FAQ on RWTHonline

You can log onto RWTHonline using your user name (e.g. ab123456) and your password.  If you do not know your username or have forgotten your password, please use the support form.

You can find RWTH’s online course catalog on RWTHonline in the Courses application, under the heading All Courses. In this application, you can access RWTH’s entire published course catalog.

You can find more information in the See Course Catalog manual in the RWTHonline Documentation Portal.

Manuals and information (only in German):

• RWTHonline Documentation Portal
• RWTHonline – Training Sessions and Events
• RWTHonline Newsticker
• RWTHonline – Errors and Restrictions
• Teaching and Learning Process Portal

RWTHonline support addresses

Please use the support form for any technical questions.

If you are a student, please include your name, student ID number, username (e.g. ab123456), course of study, and your query.

If you are an employee, please include your name, organizational unit (eg. faculty or department), your functions on RWTHonline, and your query.

Application, student, and fee management

• Registrar’s Office website
• International Office website
• Send any questions to: bewerbung-support@rwth-aachen.de

Exam management

• Central Examination Office’s website
• Exams and Final Theses website
• Send any questions to: zpa@zhv.rwth-aachen.de

Examination regulations and modules on RWTHonline

• Send any questions to: modellierung@zhv.rwth-aachen.de

Student Advice Centre

• Student Advice Centre’s website
• Send any questions to: studienberatung@rwth-aachen.de

Faculties and student councils

• List of all RWTH faculties
• List of all RWTH departmental advisors
• List of all RWTH student councils
• Website of the AStA Students' Committee

RWTHonline is the University's online study organizing tool, with Curriculum Support (study overview) being your main planning tool for your studies. In particular, it covers:

• your individual academic progress
• your standard timetable
• your standard timetable by semester
• your exam possibilities by semester
• registering for and deregistering from courses and exams

Use online functions related to the Registrar’s Office, for example:

• view your certificates (study, academic progress, BAföG, payment)
• change your address
• receive the payment information for your re-enrollment
• find the application for leave

You can find more information on the website of the Registrar’s Office.

Use online functions related to course planning, for example:

• view RWTH’s published course catalog.
• register for and de-register from courses.
• compile your course schedule.
• add course slots to your own RWTHonline calendar and organize them in relation to your other activities.

Use online functions related to the Central Examination Office, for example:

• view published exam dates in the Exam dates application.
• register for and de-register from exams.
• view your academic record.
• view your student account statement.

You can find more information on the Central Examination Office’s website.

You should create your own course schedule using Curriculum Support. It outlines all the courses and exams offered within the framework of your examination regulation(s), as long as these have been published. If you use Curriculum Support to compile your schedule, you can be certain that you are fulfilling the requirements stipulated in your examination regulations.

Use the Study Overview (Curriculum Support) tile on your RWTHonline desktop. Select the NODE (all) In the drop-down menu, then the Semester plan option. You will see an overview of the individual modules for your course of study as well as the courses and exams offered for it. This overview is sorted into subject-specific semesters and organized in a tree diagram.

You can find more information on using Curriculum Support in the RWTHonline Documentation Portal.

In Curriculum Support you can access the courses you can or must take according to your examination regulation.

On the homepage of Curriculum Support, select Semester plan from the drop-down menu NODES (all). You will see an overview of the modules for your study program sorted into course semesters. The courses you must take are assigned to the individual modules in a tree diagram.

From Curriculum Support, click on the T-symbol (participation in a course) in the Part. column, to directly register for a course. The symbol must be green for this to work.

Please note:

• Clicking on registration means you are submitting a place request on RWTHonline. Once you have been allocated a fixed place, you are registered on the course. You can view your registration status in the Courses application under “My courses”.
• You can make it easier to create your timetable by bookmarking courses and displaying them in your calendar.
• Registering for a course does not mean you are registered for the exam. Please make sure you register for the course and exam separately.

It is possible to de-register from a course within the given deadline. Use the My Courses page behind the Courses tile for this.

You can find more information about course participation in the manuals Using Curriculum Support and Registering and De-Registering from Courses in the RWTHonline Documentation Portal.

“Free registration” means you can register for courses that are not part of your course of study, as long as this option is generally available. Lecturers decide whether they would like their courses to be open to free registrations. If they do not allow this, you will get the following message on your registration screen:  “Free registrations are not possible for this course group.”

You can find more information on course participation in the manuals Registering for and De-Registering from Courses und Terms Used With RWTHonline on the RWTHonline Documentation Portal.

You can apply to participate in modules that are not part of your course of study. You can register for such modules where your examination regulations allow a free choice from the University’s courses by submitting an application to the Examination Board via the Central Examination Office.

You will need to get your faculty/department to issue the corresponding certificate to you so you can submit this to the Central Examinations Office. They will then link the module to your Curriculum Support. As soon as this is set up, you can register for this module normally via Curriculum Support.

If an extracurricular module is already set up for registration you can register for this directly via Curriculum Support.

Different allocation processes can be in place for assigning fixed places in courses on RWTHonline. The allocation processes depend on the ranking criteria determined when the course was set up. You can see the criteria in the registration form on the Course registration page.

Ranking options can include:

• A lottery – the higher the number, the higher up you are on the waiting list.
• Study place allocation: mandatory subject (PF) before a mandatory elective subject (WF), which, in turn, has priority over an elective subject (FF).

You can find more information in the manuals Registering for and De-Registering from Courses and Terms Used With RWTHonline on the RWTHonline Documentation Portal.

Usually, you have to register for each course component separately. In some cases, the registration procedure is set up so you can either register for all the components displayed (for example, lecture, exercise, tutorial) at once or for none of them.

In courses with immanent exam character (LVmiP), the exam is typically held during the regular class time (for example en exercise or seminar).

Note

• Please note that if you are registered for a course with immanent exam character on RWTHonline, it does not automatically mean you are registered for the relevant exam. You usually have to register for the course and exam separately.

You can find more information in the manuals Registering for and De-Registering from Courses and Registering for Exams on the RWTHonline Documentation Portal.

There are several different ways to register for, and de-register from, exams on RWTHonline:

1. We recommend you register via Curriculum Support – here you can directly access the dates for the exams you are eligible to sit according to your examination regulation.
   
   On the start page of Curriculum Support, select the button "Semester plan". You will see a module overview for your course of study, sorted according to the subject-specific semesters.  The exams you are eligible to sit are organized in a tree diagram. Alternatively, you can select the NODE "all", then the Exam date option from the drop-down menu.
   
   You can register for an exam in the Part. column via the P symbol (participation in an exam) – the symbol must be green for this to work. Follow the registration form until your exam registration is confirmed.
2. Alternatively, you can use the Exam registration application to look up the exam dates for your own course of study, filter the data, and register for, or deregister from, an exam.
3. Finally, you can also use the Exam date application to filter and view all the exam dates published at RWTH. You can register for, or deregister from, an exam here as long as your examination regulation allows this.

Notes

• Please note that registering for a course does not mean you are automatically registered for the relevant exam. You generally have to register for a course and the relevant exam separately.
• You can deregister from exams by the respective deadline via RWTHonline. You can deregister via Curriculum Support using the red P symbol or by going to the Exam registration application, then the My exams tab.
• You can see your registration status on RWTHonline in the Exam registration application and in Curriculum Support. 

You can find further information in the manuals Registering for Exams and Using Curriculum Support in the RWTHonline Documentation Portal as well as on the website of the Central Examination Office.

Yes, as long as the deadline has not yet passed. Any de-registrations during the registration period are not considered withdrawals by the system and will not appear on your account.

You can find more information in the manuals Registering for Exams and Using Curriculum Support in the RWTHonline Documentation Portal as well as on the website of the Central Examination Office.

In some subjects, you must fulfill certain prerequisites to be eligible to sit an exam. You can see which subjects are affected by this in the module catalog of your examination regulation. If you do not fulfill these prerequisites, your examiner cannot admit you to the exam.

In RWTHonline, these mandatory prerequisites are already entered in the system, meaning it can automatically check whether you are eligible to be admitted to the exam. If you submit a preliminary registration, the system will check  whether you fulfill the prerequisites at a later date. If you have fulfilled these prerequisites and the system has confirmed this no later than six days prior to the exam date, the system will automatically register you for the exam. Otherwise, the system will automatically de-register you. Until the fulfillment of your prerequisites has been reviewed, you will have the status “preliminary registration”.

You can view your registration status in the Exam registration application under My exam dates.

You can find further information in the manuals Registering for Exams and Terms used in RWTHonline in the RWTHonline Documentation Portal and on the website of the Central Examination Office.

 

You can see your grades on RWTHonline in the My performance and Curriculum Support applications.

You can see your account statement in the Certificates (Documents) application.

Note for students in higher semesters

You will still be able to access your transcript of records and account statement for all previous semesters up to and including Summer Semester 2018 using the Student Dossier application.

New entries for grades were introduced with the transition to RWTHonline, for example “PAQ”, which means the exam was terminated and a doctor’s note was subsequently submitted. The Central Examination Office will include this comment if you submit a valid medical certificate.

Further grade entries are published on the website of the Central Examination Office under Certificates.

The organizational directory, telephone directory, and all courses offered in previous semesters – up to and including Summer Semester 2018 – will stay on CAMPUS for the time being.

A campus management system, CMS for short, is an IT system that supports all the processes in the areas of studying and teaching at universities, for example applications, enrollment, and class and exam management. The software supports all the crucial stages of the student life cycle. Since it encompasses many different functions in a single system and consistently provides all data in one collective database, it is often called an integrated Campus Management System. RWTHonline – the software introduced at RWTH – is one of these integrated campus management systems.

RWTH needed a new campus management system, CMS for short, because the previous IT infrastructure used for organizing studying and teaching had reached its limit and could no longer fulfill the University's requirements. The introduction of RWTHonline ensured innovative and sustainable IT support for all the student life cycle stages.

• Application and Admissions Management – since December 2017
• Student und Fees Management – since December 2017
• Course of Study Management – since July 2018
• Event and Classroom Management – since July 2018
• Registration and Deregistration Management for Courses and Exams – since Winter Semester 2018/19
• Exam Management – since Winter Semester 2018/19

RWTHonline was launched as part of the PuL Project. The software was implemented via seven sub-projects and four coordination projects, involving the different faculties, the Central University Administration, the IT Center, and the student body. Around 2,500 employees and 45,000 students now work with the system. Prospective students and applicants also use RWTHonline. 

• Everyone – students and employees in the faculties, administration, and the IT Center – uses one single system, which facilitates their work together.
• Employees only require a single log-in to carry out different functions (= a package of authorizations).
• Both a German and an English user interface are available to all.
• Databases have been simplified and improved – resulting in improved data quality.
• Redundant data storage is avoided as much as possible – data management is more efficient as there are fewer error sources.
• Fewer paper-based processes, for example the now online-based application process.
• Greater transparency at the University, for example, the results of module components (internships, exercises, etc. worth 0 CP) are entered on RWTHonline so students can see all their achievements in one place.
• The University has set up a module pool in which modules are created as templates and then used in several courses of study.
• There is now only one exam regulations modeling process that forms the basis of course planning with carpe diem! and exam management.
• Examiners receive a consistent and integrated examination/assessment list for each exam via RWTHonline.

• Examiners and students use one common database.
• Students can see their registration status and transcript of records directly in the system.
• Schedules for mandatory subjects will be free of clashes.
• All rooms where classes are held can be found on RWTHonline.
• Room preferences can be made for every class at RWTH. If space and/or the number of possible participants is limited, the criteria according to which requests are granted are made transparent.
• As part of the introduction of the new software, all relevant processes have been improved and made more transparent.
• Users can switch between German and English.

The purpose of the pilot stage was to test and improve interrelated processes in a comparatively small user group, so that problems could be identified and solutions developed at an early stage. The goal was to ensure security for the introduction of the overall system for winter semester 2018/19 and to minimize any possible risks.

The courses of study were selected based on various criteria. The criteria determined how the goal of the test phase – identifying critical areas in order to be able to take countermeasures ahead of the live operation of the overall system – could be achieved as effectively and meaningfully as possible.

The courses of study had to:

• be from different faculties
• have few interrelated areas with the other course of study
• have examination regulations with certain features, for example, module components in the Bachelor’s in Chemistry and elective courses with seminar clashes in the Master’s in Political Science
• be a different level of study, i.e. Bachelor’s and Master’s

Parts of student, course, classroom, exam, and course of study management were piloted.

Preparations for the pilot stage began in winter semester 2016/17 to ensure the software could successfully launch on July 10, 2017. The two courses of study implicated in the pilot stage transitioned to normal operations in winter semester 2018/19.

Milestones of the Pilot Operation

• Pilot participants were able to log on to RWTHonline from July 10, 2017. Their personal login meant they had all the authorizations assigned to them in the system. For the time being, function administration remained centralized, i.e. necessary authorizations were assigned by the support team. From then on, all pilot participants were able to view the course offerings of the two pilot courses on RWTHonline. Course data, assigned dates and rooms, and organizational data was also maintained on RWTHonline from this stage. Since the CAMPUS system was still the key source of data for RWTH at that point, all changes to course and organizational data had to be made in CAMPUS as well.
• From August 1, 2017, pilot participants were able to organize their calendars on RWTHonline. From then on, students could, in principle, register for and deregister from courses on RWTHonline. For this purpose, authorized employees had the possibility to set up registration procedures in RWTHonline and control the admission and assignment of registrations. Students were able to view their personal study schedule or curriculum support (Curriculum Support), yet could not see their previous study achievements.
• On November 6, 2017, the exam management system was activated. For examiners, this meant they administered exams and dates, and entered the grades on RWTHonline. Students registered for their exams in RWTHonline from that date on and accessed their achievements and certificates for exam management. All statistical information was, however, still retrieved from the old system.

• CAMPUSonline had to be adapted to the requirements of RWTH. The changes were implemented in an agile development process in which functionalities and databases were successively expanded. For this reason, some new developments were missing at the beginning of the pilot stage, which were gradually added later on. Workarounds therefore had to be implemented as a temporary solution.
• In contrast to the HIS-POS and CAMPUS systems that the University had previously used, RWTHonline is an integrated campus management system. This means that any changes made in one area have a stronger impact on other areas than had previously been the case in the comparatively independent systems.
• Both the old and new systems had to be in operation at the same time. For some employees, this meant, among other things, maintaining data in two systems.

• Employees and students in the pilot courses were supported by key members of their faculty, for example with information events, office hours, and training sessions. They were also supported by student assistants additionally hired for this purpose.
• The key members of the faculties, the Central University Administration, the IT Center, and AStA Students’ Committee worked closely together, regularly sharing their ideas and experiences in workshops and weekly set meetings.
• Users also received information via key information channels, such as information events and various media: the RWTHonline website, the RWTHonline document portal, the PuL newsletter, etc.
• Detailed evaluations were carried out to optimize and analyze the pilot stage.

Among other things:

• an individual user log-in with a personal set of authorizations for RWTH employees
• a coordinated and transparent allocation of functions by the function administration
• a common database for all users
• the administration of all teaching rooms with a booking profile and calendar in one system
• a consistent and integrated examination and assessment list per exam
• registration procedures specially developed for RWTH
• a user interface available in German and English for students
• connected functions for the organization of courses and examinations for students in Curriculum Support

Many processes could be tested on a smaller scale in the pilot stage. During the pilot stage, for example, extensive tests of the registration procedures for courses developed specially for RWTH were carried out and improvements were implemented straight away. The pilot stage was also used to get to grips with the new complex structure of representing the examination regulations on RWTHonline. Thanks to feedback from the pilot courses of study, among other things, this process could already be improved in the system during this stage.

One point that became clear was that user guidance was not fully developed in some areas of the system. Here a number of improvements were implemented and increasingly complemented with additional instructions. Increasing user-friendliness is a key topic for further developing RWTHonline in the future. As it is directly linked to the further development of the basic software CAMPUSonline, it affects not only RWTH and the RWTHonline software provider Graz University of Technology, but also all other universities using the software – the so-called cooperation partners. For this reason, Graz University of Technology has set up a working group for optimizing usability, in which representatives of some cooperation partners, including RWTH, will propose and implement improvements for the long term.

The experiences from the pilot stage resulted in software optimizations for all students before RWTHonline went fully live at the University. The objective of improving the system’s safety so that the software could be implemented across the university was therefore successful.