2. In this presentation…
• What is SOLAR?
• Important Dates/Registration
• Employment Opportunities
3. SOLAR
• Student Online Access to
Records account.
• Important website which will
allow you to register for
classes, pay tuition, view to-
do list, etc.
Instructions can be found here.
Click here for the SOLAR help link.
4. SOLAR
• Your Student ID # is the log
on for SOLAR.
• Can be found on your
ID card or in the emails
sent to you from the
Graduate School.
5. Holds on SOLAR:
Holds are
registration
blocks that can
be placed on
your account.
Can be caused
by a variety of
reasons such
as missing
documentation,
unpaid parking
fines, or
overdue library
books.
Graduate School may
place a hold on your
account for a future
semester if they are
waiting for a document.
Ex.: If you just
graduated from your
undergraduate
institution and you are
waiting for your final
transcript, the
Graduate School will
place a hold on your
account for your first
semester. The hold will
be removed once the
Graduate School has
received your final
transcript.
Always check
the date of your
hold!
Do not assume
that you simply
cannot register.
Often times you
can register for
classes with a
hold.
You may also encounter
health insurance or
finance related holds
which simply need an
electronic signature.
Make sure to
click on each
hold and read
all pertinent
information,
including which
office to contact
for assistance.
6. Financial Support on SOLAR:
Details about awards such as
a tuition scholarship and/or an
assistantship should be in your
offer letter that you receive
from your department.
On SOLAR, your tuition scholarship will
show up as financial aid. Your Research
Assistantship/Teaching
Assistantship/Graduate
Assistantship(RA/TA/GA) stipend will
come in the form of a biweekly pay check.
You can ask your coordinator
when to expect your first
paycheck, which will typically
show up around 2-4 weeks
after the semester starts.
Tuition scholarship, stipend, and
other financial payments require
students to be registered full time by
Day 15 (“Snapshot Day”) of classes.
Failure to be registered by this date
will result in a rescinded tuition
scholarship, fellowship and
TA/GA/RA employment.
There are two types
of payrolls:
State Payroll for TAs
and GAs (biweekly
on Wednesday).
Research Foundation
for RAs (biweekly on
Friday).
7. Important Dates:
Academic Calendars can be found here. or
under the “Academics” tab on the Stony
Brook University Website.
• Make sure to click on the Graduate
School calendar with the appropriate
semester.
8. Important Dates (cont.):
• First day of Monday-Friday classes.
• This is when late registration officially
begins.
• You must enroll in at least one course
before this date in order to avoid a $50
fee.
• You do not need to be fully registered
by this date (you need to be enrolled in
at least one course before the start of
classes).
9. Important Dates (cont.):
• Last Day for Tuition Liability Complete
Forgiveness.
• After the fifth day of classes.
• Last day to drop a course without tuition
liability.
• Every course dropped on or after this
day will be liable for some percentage of
tuition.
• The schedule for tuition liability percentages
can be found on the PDF version of the
Graduate School academic calendar or
here.
10. Important Dates (cont.):
• Last day to swap a class in SOLAR without a
petition.
• Usually day 10 or 11 of classes.
• If you miss this date, you can still
swap/drop/add a course for one more week
with a petition to the Graduate School.
• Petition swaps cannot be processed online.
11. Important Dates (cont.):
• “Snapshot Day.”
• Day 15 of classes.
• Registration frozen on this day.
• Must be registered full-time by this day for
financial aid, TA/RA/GA Support,
fellowship and tuition scholarship.
• There are no exceptions to this deadline.
12. Full-time
status is
determined
by your G-
level.
• All entering graduate students with less than 24
completed grad-level credits should register for
12 credits to be considered full-time.
• Grad-level course: level 500 or above.
• For Master’s students this is the G-1 level. After
24 graduate credits are completed, you move
up to G-2.
• After this, 9 credits need to be taken in
order to be considered full-time.
• For PhD students, this is the G-3 level. After 24
credits are completed, you move up to G-4.
• After this, 9 credits need to be taken in
order to be considered full-time.
• PhD students are promoted to G-5 after
completing all degree requirements except
for their dissertation.
• G-5 students must take 9 credits to be
considered full-time.
14. Resident vs.
Non-
Resident:
• Stony Brook University is a state school.
• The tuition rate for in-state residents is less
than for out-of-state residents.
• Eligible students must take the necessary
steps to declare residency upon immediate
arrival to NY.
• This is a requirement for all domestic
Master’s and PhD students for tuition
scholarships.
• You can apply for New York State residency by
following the directions here.
• Any questions about NYS residency can
be directed to the Student Accounts
Office.
• Only US citizens and permanent residents
who are moving to NY from another state
may apply for residency.
15. Employment
Opportunities
on Campus:
• There are hourly wage jobs and Graduate
Assistantship (GA) positions available in
various offices on campus, even at the
Graduate School.
• On-campus jobs can be found on the
University’s Career Center website known as
Handshake.
• Being employed on campus creates an
extra skill set that you can take with you
beyond what you’ve learned from your
degree program.
• Convenient – you are likely to stay on
campus for most of the day anyway.
• Make sure to look at the options available
on Handshake if you are considering
employment opportunities.
16. 16
!
You have completed the second part of Orientation.
Click below to move on to the next
part of orientation (Administrative
Policies and Procedures II: Billing).
