I’ve Registered for Online Classes, Now What?

Now that you’ve registered and paid for your online classes, you’re almost ready to for your first day of class to begin.

Purchase Textbooks & Course Materials

Sinclair Bookstore

Even though your classes are online, many courses still require certain textbooks and other materials to complete assignments. Textbooks and other course materials are available through the Sinclair Bookstore website at http://bookstore.sinclair.edu or in-person at one of our locations. Be sure to have your schedule to ensure you purchase textbooks for the appropriate class section!

Be sure to have your class schedule to ensure you purchase materials for the class section for which you are registered. If you have any questions concerning the bookstore, please contact the bookstore at the Dayton campus by phone at (937) 512-BOOK (2665) or in-person on the first floor of Building 7. For more information, including additional Sinclair bookstore locations and hour of operation, please visit the Bookstore’s Information webpage.

Financial Aid Users: If you are planning to use financial aid for books, course materials and supplies, you will have a special timeframe (financial aid book charge dates) to make your purchases each term. These dates can be found on the bookstore website or financial aid webpages.

Preparing for Your Online Classes

Student E-mail Account

When you register for the first time as a Sinclair student, you will automatically be assigned a my.sinclair.edu e-mail address. Sinclair will send important information and notices, including communication about financial aid and class cancellations to this e-mail address.

Make sure to check this e-mail account frequently!

Timelines & Online Course Access

SinclairOnline students follow the same academic schedule as students attending traditional, in-person classes. After 8:00 a.m. on the first day of the term, you will be able to access your online classes. Unsure about how to log into your courses? Learn more by visiting the "How to Access Online Courses" webpage.

You are expected to begin your classes on the first day and have all course assignments completed by the last day of the term.

Course Syllabus

Before starting work on your assignments, make sure you view each class syllabus available within individual ANGEL classes. This document often contains policies, deadlines, assignment details, grading methods, and faculty contact information.

You should also pay close attention to the academic calendar for withdrawal deadlines, upcoming registration periods, and observed holiday. View this year’s academic calendar now »

Testing Information

Testing methods vary for each SinclairOnline course and class section. Many of our courses do not require on-campus, supervised or in-person testing, but there are some that do. For these classes, local learners will be required to come to a Sinclair location for testing services. Non-local learners (living beyond a 60-mile radius of the Dayton campus, have the option to arrange test proctoring.

View the testing information webpage for more information about finding a proctor or to view the upcoming term’s list of courses requiring proctored testing.

Attendance Policy

For SinclairOnline courses, attendance is monitored by tests taken, participation in class discussion forums or assignments submitted. An important aspect to remember about distance learning courses is: should you decide to drop with a "W" and a test or assignment has not been submitted, you have not established attendance in that class. In other words, you must demonstrate some work was completed before you withdraw.

Withdrawal Information
If you are considering withdrawing from one or all of your courses, please be aware of the withdrawal deadlines posted on the academic calendar each term. Before the deadlines, you can withdraw from one of more courses online using Web Advisor accessed through http://my.sinclair.edu or in person at the registration office (second floor, Building 10, Dayton campus) or at Sinclair’s other full-service learning locations.

Financial Aid Recipients
If you are a financial aid recipient, it is crucial that you establish attendance in each class you are registered for every term. Essentially, this involves "attending" classes on a regular basis. If you decide to withdraw from an online class with a "W" you are still responsible for establishing attendance in all classes at least beyond the 100% refund period.

Should a situation arise where you do not establish attendance, your financial aid will be reduced down to the amount of credit hours you actually attend. For example, if you register for 12 credit hours at the beginning of the term and the financial aid office receives attendance information from one instructor stating you never attended a three-credit hour course, your financial aid will be reduced down to 3/4 enrollment. This could leave you in an owing situation with the school. If you have questions or concerns, please contact the Financial Aid and Scholarships office by phone at (937) 512-3000 or e-mail to finaid@sinclair.edu.