FAQ: Section CIS XXXX is full, but I can attend it if you sign the Add-A-Seat form. Would you please sign it?

FAQ: Is there ever an exception to the above policy of not signing an Add-a-Seat form?

FAQ: This is a really hard course and a lot of people are going to drop later on. This will make room for me. Would you Add-a-Seat for me?

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Answer: Once a section is full, then it is considered to have no more room (i.e., it is full). We have several reasons for sticking to this policy:

Adding extra students to a section that is already full means that the section is now beyond full, and this will quite likely be inconvenient for the students who have a legitimate seat in the class.

Students who sign up for a class that is designated as a having a maximum of 27 students expect to find themselves in a class of 27 students (not 35, 45, etc.).

There are many other reasons that a class is limited to a specific size. These reasons include the amount of work an instructor needs to support each student (grading, office hours, etc.) and the physical limitations of the classroom (the number of people that the classroom can hold, the number of computer stations available for the students to use, etc.).

Note that if your Add-A-Seat request comes after other such requests have been denied, it would be unfair to the earlier requestors if we fulfilled your request after having denied theirs.

Answer: Very rarely, and only for one of these two reasons:

This is the last class you need to graduate with our CIS degree and you have written documentation from an OCC counselor showing that: 1) you are preparing to graduate and that 2) this is indeed the last CIS class you need. Even then, the addition of an extra student to a section most likely cannot happen due to the reasons listed above.

OCC has made an error that prevented you from enrolling in the class. This does not include OCC requiring you to follow normal procedures (such as taking an ASSET or English proficiency test which delayed your enrollment). What this does cover is your having enrolled in a section, paid for it, and OCC accidentally removed you from the section for non-payment (even though you did pay!). You need to be able to document that this actually happened (i.e., the business office needs to verify it was their fault and not yours).

Answer: We do not want to create a situation in which we are counting on the failure of our students, or a situation in which we need some students to fail out of a section, for it to be at a comfortable size.