RUN Number | Office of the Registrar | SIU

What is a RUN Number?

A 6-digit Registration User Number (RUN) is required for many students in order to perform self-registration within SalukiNet.  The University's use of RUNs helps to ensure that there is regular contact between the student and their academic advisor in order to appropriately plan the student's course of study as they work toward a degree.

The RUN is unique to each student and will be different from term to term.  (At the very least, a RUN for a Spring term will start with a 2, a RUN for a Summer term will start with a 4, and a RUN for a Fall term will start with a 6; but, for security purposes, the differences should extend beyond the first digit as well.)  Students who are required to have a RUN should get the RUN from their academic advisor, typically at the time of advisement for the upcoming advance registration term(s).

The RUN comes into play when you log into SalukiNet and go to the "Register For Classes" task to use the online registration website.  Once you select the Register for Classes page, if you are required to have a RUN you will be prompted to enter that RUN before the system will permit you to continue (see the example on page 3 of the Registration self-service guide).¹

Who is required to have a RUN Number?

Through registration for the Spring 2023 term, nearly all undergraduate students were required to have RUNs.  Starting with registration for the Summer and Fall 2023 terms, only a portion of undergraduates will still require RUNs, including incoming transfer students, provisionally-admitted students, students not in good academic standing, and students not making SAP.²

Only some graduate departments/schools require the use of RUNs for their Masters and/or Doctoral students.  Graduate students should check with their department or school to see what is required.

Finally, MEDPREP students are required to have RUNs, but Law students (JD) are not.

What if I have problems with the system accepting my RUN?

The first point of contact about RUN problems should be your advisor or advisement unit.  They are the ones who know what your RUN for the term should be.  Please note that the I.T. "SalukiTech" Help Desk (Computer Support Center) is not able to assist students with RUNs (though they can assist students with SalukiNet login and password issues).

If the RUN you enter is not accepted by the system, you will get a message that says, "Invalid alternate pin, please try again."  (The system calls it the "alternate pin" while we call it either the RUN or the Registration User Number.  They are all the same thing.)  The error message means that the RUN that you entered is not correct for the term you have selected.  Each RUN is specific to a given term.  You will want to ensure that the term located in the drop down field above the RUN field is the correct term for your RUN and the semester for which you are attempting to register.  If not, you may be able to change the term using the drop down menu function.

If you have the correct term and you enter a RUN that is still giving you this error message, you do not have the correct RUN or you are not entering it properly.³  You should contact your advisor or advisement unit to get your RUN again.  Once you have received your RUN, please return to the Registration page and try again.

If you get a different error message than the above one when attempting to enter your RUN, please contact our office (contact information in the left-hand column on this page) with the exact error so we can research it.  For the most part, RUN issues boil down to an incorrect RUN being entered or an incorrect term being selected.

¹ Those undergraduate students who are assigned a RUN will need to use it in order to register for the first time for that term.  Once successfully registered, within a day or two after that, those undergraduate students should then no longer be prompted to enter a RUN on future days when trying to make further registration changes for that term.  This process does not impact graduate students, so they will still be prompted to enter a RUN in every subsequent SalukiNet Self-Service registration session if they are assigned a RUN.

² Other undergraduate students not specifically noted will not require a RUN and will not be prompted to enter a RUN when attempting to register themselves in SalukiNet Self-Service.

³ Remember that the RUN is a 6 digit number.  RUNs for Fall start with a 6, while RUNs for Spring start with a 2 and RUNs for Summer start with a 4.