Information for Prospective Auditors

With the Institute's Learning Management System (LMS), Canvas, the auditing process is integral to auditors gaining access to courses. Please refer to these instructions for the auditing process until further notice.

Under certain limited circumstances, auditing of spring term courses may be allowed for those of the Caltech community who have a "legitimate educational interest" in the course material. Faculty and instructors are under no obligation to permit auditors. Division chairs must review and approve auditors before they can join the course. Auditors do not earn credit. No grades for auditors are reported to the Registrar's Office, and no official record is kept of the work done. The following cases are not considered auditing:

• Seminar series that function both as research seminars (open to investigators and the Caltech community) and seminar courses (with enrolled students), for which non-enrolled participants join live streaming Zoom sessions only and otherwise do not interact with enrolled students.
• Faculty/instructors sharing course materials that contain no information about currently enrolled students (e.g., pre-recorded course videos made by instructors only; course notes or written materials).
• Guest speakers/presenters contributing to course instruction.

There are three categories for auditors, which are defined by the below groups. These groups help us identify required approvals and access needs.

Group 1
Students, Faculty, Postdocs, Caltech Staff, and other persons who have active Institute assignments and active access.caltech.edu credentials. To ensure access before the course begins, requests need to be submitted by faculty to their Divisions. Deadline for initial lists is Friday, March 19. Requests submitted after the deadline may take 2-3 business days to process.
No fee

Steps for the auditor:

1. Reach out to the instructor to request to audit the course. Some faculty may have specific auditing policies, or they may have capacity limits that limit the number of auditors allowed.
2. If the instructor approves, give the instructor your name and UID. If you do not know your UID, you may look it up on access.caltech.edu under My Personal Information.
3. If you are Caltech staff, email your name and UID to debit@caltech.edu. This will expedite the creation of your Canvas account. This step does not apply to current students, faculty, or postdocs.
4. The Registrar's Office will email you when the audit has been added to the course. Once added, the course will soon show on your Canvas account (link is on access.caltech.edu).

Group 2
Persons formally and currently affiliated with Caltech who do not have access.caltech.edu credentials. Examples of "persons affiliated" are JPL staff, scientific collaborators of active researchers at the Institute, members of the Caltech Associates and members of organizations like the Huntington Library or City of Hope which have formal collaboration agreements with Caltech as well as active assignments. The Provost's Office can verify other affiliations as needed. Setting up Caltech credentials for Canvas takes a few business days. To ensure access before the course begins, requests need to be submitted by faculty to their Divisions. Deadline for initial lists is Friday, March 19. Requests made after the deadline will continue to be processed and auditors notified when they can access the course.

Auditors in Group 2 receive access to the course in Canvas and the course materials. They do not receive a Caltech email account.

No fee

Steps for the auditor:

1. Reach out to the instructor to request to audit the course. Some faculty may have specific auditing policies, or they may have capacity limits that limit the number of auditors allowed.
2. If the instructor approves, give the instructor your name, email address, and date of birth (required)
3. The Registrar's Office will email you when the audit has been added to the course and will provide you with information on accessing Canvas and the course.

Group 3
Persons who have no formal affiliation with Caltech but who have a legitimate educational interest in a course. Requests are subject to the approval of the Division Chairs. Setting up Caltech credentials for Canvas takes a few business days. To ensure access before the course begins, requests need to be submitted by faculty to their Divisions. Deadline for initial lists is Friday, March 19. Requests made after the deadline will continue to be processed and auditors notified when they can access the course.

Auditors in Group 3 receive access to the course in Canvas and the course materials. They do not receive a Caltech email account.

No fee

Steps for the auditor:

1. Reach out to the instructor to request to audit the course. Some faculty may have specific auditing policies, or they may have capacity limits that limit the number of auditors allowed.
2. If the instructor approves, give the instructor your name, email address, and date of birth (required)
3. The faculty will submit the request to their Division Chair for approval.
4. When approval is granted by the Division, you will be sent Caltech account information in 2-3 business days.
5. The Registrar's Office will email you when the audit has been processed as well as provide you with information on how to access the course in Canvas.

There are three categories for auditors, which are defined by the below groups. These groups help us identify required approvals and access needs. Please note that published courses are not visible to students and auditors until Monday, March 22.

Group 1
Students, Faculty, Postdocs, Caltech Staff, and other persons who have active Institute assignments and active access.caltech.edu credentials. To ensure access before the course begins, requests need to be submitted by faculty to their Divisions. Deadline for initial lists is Friday, March 19. Requests made after the deadline will continue to be processed and auditors notified when they can access the course.

Faculty Observers: Caltech faculty observers should have a "legitimate educational interest" in the course materials as defined in the Catalog. They must be requested through the same auditing process, but please indicate that they are a faculty observer.

Steps for the instructor:

1. Ask for the auditor's name and UID.
2. Send your approval to your Division. Mention that the auditor is Group 1. The Division will approve and forward the audit request to the Registrar's Office.
3. The Registrar's Office will email the auditor when they have been added to the course.

Group 2
Persons formally and currently affiliated with Caltech who do not have access.caltech.edu credentials. Examples of "persons affiliated" are JPL staff, scientific collaborators of active researchers at the Institute, members of the Caltech Associates and members of organizations like the Huntington Library or City of Hope which have formal collaboration agreements with Caltech as well as active assignments. The Provost's Office can verify other affiliations as needed. Setting up Caltech credentials for Canvas takes a few business days. To ensure access before the course begins, requests need to be submitted by faculty to their Divisions. Deadline for initial lists is Friday, March 19. Requests made after the deadline will continue to be processed and auditors notified when they can access the course. Auditors in Group 2 receive access to the course in Canvas and the course materials. They do not receive a Caltech email account.

Steps for the instructor:

1. Ask for the auditor's name, email address, and date of birth (required)
2. Send your approval to your Division. Mention that the auditor is Group 2. The Division will approve and forward the audit request to the Registrar's Office.
3. The Registrar's Office will email the auditor when they have been added to the course.

Group 3
Persons who have no formal affiliation with Caltech but who have a legitimate educational interest in a course. Requests are subject to the approval of the Division Chairs. Setting up Caltech credentials for Canvas takes a few business days. To ensure access before the course begins, requests need to be submitted by faculty to their Divisions. Deadline for initial lists is Friday, March 19. Requests made after the deadline will continue to be processed and auditors notified when they can access the course. Auditors in Group 3 receive access to the course in Canvas and the course materials. They do not receive a Caltech email account.

Steps for the instructor:

1. Ask for the auditor's name, email address, and date of birth (required)
2. Send your approval to your Division. Mention that the auditor is Group 3. The Division will approve and forward the audit request to the Registrar's Office.
3. The Registrar's Office will email the auditor when they have been added to the course.

The processing for Group 3 may take up to 2-3 business days.