This spring, for the first time, Cornell University students will be able to sit in the comfort of their own rooms and add and drop classes online.

"This enhancement is a result of the collaborative work of the colleges, the Office of the University Registrar and Cornell Information Technologies," said David Yeh, assistant vice president for student and academic services and university registrar. "Online Add/Drop is part of an ongoing effort to improve services to students and to the colleges by using technology efficiently."

Yeh said that Online Add/Drop replaces Course Exchange and the paper add/drop process, with the exception of permission-only courses. It is available online to all students on "Just the Facts" (JTF), through Bear Access, and utilizes "CoursEnroll," currently used to request courses during pre-enrollment.

He noted that, unlike in the old paper add/drop process, a student's adviser controls whether his or her approval is needed before any course can be added or dropped. And, Yeh said, unlike pre-enrollment, when a student successfully submits a course in Add/Drop, she or he is not just requesting it, but is in that course.

Faculty advisers can now control whether students must get their approval before adding and dropping courses, by clicking a box in the Faculty Advisor application, Yeh said. A new version of Faculty Advisor, with college advising preferences set, is now available.

The Add/Drop application allows students to enroll in up to five courses of three or more credits and in an unlimited number of one- and two-credit and ROTC courses.

The following is the timetable for the new service:

• Dec. 2: New version of "Just the Facts" available to download;
• Jan. 16: Add/Drop available for seniors and juniors only from 7:30 a.m. until midnight;
• Jan. 17: Add/Drop available for sophomores, freshmen, graduate and professional students only from 7:30 a.m. until midnight;
• Jan. 20: Add/Drop available 24 hours a day for all students from 7:30 a.m.;
• Feb. 7: Add period ends at midnight;
• Mar. 7: Drop period ends at midnight.

To get started, Yeh said, students should download the new version of "Just the Facts" beginning this week. Then, before the holiday break, students should login to JTF and click on the Add/Drop button to check whether it is necessary to see their adviser before adding and dropping courses.

Students needing help accessing JTF on Bear Access go to http://www.cit.cornell.edu/bearaccess/ . For more details, go to http://www.sws.cornell.edu/our/student/coursenroll.html . For questions or problems while using Add/Drop, call the CoursEnroll Helpline at 254-4795, Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.--4:30 p.m., during the Add/Drop period (available at 7:30 a.m. on Jan. 16, 17 and 20); or send e-mail to coursenroll@cornell.edu .

To access Faculty Advisor, faculty members can go to: http://www.sws.cornell.edu/our/faculty/facultyadvisor.html . For problems with the Faculty Advisor service or to gain access to the service, e-mail faculty_advisor@cornell.edu . For college-specific information about Online Add/Drop, contact the individual college registrar.