The Office of Academic Services is a multi-faceted resource for the students, staff, and faculty of Heinz College. This department supports the College by creating the Heinz College Schedule of Classes, managing classroom assignments, processing waitlist requests and registration into Heinz courses, and reviewing and collecting final grades. We also assist students with forms and petitions for a wide range of requests, such as electing to take a course as pass/no pass, to initiating or returning from a leave of absence.
The Academic Services team maintains the College’s handbooks, core course requirements, and course descriptions and syllabi. We report on students’ progress and certify student degrees at the end of their Heinz degree program. To update and maintain our students' records with the University, we serve as the liaison between Heinz College and the University Registrar’s Office. Interested in serving your peers and faculty as a Teaching Assistant? The Office of Academic Services can help with that, too!
We look forward to serving and supporting the Heinz community in their academic journey, in the ways noted above and much more!
Academic Services Team
Lori Geraci
Director of Academic Services
Mary Ganska
Assistant Director - Student Services and
Curriculum Administration
Erin Lovas
Assistant Director - Course Schedule, Student Registration, and Teaching Administration
When registering for Heinz College courses, you may be added to a waitlist. Waitlists are reviewed by Heinz College staff with consideration for a number of factors and criteria. These may include, but are not limited to, degree program requirements, expected graduation dates, prerequisite or corequisite course registration and completion, and other criteria specified by the course department or instructor.
If you do not meet the stated prerequisites, you will not be permitted to enroll in the course.
For Heinz College courses, Heinz students will have priority to register. For example, a Heinz student may see that they are #7 on the waitlist for a particular course. However, if the first 6 students on the waitlist are from other departments on campus, the Heinz student's registration will be prioritized as seats become available.
Also, Heinz College staff regularly review waitlists to enroll students whenever possible. If you are at your maximum units or have a scheduling conflict, you will still have an opportunity to register for a waitlisted course if a seat is available for you. You will receive an email with instructions on how to enroll, or an email from staff with questions or directions on how to proceed.
If you are on the waitlist for a course that is offered by a different CMU department, please reference this resource for university contacts who manage those non-Heinz course registrations.
Teaching Assistant (TA) positions are offered to master’s or Ph.D. students who have demonstrated both an understanding of the course material and the ability to help others learn this information. Teaching Assistants are an important part of the success of Heinz College’s programs. They assist the instructor by conducting review sessions; tutoring students, either individually or in small groups; grading homework and examinations under the supervision of the instructor; and creating a welcoming and inclusive environment for Heinz College students inside and outside of the classroom.
To be eligible to be hired as a TA, students must be in good academic standing. Students who have violated Heinz College’s academic integrity policies will not be eligible to hold positions as a Teaching Assistant for the duration of their program. More information can be found in the Heinz College Handbook and Teaching Assistant Handbook on the Heinz College website.
A typical TA position carries the expectation of 10 hours of work per week on average. Students have the opportunity to work as a TA for multiple subjects, however, if you are an international student, please be aware of the guidelines and limits on working as noted by the Office of International Education.
The application for Heinz College TAs can be found here. This online application is only available to Heinz College students. If you are a non-Heinz student interested in applying to be a TA for a Heinz College course, please email Heinz-Academic-Services@andrew.cmu.edu or contact the instructor directly. Please note that applying to TA positions does not guarantee that you will be hired as a TA.
The online application opens:
- Early July for Fall semester TA positions
- Late November for Spring semester TA positions
- March for Summer semester TA positions
If you are hired as a TA, you will be invited to a Canvas page with training information and resources to help you in your role. Reviewing the Canvas page and completing training as a new TA is required, but we hope that you will continue to reference the available resources throughout your time as a TA.
TA Feedback
If you are a student or instructor with feedback to share regarding your experience with a TA or grader, please submit this form to share your comments with Heinz Academic & Advising Services staff: Teaching Assistant and Grader Feedback
Where can I find important dates for Heinz College courses and events?
For important course dates and deadlines, please reference the Heinz College Academic Calendar or the Summary of Important Dates.
For events happening at Heinz, please subscribe to the “Heinz Events” calendar in Google by following these steps:
- Go to Google Calendar
- On the left, navigate to “Other Calendars” and click the + sign to “Subscribe to calendar”
- Type “Heinz Events” and select.
How do I access my course roster and enter grades?
S3 Faculty Course & Grade Information is a grade submission program that allows instructors to electronically submit or change grades within a current semester, as well as view and download their course rosters.
Guide with instructions on how to access your roster
Guide with instructions on how to upload grades
How can I enter a missing grade after the deadline, or change a previously submitted grade?
Please refer to the Grade Entry Instructions sheet for detailed steps.
Missing grades can be entered using this process for 60 days following the applicable grade entry deadline; final grades can be changed up to 365 days following the applicable grade entry deadline.
More information about grade entry deadlines (and more) can be found on the Enrollment Services website.
I have questions about my course enrollment or course schedule, who should I contact?
Heinz-academic-services@andrew.cmu.edu will connect you to the staff who manage your course’s enrollment, as well as any course scheduling questions or concerns you may have.
If students email me about their position on a waitlist, what should I do?
We ask that you forward any emails from students about their waitlist status or hopes to register for your course to Heinz-academic-services@andrew.cmu.edu. We will communicate with the student regarding their chances of registering for the course, since multiple factors are considered when determining registration in a specific course.
Where can I update course information, confirm my teaching, and review Teaching Assistant applications?
Please login to the Heinz College Faculty Dashboard, where you can make updates to your course descriptions, upload syllabi, confirm your teaching, and review and note your preferences for Teaching Assistants. These updates and reviews occur at various times throughout the academic year (you will receive emails regarding all of these tasks), but can all be completed through the Faculty Dashboard.
I need to give a student an Incomplete. What is the process for that?
An incomplete grade should be assigned only when a student has substantially completed the coursework assigned over the semester and owes a few assignments or needs to take an exam at a later date due to extenuating circumstances (usually illness). A student who receives an incomplete must fill out a Contract for Completion of Incomplete Coursework, which will be sent to your Andrew email account for completion and approval. Please sign/approve an incomplete contract prior to submitting an incomplete grade.
Incompletes should be assigned only if a student has completed at least 75% of the coursework. When recording the incomplete grade (I) in the university’s online system (SIS), you also will need to submit the default grade since SIS will not accept an “I” grade without the default grade. The “default grade” is the grade you would give the student based on their performance in the class up to the point of signing the contract; it should not be your projected grade following completion of all class assignments.
A student in my class reached out about additional support. What resources are available?
We ask students to first start by discussing questions with the instructor and/or teaching assistants for the course. Some courses have integrated tutoring built into the TA team, mainly for courses where we regularly receive tutoring requests. If this is something you are interested in for your course, please contact Heinz-academic-services@andrew.cmu.edu and we can help determine whether a “tutor TA” is a good fit.
Otherwise, we ask students to connect with their academic advisor who can work on finding an ad hoc if needed. These positions are generally filled by students who have recently completed the same course while earning high marks.
The Student Academic Success Center also offers resources that students may find useful.
For more Faculty resources, please visit Heinz College Faculty Resource Page.