Information for faculty on academic calendars, registration add/drop and more

Dear Faculty,

Welcome and welcome back! Records & Registration offers the following information and updates for the fall 2020 semester.

Please read on to learn about:

  • Academic and finals calendars
  • Synchronous meeting days
  • Registration add/drop and permission to register

Academic Calendar

As previously announced, the academic calendar has been modified this year to accommodate an earlier end to in-person classes.

Please note that classes are in session on Labor Day (Sept. 7), Yom Kippur (Sept. 28) and Columbus Day (Oct. 12), and that there is no fall break, in order to ensure that students receive the full, state-required 15 weeks of instruction.

No in-person class meetings (including for hybrid courses) will take place after Nov. 25.

The final exam schedule is linked here. Please remind students to check the dates of their finals early in the semester to avoid conflicts.


Synchronous online meeting days

Classes that meet on Thursdays and Fridays will hold synchronous, online meetings on Monday, Nov. 30, and Tuesday, Dec. 1, respectively, to make up for sessions missed during the Thanksgiving holiday.

All meetings on these days will occur online, as no in-person class meetings will take place after Nov. 25 this semester. This applies to seated and synchronous online classes unless other arrangements have been made.

Faculty can request a Saturday to make up a session in lieu of these scheduled days by contacting recreg@newpaltz.edu.


Registration Add/Drop and Permission to Register

Please make sure that students in your class appear on your class roster in my.newpaltz.edu > Faculty Services > Class Roster. Census enrollment reporting is Oct. 11.

Students can make schedule changes until the end of the day on Sept. 6 for full semester courses.

Electronic permission by instructor or department chair is required for any schedule changes between Aug. 31 – Sept. 6. Read more here about that requirement. Records & Registration discourages these late changes but recognizes that they are sometimes necessary.

Once the online permission to register is entered by the instructor, the student must register on the web in Add/Drop Classes. Please note that we cannot allow students over the course cap into in-person classes due to social density limits in the classrooms.


Did you know?

  • All faculty and staff emails must use the [username]@newpaltz.edu for campus business not their personal email account. Faculty should never respond to a student’s personal email account.
  • Hawkmail is students’ official email account for campus business. Students are reminded to check the account frequently and only send emails to faculty and staff using the Hawkmail account.
  • Records & Registration sends graduation check-up emails to seniors during the add/drop period of the semester to keep students and advisors informed in time to make schedule changes.
  • We also send unarticulated course reports to new students during the fourth week of classes, to guide them on their process to articulate non-New Paltz course work.
  • You can test your knowledge of FERPA by logging into Blackboard and looking under “My Community.”

Visit Records & Registration and the Academic Calendar online for more information and resources.

Best wishes for a wonderful semester!

Stella Turk
Registrar