Find answers to common faculty and advisor questions about Charlotte Online and Distance Education – course registration, program changes, tuition rates, fee differences, and campus services. We also how to manage student program status and system details like site codes and Banner reports to help you support online learners effectively.
Program priority is usually set or updated as part of admissions and graduation processes and requires no manual adjustment. When students are in multiple programs, the following guidelines generally determine which program is labeled as primary:
To look up a student’s primary program, refer to the priority field by the program name on the SGASTDN screen (Learner tab) in Banner. The program with the lowest priority number (usually 1) is the student’s primary.
Program priority is set/updated as part of admissions and graduation processes and does not normally need manual review. Use the table below to determine the appropriate contact when a review is nevertheless warranted.
Online programs and students can be identified by their campus and program codes:
Campus Codes:
Program Codes:
Some reports and Banner screens only show the campus of the student’s primary program—if a student is enrolled in multiple programs, each program has an associated campus code and it may differ across their programs, but if Banner is only displaying the student’s primary program it will show the same campus code regardless of the program displayed.
If a single major is offered both as an on-campus program and as an online/DE program, the program codes will differ (e.g. EMGT-MS vs. EMGT-MS-DE) but the name of the program will appear the same. (e.g. , Engineering Management-MS).
To change program modality, current undergraduates must follow the program/department’s change of major request process. At present, The School of Professional Studies is assisting with this process for these specific programs:
Current graduate students complete an “Other Non-Course Related” Academic Petition explaining the desire to change from on campus to online (or vice versa).
New students, those who have been admitted but have not yet begun classes, can simply send an email to the appropriate admissions office stating the desire to change modalities:
admissions@charlotte.edu for undergraduate students;
gradcounseling@charlotte.edu for graduate students;
readmission@charlotte.edu for readmitted students.
Please note: It is important that the staffer who makes the change receives the correct program and campus codes for the student’s new program. If the student is moving to a Charlotte Online/distance education program (either online or at an off-campus site), the program code will end in “-DE” and the campus will be “D.” If the student is moving to an on-campus program, the program code will not end in “-DE” and the campus code will be “M.”
“DE” stands for Distance Education, a term historically used to describe courses and programs where students and instructors are separated by space and/or time—most commonly online learning delivered synchronously or asynchronously.
At UNC Charlotte and across the UNC System, off-campus site-based programs (delivered at locations other than the main campus) have also traditionally fallen under the distance education umbrella. Programs labeled as “distance education” meet specific UNC Board of Governors criteria that allow them to charge a distinct set of distance education fees—a reduced subset of the fees charged to on-campus students (UNC Policy Manual 1000.1.2[IV][A]).
To qualify as a distance education program, at least 80% of a program’s total credit hours must come from online or site-based courses, though occasional on-campus instruction may still occur (up to 20% of coursework).
As of 2024, the term Charlotte Online is more widely used to reflect the university’s growing portfolio of fully online programs. With only a few off-campus, site-based programs still in operation, “Charlotte Online” more widely represents the current ecosystem. However, the term “DE” or “Distance Education” remains in use in some systems and reports as a designation, maintained to ensure consistency across campus and UNC System data and fee structures.
A site code is a three-letter identifier assigned to a student’s Banner record that indicates the off-campus location where the student’s cohort attends some face-to-face courses. For example, the Master’s in School Administration and its post-Master’s certificate are offered at multiple off-campus sites, often with cohorts running simultaneously at different locations. The site code helps track which students are assigned to which site and is set at the time of admission.
Before Fall 2022, site codes were also used to identify students in fully online programs with the code ONL. This practice has been discontinued, and while the ONL code may still appear in records, it is no longer used in practice and can be disregarded.
In the past, if an online course was open to both online/distance education students and on-campus students, two separate sections had to be created—one with campus code D and one with M—and then combined into a single Canvas course.
Is this still necessary?
No. Departmental course builders can now create a single course section. If the section is primarily for students in a D-campus program (online or site-based), it should be assigned a campus code of D. Otherwise, assign the campus code M.
If priority registration is needed—for example, to ensure certain student groups have protected access—Banner offers options to preserve seats for specific populations or restrict who can register. The School of Professional Studies recommends selecting methods that:
D-campus programs can contact online@charlotte.edu for assistance with these options. For general course-building and registration support, contact the Office of the Registrar.
Here are some hints for building online course sections. They won’t replace the Banner training you received from the Registrar’s Office, but we hope you’ll find them helpful nonetheless.
In fall and spring, all course sections whose campus is set to “D” (i.e., Distance Education Campus) should be assigned:
In summer, all course sections whose campus is set to “D” (i.e., Distance Education Campus) should be assigned:
Preparing courses with section numbers this way ensures accuracy in reporting. Check with the SPS Student Services team for more information about any of these circumstances or to discuss any possible changes.
The Campus Code (on the Course Section of Banner SSASECT screen in the Information Section) has two options: “M” which stands for “Main or Dubois Campus” and “D” which stands for “Distance Education Campus.”
If a course section is primarily intended for use by students in an online or off-campus site-based program (i.e., a program whose campus code is set to “D”), then the section’s Campus Code should be set to “D.” In all other scenarios, the section’s Campus Code should be set to “M.”
Do not assign a “D” Campus Code to a main campus program’s course sections for any term – even if they are delivered online.
There are five Instructional Method options that can be used to build Distance Education Campus course sections: IA, IS, HYA, HYS, and TR. Please note: When building course sections whose Campus Code is set to “D” (i.e., Distance Education Campus), the HYA, HYS, and TR Instruction Methods will only be used if the section is associated with a program that is based at an off-campus site. In other words, the use of HYA, HYS, and TR with Distance Education Campus courses is rare; they are more commonly associated with courses whose Campus Code is set to “M” (Main or Dubois Campus).
In most cases, IS courses usually meet on the same day(s) at the same time(s) every week for the entire semester, (i.e., every Monday and Wednesday from 5:30pm to 7:50pm).
Notes About Hybrid Sections
If a course meets face to face at an off-campus site, use TR as the Instructional Method code and enter the appropriate “Building Code” for the site location. Building codes for approved off-campus sites are listed below. No Room Number is required.
The standardized text described below must be added to the beginning of the Course Notes/Comments field for all Distance Education Campus courses.
Use the Course Notes/Comments field on Banner’s SSATEXT screen to add the required standardized text.
The required standardized text varies by Instruction Method. Cut and paste the correct text from the appropriate section below.
100% online course delivered using Canvas. Learn to use Canvas at canvas.charlotte.edu. Additional requirement(s): [may include information already entered into SSATEXT here].
Hybrid course delivered through a combination of face-to-face classroom instruction and Canvas. Learn to use Canvas at canvas.charlotte.edu. Classroom instruction will be [days/times] at [location and address]. Additional requirement(s): [may include information already entered into SSATEXT].
Please note: