Frequently Asked Questions

While abroad, you will need to register for classes for the semester of your return to UR. This is usually done online through BannerWeb. However, in the event that BannerWeb is not available to you due to unreliable internet service or due to time differences (registration might occur while you are in class or on an academic excursion), the UR Registrar’s Office may assist you.

Students will be asked initially to complete the Proxy Information Release Form, which should be submitted prior to departing for your abroad experience (this is usually completed during study abroad orientation). This form authorizes the Registrar’s Office to register you through your proxy request, should you need assistance with registration.

Next, you will need to complete the Study Abroad Proxy Registration Request form. When this form is completed, the Registrar’s Office will make ONE attempt to register on your behalf, based on the information listed on the form. Please include the courses for which you would like to be registered; it is best to include several options. If you only give us a limited list of classes, we can only try and put you into those specific classes. If some of those classes are not offered, or if some are closed, we have no alternative. Frequently, students who have only given us a list of classes they would prefer but do not include alternatives fail to get a full time registration. You can take care of these problems later, but it’s better to not have the problems in the first place.

If you do not have access to email or Blackboard abroad, you may fax the Registrar’s Office, (804) 287-6578, a request listing the courses for which you would like to be registered. The Registrar will use the information provided to aid you in registering for classes.

The registration rotation will apply as if you were here, and you will have to account for the time difference wherever you may be abroad. The Registrar’s Office will also process your proxy registration according to the rotation listed in the current registration information section on the Registrar’s Office home page. Students register according to a) scholar status and b) term admitted into the University as a first year student. Please check to make sure you know your registration class in BannerWeb under "Check Your Registration Status."

Yes. Your scholar status will apply to your registration while abroad just as it does when you are in residence.

No. With the large number of students abroad each term and registering for the coming term, it is not possible for the Registrar’s Office to obtain special approvals on behalf of each student. You may obtain special approval before leaving campus and submit the form with your proxy registration request. While you are abroad you may contact the necessary department chair, advisor, or dean directly to request the necessary special approval. You will be responsible for special approvals even if the Registrar’s Office is registering you according to your proxy registration request. If you are unable to obtain special approval before leaving or while you are abroad, you will need to arrange to do so when you return to the University.

Before registration begins, you complete a new online Study Abroad Proxy Registration Request form. We will use your new requests in place of your original form.

When the advising period preceding each registration begins, the class schedule will be available in its most up-to-date form on BannerWeb but also as a frequently-updated Excel file on the Registrar’s website.

If students intend to register for more than 5.5 units (by BannerWeb or by proxy), they will need to submit a Registration Special Approval form signed by their dean (Dean Boehman or Dean Genoni for Arts and Sciences students, Dean van der Laan Smith for Business students, or Dean Hoyt for Jepson students) or have the dean email the approval directly to registrar@richmond.edu.

Only if you’ve obtained the required special approval. Independent study courses and internships both require departmental approval. Without the permission of the department chair, the Registrar’s Office is unable to register you (and you will be unable to register yourself) in these types of courses. You may wish to contact the department chair to see if he or she will process the special approval for classes while you are abroad.

No. To take a class on a pass/fail or audit basis you need the approvals of your advisor, the course instructor, and your dean. You may register in the course and when you return, obtain the form and complete the process any time before the end of the add/drop period (the first two weeks of the term). Please note that you are not allowed to take more than one course a semester at Richmond on a pass/fail basis, and Business School students may not opt to take a course for pass/fail credit. Please consult the full pass/fail policy.

No. Once a class is closed, you will need to obtain an override from the department. If granted, the department can input the override directly into Banner.

If you will have only one semester left before graduation upon return from study abroad (if you are studying abroad during your senior year, or if you are a second semester junior planning to graduate in December), you must submit the "Undergraduate Degree Application" to the Registrar’s Office prior to going abroad. The Registrar’s Office will send a SpiderByte announcing when the online undergraduate degree application will be available on BannerWeb. Those who have applied to graduate should also make sure they have declared their major(s) or minor(s) and that those declarations are correct. Degree audit information is based on that declaration.