening@Innis.
Yes. Although some students prefer their personal email account, activating your UTORid and frequently checking your UTmail+ email (i.e., NAME@mail.utoronto.ca) is of critical importance to you as a student. U of T can only ensure the security of confidential student correspondence through this account. You must get your TCard first before you can set up your UTmail+ address.

The Faculty of Arts and Sciences has two academic sessions: Fall-Winter (Sept to April) and Summer (May – August). Course registration typically begins in July for the Fall-Winter session and March for the Summer session. Our office hosts a general academic orientation and welcome session for all new students in June, which prepares students for course selection and registration. Students seeking one-on-one advising are welcome to set up an advising appointment with Denise Gray by emailing registrar.innis@utoronto.ca. General questions can be sent to the same email.

Here are some resources to help you get started on course selection and registration:

At any time. Your breadth requirement is an opportunity to experience a range of course topics, which can reveal new areas of academic interest. We encourage you to satisfy your breadth requirement in your earlier years of study, the perfect time to discover potential programs of study.

We also encourage you to enrol in First-Year Foundations (FYF) Seminars to help satisfy your breadth requirement, as these courses expose you to specific topics of interest in a small-scale, interactive setting. In your upper years, you will typically be more focused on courses that satisfy your specific program requirements.

If you are especially concerned about taking a course outside of your areas of interest, you may be able to designate up to 2.0 FCEs as “Credit/No Credit,” which conceals your course grade from your transcript and excludes it from your GPA.

There is never any guarantee, so we recommend having a Plan B in place. We generally say that if the size of the waiting list is ten per cent of the class size or less before classes begin, there is good reason to join it and remain optimistic about getting in to the course by the end of the enrolment period. Remember that you can only waitlist up to 2.0 credits in the Fall/Winter Session.

There is almost always a small time period between the close of the waiting lists and the final deadline to add a course. If you check ACORN a lot during that time, and a spot opens up, you can try to register. Persistence may pay off, but again, no guarantees!

Graduating students may wish to touch base with an academic counsellor in the Innis College Registrar’s Office to get help considering all available options.

After the first round of course selection in the summer, and before the first day of classes, your personal course timetable on ACORN will be updated with delivery instructions, including room locations when applicable. Around the same time, the course listings in the A&S Timetable will be updated with the same information.

You do not need to acquire your course materials until your professor provides you with a course syllabus, typically on the first day of class. However, some instructors send out syllabi early; check Quercus to see if that’s the case. Regardless, be aware of the return policy from your place of purchase, in case you drop the course.

Current students

This process depends on how long you’ve been away. In all cases, you should book an appointment with an academic advisor at the Innis College Registrar’s Office to discuss available options.

ACORN uses your UTORid and password as your login. For security reasons, existing passwords cannot be retrieved. If you forget your password, you have to go in person to the Information Commons Help Desk to reset it. Or you can use the online Password Reset Tool if you have already set up your password reset. If you haven’t, do it now! Set up your options for the Password Reset Tool.  

It could be a number of issues. Are there any course enrolment restrictions? Has the course been changed or cancelled? (Here is the most recent timetable.) Have you typed in the course code and section correctly? Are you already at the maximum number of credits (counting both courses you are in and waitlisted courses)? If you can’t figure it out, contact the Innis College Registrar’s Office or the course’s department.

Contact the Innis College Registrar’s Office to speak with one of the academic advisors to consider your options. In general, you may change your program at any time during your years at U of T (assuming that you request new subject programs during the specified request periods, and that you are invited into them). Students are always encouraged to enrol in a combination of programs that reflects their personal and professional interests. When anticipating your career after U of T, keep in mind that much of the skillset that you develop at university is comprised of soft skills; these are transferable life skills that are not specific to a given discipline of study. These skills are of particular interest to future employers. U of T’s CLNx career portal offers many services to help hone such skills.

Innis has learning strategists to help you identify your learning challenges, strengths, and goals. Book an appointment here. You can also receive free, one-to-one help through our Writing Centre.

U of T’s Academic Success Centre also offers a variety of short seminars on improving study skills.

Yes. First, register here with  Accessibility Services. The Accessibility Services Office offers everything from testing accommodation to mobility services, in a confidential manner.

The Navi Mental Health Wayfinder is U of T’s anonymous and confidential virtual tool that helps you navigate mental health resources on and off campus, allowing you to decide which ones are right for your needs.

Graduating students

Learn about degree requirements, convocation, transcripts, photos, career resources, and more at the Innis Graduating Students page.

U of T’s Academic Success Centre also offers information about graduate/professional school admissions. In addition, the Innis College Office of Student Life has events throughout the Fall/Winter Session on similar topics, where you can hear from and ask questions of current and past Innis students.

The Innis Registrar’s Office is happy to discuss options for graduate and professional study, as well as career pathways. Professional school applications are handled by the Ontario Universities Application Centre (OUAC), but in particular, you should go to the OSMAS site for medical schools, OLSAS for law schools, and TEAS for teaching. U of T’s CLNx is also a valuable resource for information on various professional and graduate schools.

You can view and print your complete academic history on ACORN. You can order an eTranscript through ACORN. Transcript Services has more information about transcript services, including how to order, delivery times, and fees.

Have more questions?

The Registrar’s Office is your one-stop shop for any kind of academic issue or question, including courses, fees, learning and mental health supports, and more.