Registration Instructions

SOAR Registration Instructions

Students can register, including drop/add, within given periods (see Registration Activities Calendar for dates and times), and search the schedule of classes using SOAR. (To view the online Undergraduate and Graduate Bulletins, visit the Registrar's home page and following the links.)

If you have not received your SOAR login and password, visit the HelpDesk in HUB, room 104. To view your academic records or enroll for classes, you must login using your SOAR login and password.

STEP 1: Obtain SOAR login and password

1. Continuing students will use their current SOAR login and password, but must contact their adviser to be eligible to enroll.

2. New students will receive a SOAR login and password from their academic adviser at the time of advisement during Preview. The login and password will be printed on their Advisement and Registration Appointment Form. Late applicants may obtain their password from the Office of Admissions. New students will be required to change their password the first time they login to SOAR; the password the student chooses will remain active throughout the duration of their academic career at USM.

Forgot your SOAR login and password?

Visit the HelpDesk in HUB 104 located across the hall from the bookstore. Present your picture ID and receive a new password; you will be required to change your password the first time you login to SOAR.

STEP 2: Login to SOAR

Go to https://soar.usm.edu.

On the SOAR website,

1. Click on the "Login" button at the top of the page. The login box will appear.

2. Key in your SOAR login.

3. Key in your SOAR password.

4. Click the Sign In button under the password. First-time users will be prompted to change their password. (Your password may be as many as eight (8) alpha/numeric characters.)

Key in your assigned password in the "Current Password" field.

Key in your new password in the "New Password" field. Be sure to pick a password that you can easily remember.

Key in your new password again in the "Confirm Password" field.

Click the "Change" button. A message affirming that your password has been successfully changed should appear.

Click the "Logout" button under the message; this should return you to the login page. Now login using your login and new password.

5. You now should have accessed Southern's Online Accessible Records (SOAR) system.

STEP 3: Check your enrollment appointment

Southern Miss students are appointed a time to register. Students will not have access to the SOAR registration process outside their appointed window. However, students can continue to search for classes outside their registration window. To check your registration window (enrollment appointment):

Click on "For Students" in the menu box on the left. Several new menu options will appear.

Click on "Enrollment". Again, several new menu options will appear.

Click on "Enrollment Appointment". This will take you to the Registration Windows page located in the University Registrar's Web site. Locate your registration window. If you are within your registration window, you are now ready to register for classes. Return to the SOAR site. If you are not within your registration window, you may search for classes or logout and try again during your registration window.

STEP 4: Register for classes

1. Click on "Enroll/Drop Classes" in the menu box on the left. The "Enrollment - Update Your Class Schedule" panel should appear. Click "Search." (If your Academic Career and the term for which you are enrolling is incorrect, select your "Academic Career" by clicking the down arrow. Select the term for which you are enrolling by clicking the down arrow. The list of terms will appear at the bottom of the panel. Scroll down and find the correct term. You may need to look at another page of the panel to find the term; to do this, click on the next page number located above the "Term Begin Date" column heading.) Click "Search"

2. At the bottom of the "Enrollment panel", click on "Add Classes to this Schedule".

3. The "Select a Class" panel should appear. Key in the "Class Number" in the "Class Number" field. If you do not know the class number, "Search for a Class:

a. Click the gray button next to the "Class Number" field to conduct a class search or click the "Advanced Search" link to conduct a more detailed search. The "Advanced Search" will allow you to search by day, instructor, campus, location, and session. 

b. On the "Class Search" panel, click the drop-down arrow next to "Subject Area" field. Click the desired "Course Subject".

c. Make sure the "Open Only" field is checked. This will limit your search to those classes that are still open.

d. Click the drop-down arrow next to the "Course Career" field. Click on your choice. (Selecting "Course Career" limits search to selected career.)

e. Click the "Search" button located at the bottom of the search panel. A list of open classes should appear.

f. Scroll through the list of available classes. You can click on "Details" to access additional information about a class. If you click "Details", scroll to the bottom of the "Class Detail" panel and click the "Back" button to return to the "Class Search Results" panel.

g. On the "Class Search Results" panel, click on the "Class Number" of the desired class.

h. The "Select a Class" panel should appear, and the class number should now appear in the "Class Number" field.

4. Click the "Insert Class" or the "Continue" button. If this is the only class in which you wish to enroll, click "Continue", or to add another class, click the "Insert Class" button.

5. If you click "Insert Class" another "Class Number" box will appear. You may search for another class and insert it. If you do not want to add another class, click the "Delete" box beside the "Class Number" box with the "0". NOTE: You may delete classes from your tentative schedule by clicking the "Delete" box. (Clicking the "Cancel" button removes all entries.)

6. Once you have selected all classes for your schedule, click the "Continue" button located in the center of the "Select a Class" panel.

7. The "Course Attributes" panel should appear. If any of the courses you selected are variable hour courses (i.e., BSC 698, 1-6 hrs.), you must select the number of hours for which to register. On the "Enrollment - Select Course Attributes" page, enter your selection in the "Units" field located above the "Cancel Request" button. If you do not change the number in this field, you will be registered for only one hour for a variable hour course. After entering the number of hours in the "Units" field, click the "Update Attributes" button.

8. Click the "Submit Request" button located below your list of courses on the current panel. (Clicking the "Cancel" button removes all entries.)

9. If your classes are added successfully:

a. The "Enrollment Successful" panel should appear. (Verify that the "class added successfully" statement appears by each of your class selections.)

b. Click "View Updated Schedule" at the bottom of the panel to return to the "Update Your Class Schedule" panel and view your current class schedule, including the class(es) you just added; update (add/drop) classes if necessary.

10. If any of your classes were not added successfully: 

a. The "Enrollment Error" panel will appear.

b. Click on "View Error Log". This will allow you to see an explanation for your enrollment error.

c. Click on "Enroll/Drop Classes" in left menu box to return to your schedule.

STEP 5: To add/drop current class selections

To continue adding classes to your schedule, return to Step 4, No.2 of the "Register for Classes" instructions. To drop selections: 

a. Click "Drop this Class"

b. Click "Yes" in the "Verify Class Drop" panel, if it is the class you wish to drop. (You may drop all except one of your classes using this method. If you are dropping your last class [or only class], you are actually withdrawing from the university for the remainder of the term. You must complete a Withdrawal and Refund Authorization (not a drop form), which may be obtained in your dean's office.

c. "Verify Class Drop" panel will appear, prompting if you are sure that this is the class you wish to drop.

d. Click "Yes." A message should appear stating that the class was successfully dropped.

STEP 6: Print out your class schedule

1. When you are finished registering for all your classes, click on either "Your Class Schedule" or "Class Schedule Grid" in the menu box on the left. Your class schedule should appear. Click anywhere in the yellow box on your schedule to make it the selected frame.

2. To print out your class schedule from the Web toolbar, click "File", click "Print", and the "Print" message box should appear. Click the "Only the Selected Frame" radio button. Click "OK". Your class schedule should print out.

STEP 7: Logout

When finished, click "Logout" in the menu box on the left.

INSTRUCTORS/ADVISORS - With an assigned SOAR login and password, instructors may view their class rosters and teaching schedules. Advisors may view class schedules of assigned advisees and search the schedule of classes. If no login and password have been assigned, the guest option may be used to search the "Course Catalog" and "Schedule of Classes."