What are special permission numbers (SPN’s)?

An SPN is a unique code of numbers that essentially when entered into the online course registration system, “unlocks” a closed or restricted course and allows a student to then register for that course. Special permission numbers might be needed for one of several reasons in order to gain access to closed courses. Every course in our Program—with the exception of Introduction to Criminal Justice (01:202:201)—is closed to non-Criminal Justice majors. If you are a non-major student wishing to take a Criminal Justice course or if you are planning to declare a major in Criminal Justice and have not yet done so, you will need to request an SPN. If you are a Criminology minor, you will need an SPN in order to register for any Criminal Justice course. If you are a declared Criminal Justice major, sometimes seats open up in a course due to the Add/Drop period—if you wish to apply for one of these “opened seats,” you too will need to request an SPN.

Students need to keep in mind that there are no guarantees in obtaining an SPN when you apply for one. There is quite a large demand for such a limited number of open seats. SPN’s are assigned based on priority, seniority, amount of cumulative credits, and of course, ultimately, availability. The process for applying for a Special Permission Number is very structured and specific—if you do not follow all of the directions, your SPN request will be rejected. Be sure to read any and all information regarding the application process for SPN’s.

In order to request an SPN, students must complete an application process. There are two registration periods for SPN requests during a semester. Usually, the first registration period takes place around the time of general registration and then closes before it ends, and then it re-opens the week prior to the first week of classes of the following semester and remains open during Add/Drop period before closing completely. All of the necessary information and instructions to apply for an SPN will appear on our website in this section.

DECLARED CRIMINAL JUSTICE MAJORS

If you have declared your major with Criminal Justice, you will be able to register for any OPEN criminal justice courses without a Special Permission Number during the designated registration and/or Add/Drop dates: with the exception of the Internship course and any Independent Study course. For more information about internship and independent study, please see their respective website pages or email the This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..  Do not use the SPN Application Form to request an SPN for internship and/or independent study, otherwise your request will be automatically rejected.

If you are trying to register for any CLOSED course(s)/course section(s), you will need to apply for a special permission number. Please follow the appropriate instructions.

UNDECLARED CRIMINAL JUSTICE MAJORS, CRIMINOLOGY MINORS, and NON-CRIMINAL JUSTICE MAJORS

You must request a Special Permission Number in order to register for any course, whether it is open or closed. The only exception is Introduction to Criminal Justice (01:202:201). You do not need an SPN to register for this course as long as it is open. (If it is closed, you will need to apply for an SPN.) If you are a Criminology minor, please be sure to include more than one option (even if the course says "restricted to Sophomores and Juniors"). There is no guarantee that you will be granted an SPN if you only select one course.

NON-SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES STUDENTS

You will need a special permission number in order to register for any course, whether it is open or closed (including Introduction to Criminal Justice 01:202:201).

Nota Bene: There have been course code changes for Ideas in Justice (now 01:202:360) and Crisis Intervention (now 01:202:370).  You can not receive credit for both 01:202:360 and 01:202:405; similarly, you can not receive credit for both 01:202:370 and 01:202:422.

Any student who gives out their assigned Special Permission Number to another student will be severely penalized, and risks not being assigned any future SPN's.  If you decide not to use your assigned SPN, please contact the department immediately via email to let us know: we will re-assign the SPN to another student who did not previously receive one.

 

Do NOT call the office regarding Special Permission Numbers!

SPN Application Instructions:

The Special Permission Number submission period for Spring 2024 will open on Friday, January 12th at 10:00 a.m., and the SPN portal will close on Monday, January 22nd at 12:00 p.m.. We will respond with acceptances/rejections by Tuesday, January 23rd once the system closes (not before).

You will have 48 *business* hours to use your SPN before it was re-assigned.  Make sure that emails received by you from the SPN email address This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. are not blocked and are not sent to your spam folder.  We will not track you down if an email gets bounced back to us.  All questions should be directed to that email address as well: again, please do not call the office regarding SPN's!

Please note that your request will be rejected if you do not follow all of the instructions and/or if any information is incorrect or missing. The CJ courses with no SPN availability are not included on the form. Do not write in courses into the Comments section: those requests will be automatically rejected. However, do use the comments section to include preferences for courses if selecting more than one course.

SPN Request Portal

We are using a new system that should streamline the SPN application process: it is an SPN request portal.  Log in with your Net ID and password, and be sure to follow all instructions.  Request as many courses and/or sections as possible, as it will increase your chances of obtaining an SPN; however, you must submit separate requests for each course for which you are requesting an SPN (you do not have to use a separate request if selecting multiple sections of the same course). 

Use the arrow buttons if selecting multiple sections in order to rank selected sections in order of your preferences.  If you are a Criminology minor or Forensic Chemistry major, you must put in the comments box for every course/section that you are requesting that you are a Criminology minor or F.C. major.  (If you are not officially declared for either, do not put this information down as we will be evaluating all students to double-check.) 

By clicking on the link to access the SPN Application System, you are hereby acknowledging that you have read all of the instructions carefully, and that you accept the responsibility of ensuring that your request has been submitted in the appropriate manner: I have read all of the above instructions.