Message from the Registrar’s Office
Mary Cisar, Registrar, Assistant Vice-President for Academic Affairs • registrar@stolaf.edu

As Registrar of St. Olaf College, I extend a warm welcome to all of you. The Registrar’s Office:

  • Advises students about academics and tracks students’ progress toward graduation;
  • Makes sure there are enough courses for all students each year;
  • Implements academic policies, curriculum, and standards voted by the faculty.

The Registrar’s Office works with faculty advisors and the Academic Advising Center to provide accurate, timely information to students. Stop by our window in the Administration Building or e-mail us at registrar@stolaf.edu whenever you have questions about your academic program.

Transfer Credit
Please contact our Associate Registrar for Student Services, Katherine Baker (507-786-3758; bakerk@stolaf.edu) if you have any questions about transfer credits from previous work at another institution or from Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), or Post-Secondary Education Option (PSEO) programs.

Registration for Semester I, 2008-2009
You may have friends attending other colleges or universities who register for their fall term the summer before starting college. At St. Olaf, we do not have summer registration for several reasons. First, a summer trip to campus would place an extra burden on our new students and parents, especially those who live outside the immediate area. Second, we want our students to base their registration on close consultation with the faculty. We can best provide this type of personalized advising once students arrive on campus in the fall. To that end, a significant portion of our Week One orientation program offers accurate advice about our academic programs ensures that you are appropriately registered. See the information in this binder about Week One and visit the Week One web page through the summer.

Privacy of Student Records
Like all colleges and universities in the U.S., St. Olaf College is required to comply with the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974. FERPA gives students who reach the age of 18 or who attend a post-secondary institution the right to inspect and review their own education records. Students have other rights under FERPA, including the right to request amendment of records and to have some control over the disclosure of personally identifiable information from these records. We in the Registrar’s Office communicate directly with students about their academic record (courses, schedule, and grades) and are restricted from discussing academic information with others, even parents. If parents have any questions about a student’s academic record, we ask that you first talk with your student about the matter. For further information about FERPA, please see
http://www.stolaf.edu/offices/registrar/ferpa.html

General Education at St. Olaf College
As you begin to think about your St. Olaf education, I invite you to read the next page, “General Education at St. Olaf College,” which introduces you to the principles behind the College’s curriculum and offers some practical strategies for getting the most out of your liberal arts education on the Hill.
On behalf of the staff of the Registrar’s Office and Academic Advising Center, I wish you all the best as you prepare to begin college at St. Olaf. Safe travels to Northfield. We look forward to meeting you during Week One!