Heinz Academic Success

We are committed to supporting your academic success in Heinz College. If you are finding course concepts challenging, we encourage you to be proactive in seeking help in your Heinz coursework. Below is the standard process for accessing support and opportunities to help your peers.

How to Get Help

• Start with Office Hours: Your first resource should always be your instructor or Teaching Assistant (TA). Attending office hours is often the fastest and most effective way to resolve questions about course material.
• Request a Tutor: If you need additional support beyond or in addition to office hours, you can request a private tutor through our centralized process. Reach out early, giving us as much lead time as possible will help identify a tutor for you as soon as possible.

Requesting a Tutor

• Step 1: Submit a request using the Tutoring Support Request Form.
• Step 2: Your Academic Advisor will review your request.
• Step 3: We will facilitate the connection.

General Tutors: If a match is available, we will introduce you to a tutor who can support your specific needs. If no tutor is available currently, we will begin a search for you. Being proactive will help us.

Embedded Tutors: If your course has a dedicated "Embedded Tutor," we will connect you with them directly so you can begin working together.

Feedback

We value your experience and want to ensure a respectful, helpful learning environment. After your tutoring sessions, please let us know how it went via the Tutor Feedback Form.

Become a Tutor

Did you excel in a specific course? We are always looking for students to support their peers.

Tutor Interest Form – Submit this form to join our roster of available tutors.

Questions? Please contact Angeline Sandor for questions regarding the tutoring process or administrative support.

Where can I find more information about Heinz College courses?

Students can utilize the Heinz College Course Catalog for course descriptions, learning objectives, prerequisites and syllabi. Stellic and the CMU Schedule of Classes will give information from the course profile as well as course meeting days/times and course instructors. To view current and past versions of syllabi for a course, please visit the Canvas syllabus registry.

Which academic calendar should I follow?

Heinz College has its own academic calendar. The Heinz Academic Calendar is updated each academic year and posted on the Heinz website.

Can I enroll in a course without meeting the prerequisite?

No, prerequisites are required to complete before registering for the course. Prerequisites are an important way to ensure students have the baseline skills and knowledge to be successful in a course.

I want to audit a course. How do I do that?

Students must first be registered for the course they would like to audit. If it is a Heinz course, please submit the Heinz Course Audit Approval form to obtain approval from the instructor and your academic advisor or program office. If it is a non-Heinz course, please complete and return the Course Audit Approval (PDF) form to Heinz academic services office before the audit deadline. Once approved, it may take up to 7-10 business days for the grade option to reflect as "O" (which signifies the course is an audit) in SIO. 

At the end of the course, if you fulfill the outlined terms and "pass" the audited course, you will receive an "O" grade. If you do not fulfill the terms and do not pass the course, your grade will remain blank. Units from audited courses do not count towards your degree requirements, and they are not factored into your GPA.

Oh no! I hit a waitlist on a Heinz course when I registered for classes. Does that mean the class is full?

Not necessarily. Heinz regularly puts all students on a waitlist for a course to ensure our Heinz students get priority to register. Academic Services manually administers the waitlists. You can reach out to your advisor to see how much space is in a course/if you are likely to get into the desired course.

I'm not a current CMU student, how can I register for Heinz coursework?

Please contact Heinz-academic-services@andrew.cmu.edu to inquire about availability. You will need to submit an application at least 3 weeks prior to the start of the course, and upon review and approval, you will have a non-degree student record created to enroll in coursework.

There's a hold on my account for registration - what does that mean?

All incoming new students have a registration hold placed on their account for their first semester. If you are a continuing student with a registration hold, please contact your academic advisor for more information.

How do I share my planned schedule with my advisor?

Once you've planned a schedule in Stellic or SIO, you can email your Academic Advisor to let them know you'd like them to review it. Stellic allows you to audit your entire degree plan and check degree requirements, but SIO is ultimately where you will register for courses for each semester.

I want to take a Tepper course - how do I do this?

Tepper has a special registration process for non-Tepper students. They publish a list every semester which outlines which courses are available to non-Tepper students. The list is available on Tepper's website.

I'm on a Heinz course waitlist. Who should I email about getting into the course?

We ask that you do NOT email faculty about registering for their course(s). Heinz College faculty do not manage their waitlists and cannot provide updated information about the likelihood that you will be registered. Heinz College waitlists are regularly reviewed so emailing staff about enrolling into the course is not necessary either.

I want to Pass/No Pass a course but on the description it says "Letter Grade Only," does that mean I can't even if I use my voucher?

Some elective courses may stipulate they are "letter grade only," meaning you cannot change the grade option P/NP, even with a voucher! If you aren't sure, reach out to your instructor to clarify.

When can I register for courses?

Incoming students are registered for courses by the college prior to your first semester. In all subsequent semesters, please follow the Heinz Academic Calendar to determine when registration opens for an upcoming semester. 

All students are assigned a registration time to indicate when they can start registering for courses - check SIO to find out your specific registration time. Registration time assignments are managed by the university, and are assigned based on a number of factors including degree program, expected graduation date, progress towards graduation, etc. While the registration time indicates when you can begin to register for courses, you can continue to make changes to your schedule through the applicable add/drop period.

I'm struggling in class. What do I do?

First, please talk with your professor and utilize any resources available through the course. These can include recitation sessions and TA and/or faculty office hours. If you have utilized these existing resources and still need additional support, we can also offer one-on-one tutoring. Some courses have integrated tutoring built into the TA team - connecting with the instructor and/or TAs can help you determine if this support is available. If you need a tutor and one is not available through the existing teaching team for the course, your academic advisor can request a tutor on your behalf through Heinz Academic Services.

Can I substitute a core course with another course to fulfill the core requirement?

Generally speaking, no. Requests to count a different course towards a requirement are reviewed on a case-by-case basis, however, you should plan to complete the required courses as noted for your degree program in your program handbook.

If I am taking a non-Heinz course, how do I make sure it counts towards graduation?

Please fill out the General Petition Form and your advisor or program director will confirm the course will count towards your elective credit. Most Heinz degree programs allow only 36 units of non-Heinz coursework to count towards the Heinz degree.

Is there a way I can look up my progress towards graduation?

Yes! You can look on Stellic. If you see something that doesn't make sense, please reach out to your academic advisor.

Can I make a core course Pass/No Pass?

No. Pass/No Pass is only for elective courses. Please use Pass/No Pass Approval form. (Note that some electives may not allow Pass/No Pass, check with your advisor if you're not sure).

Are pass/no pass units renewed each year?

Students receive 12 units of pass/no pass to spend on elective coursework for the duration of the program. The pass/no pass units are not replenished. You may also take up to 6 units of instructor deemed pass/no pass coursework, which means courses where the default grade is pass/no pass rather than petitioning to do so.

What can I use a voucher for? What is the difference between a voucher and a pass/no pass petition?

Master's students have one voucher per academic year that can be used to drop a non-core course after the add/drop deadline, or the voucher can be used to change a grade option to pass/no pass for a non-core course after the add/drop deadline. Please review the Heinz Academic Calendar for voucher deadlines each semester. If you know you want to take a non-core course as pass/no pass before the add/drop deadline, please use the Pass/No Pass Petition to change your grade option for the course. As a Heinz student, you can only elect to take up to 12 units of coursework as pass/no pass, either with the voucher or the pass/no pass petition.

For what do I use the General Petition Form - Online Version?

You can increase your units, have a course count as an elective, request to substitute a course towards a bin requirement, and other general requests. The general petition should NOT be used to change a course to pass/no pass or audit, or to exempt a required course.