Important:  Students who have already taken ZO 421 or ZO 503 will be dropped from the rolls and therefore should not sign up for ZO 250

  Zoology 421 is an advanced physiology course in the Zoology sequence, but I have had students take ZO 250 after taking ZO 421 previously.  This is not a good use of time on the part of those students as they will not be learning much that is new to them and because ZO 250 is actually the listed prerequisite for ZO 421 (i.e., not a 'postrequisite').  Having these students enroll also eliminates places in the class that could be occupied by students seeking to take these courses in the more logical sequence and get their introduction to physiology before pursuing more advanced courses.  If you have taken ZO 421 previously, please do not register for ZO 250 as we will be going through the rolls and dropping those students from the class.  This is likely to cause considerable disruption to their schedules, but there will be no exceptions to this policy and the easiest way to avoid such a disruption is therefore to not enroll in the first place.

FAQs and Information regarding registration for Zoology 250 in Fall 2007:

 I have provided answers below to the most common questions that arise during the pre-registration period.  Please read this carefully as it should answer at least most questions and make clear my policies on registration for the course.  If you still have questions, a link to my email is provided on the main page.


"I have tried to register in Zoology 250, but TRACS tells me that the class is restricted."

ZO 250 is a required course and part of the core sequence for Zoology majors designed to be taken in the sophomore year of their program.  Because of the place the course occupies in the ZO major sequence, it is critical that ZO majors have a reasonable opportunity to fit the course into their schedules.  Since ZO majors typically take the course earlier in their programs than students from other majors, they have lower registration priority generally and would encounter difficulty with registering for ZO 250 if we did not hold seats for them early on.  This is why we restrict those seats to ZO majors for the first part of the registration period. 

The Fall 2007 registration restrictions on a number of seats for non-Zoology majors will be lifted on April 10th, so you should not enounter this message after that.  If you still cannot get in after restrictions are lifted, it is because there is no space available in the section you are requesting.  Some seats will still be restricted after this date until approximately April 16th and then about 20 more until approximately mid-August as space needs to be saved for students transferring into the Zoology major (Note: this entry was changed on April 10th).

"What are the prerequisites for ZO 250?"

ZO 150 and (ZO 160 or BIO 181).   Zoology 250 will integrate concepts of cellular and molecular biology with those of animal diversity in our discussion of how animals cope with the various demands placed on them by the environment.  In order to fully appreciate what these demands are for the diversity of animals we discuss, you first need to have a solid understanding of what those animals are and their phylogenetic relationship to each other, what their basic anatomical plans and lifestyles are, and what environments they occupy.  These topics are the subject matter of ZO 150 (Animal Diversity).

"I can't get into the lab section I need.  What should I do?"

Zoology 250 is of interest to many students from a variety of majors.  As such, it is very heavily subscribed and 'favorite' lab section times (e.g., Tuesday and Thursday midday) fill up immediately.  Because the lab only holds so many students (24 chair spots to be exact) and we only have equipment for that number of students, my policy is not to overload any given lab section.  Therefore, 'full' really is full.  Overloading is also not fair to those students who enrolled in that section early and would have to wait longer to use limited equipment and find it harder to get the assistance they need from the Graduate Teaching Assistant (T.A.).  

What to do if you can't get the lab section you want or need?  First, please do not email me requesting an exception to the above policy.  While this might seem reasonable and 'it is just one more student', it might not be clear that I get many, many such requests and we simply cannot overfill the labs for the reasons noted above.  It would be also be unfair to accomodate the requests of some students, but not others.  My suggestions?  Please work through the TRACS system.  My experience is that these scheduling problems are typically resolved well before classes begin as people already enrolled change their schedules.  This schedule shuffling continues into the first week of classes and very nearly everyone is able to find a spot as they open up or by rearranging their schedules.

Please sign up for both the lecture and a lab section at the same time. 
The TRACS system will let you sign up for the lecture, but not a lab.  This is a bad idea.  The biggest problems students have encountered in the past stem from enrolling in the lecture and arranging the rest of their schedules around the lecture time, but leaving enrollment in a lab section for later (typically because they can't get their favored section time).  These lab sections can and usually do fill up.  Please enroll in a lab section early on even if it is not your favored time so you will not be stuck without one when the fall term starts.