Fall 2020 FAQ

If you have been admitted to the College of Engineering and have submitted your Intent to Enroll (ITE), the first step is for you to take any UIC placement tests in English composition, chemistry, computer science (1), and mathematics. After taking the placement tests, you can sign up for the online orientation modules using the my.uic.edu portal.

After you have finished the orientation modules and the College of Engineering survey, you will be contacted by an engineering advisor regarding what courses to register for in the fall.

The Guaranteed Paid Internship Program gives incoming fall freshman and transfer students the opportunity to serve as paid interns, usually during the summer months, providing they meet certain criteria by the end of their first year of study. Visit the GPIP page for freshmen or transfers for further information.

There are eight sections of ENGR 100 Engineering Orientation, four of which are reserved exclusively for first-year freshmen. If you are a first-year freshman, you need to register for one of the four specific ENGR 100 sections that are reserved for freshmen. If you are transfer student, you need to register for one of the “Not Freshmen” ENGR 100 sections.

ENGR 101 Engineering Success Seminar is a companion course to ENGR 100 Engineering Orientation. It exists for two reasons: first, to further introduce you to your department and to College of Engineering services designed to help you throughout your academic studies, and second, as a prerequisite for participation in the Guaranteed Paid Internship Program.

Please note that ENGR 101 will be delivered in an all-online, synchronous format in fall 2020. This represents a change from our initial plan for this course. (Updated August 10, 2020.)

You may find that you have tested out of certain requirements because of your AP exam scores, but you cannot register for higher classes because prerequisites are needed. To rectify this problem, please make sure that you have sent your official AP scores to the UIC Office of Admissions and Records. UIC needs to have these official scores before credit it given and allowing you to register for the next level.

If you are entering UIC’s Honors College in addition to the College of Engineering, you may want to know which classes you can take to receive credit for your major as well as for the Honors College. A representative of the Honors College will reach out to you with information on this topic. If you have not heard from a representative or have additional questions, please contact one of the Honors College advisors.

Tuition rates are set by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees. A great deal of time, effort, and expense has been invested to prepare for fall semester, with respect to safety and the quality of education. Due to very significant increased costs, tuition rates will not be lowered. If you would like to express concerns on this topic, the Board of Trustees has created a mechanism for people to communicate with the board. You can find it here.

Almost all classes will be able to be completed with an online option. Certain lab courses may represent exceptions to this rule. If a course you want to take in fall 2020 is listed as “on campus,” please contact the department that is offering the course to see what online options will be available. You can find departmental contact information here.

Most courses will be coded with one of three “Instructional Methods”:

1. On campus = The course is planned to meet on campus.
2. Online asynchronous = The course will be taught online and will be recorded in advance.
3. Online synchronous = The course will be taught online and will have live lectures at the listed class times.

There may be a few courses listed as “hybrid” that have online lectures combined with on-campus lab sections. If you are interested in an “on campus” or “hybrid” class but do not feel comfortable coming to campus, please check with the course instructor to see if there is an option to complete the course remotely.

We understand that some students may be concerned about being on campus or commuting to and from campus. For that reason, most courses will have an online option for those who are unable or unwilling to come to an on-campus section of the course. Please check with the course instructor to confirm.

If you try to register for two courses that have the same scheduled meeting time, you will receive a “time conflict” notification. To register for both courses, you would need to receive approval from both instructors and then contact the College to request a time conflict override. Issues regarding expectations of attendance and time conflicts with quizzes and exams would need to be worked out beforehand. Remember, for example, that courses that have the same scheduled meeting time are going to have final exams scheduled at the exact same time. It is up to the student to work out details as to how they will work with the instructors when exams are scheduled at the same time.

The university is designating on-campus spaces for students who need a place to take an online class while they are physically on campus. This situation may occur when a student has an on-campus class that is preceded or followed by a synchronous online class. Study spaces for this purpose will be designated in the following classroom buildings:

• Behavioral Sciences Building (BSB)
• Burnham Hall (BH)
• Lincoln Hall (LH)
• Taft Hall (TH)
• Stevenson Hall (SH)

Additional study spaces will be available in the libraries, Student Center East, and Student Center West. Information about these hours will be available on the student academic resources page by August 21.

Not at all. The courses you take online will appear no differently than they would if you had taken them on campus — there is no distinction made on your transcript. Also, please keep in mind that university students all over the country are engaging in remote learning as well, and the experience you have with online instruction at UIC reflects that of hundreds of thousands of your peers.

The UIC Bookstore has an online search function where you can find out what books and materials are required for your classes. You can check using this link and then choose to order either from the UIC Bookstore or from other places on the web.

Course materials are decided by each individual instructor. If online options for books and/or supplies are not available, the UIC Bookstore will allow for curbside pickup of orders. For students who are not in the Chicago area and cannot use the curbside pickup option, please contact the UIC Bookstore for shipping or other options.

If you are a UIC student enrolled in the fall 2020 semester and need a laptop or cellular hotspot, please complete and submit this form. Once your status has been verified, and as long as inventory of devices remains available, the requested device(s) will be shipped to the mailing address you provide, with signature required upon delivery.

At this time, the normal credit/no-credit (CR/NC) deadlines and restrictions apply. College of Engineering students can apply for the CR/NC option only during the add/drop period for each semester. For fall 2020, the deadline is the Friday of the second week of the term. College of Engineering students may only take free elective courses as CR/NC.

Some courses have multiple Course Registration Numbers (CRNs), especially when there is a lecture combined with a lab/quiz/discussion section. Only one CRN for a course will have the credit hours listed. The other “linked” sections of that course will all be listed as zero hours.

The availability of grant funding would depend on decisions made at the federal government level, which are beyond our control. We do not anticipate another round of grant funding at this time.

The university’s published response is as follows: “Do not come to campus. Isolate at home and contact your provider or Student Health Service at (312) 996-2901 for further guidance if you have questions. You do not need to notify Student Health Services if you are COVID-19 positive if you are studying/working remotely unless you require a medically excused absence to ‘return to class’ (remotely or in person).” This answer comes from an extensive FAQ that UIC has provided on related topics.