Transfer Student Newsletter: September 2018

 

Welcome to the College of Arts & Sciences!

This Newsletter provides you with some important information to help you succeed in your transition to the College. We hope that you will read it and refer to it as you need. You will succeed if you stay well-informed about opportunities and policies in the College, keep in frequent touch with your advisors and your Association Dean, and formulate and follow an academic plan. You must also avoid falling behind in your reading and other academic assignments. Cramming doesn't work. Read and study carefully as you go.

Questions about SIS

The SIS Help Center has guides, tutorials, wait list and permission list "tips" as well as a phone help line number that you can call for assistance. We urge you to use these helpful tools at http://its.virginia.edu/sis/home.html

Academic Advising in the College

If you are a second-year student and haven't already met with your faculty advisor during orientation week, you must contact him or her to schedule a convenient time to confer.

If you are a third-year student, you have until October 1 to declare a major OR to complete a petition to defer declaring. Forms for declaring or deferring are in the rack in 101 Monroe Hall. Both require a visit to the undergraduate director of the department in which you plan to declare. If you are a third-year student and you miss the October deadline, you will be blocked from selecting courses for the spring semester until you submit one of these forms. If you do so after the deadline, you will be unblocked, but you will lose your priority for spring course selection. Don't let this happen to you. Declare or defer your major soon. If you defer, you will still need to declare no later than the beginning of the spring sememster. You may not continue to the second semester of your third year without having declared a major in the College. Stating an academic interest on your Admission application does not constitute declaring a major!

If you are a second-year student, you should explore different majors by finding out about the prerequisites for declaring, the minimum GPA for declaring or the minimum grade accepted in courses toward the major; the number of credits required; whether or not a thesis is required; and how many courses are required and how many are electives. Talk to the Directors of the Undergraduate Major Programs and ask about course and program requirements, career opportunities, and graduate and professional school opportunities.

If you are considering applying to the McIntire School, the Economics major, Media Studies, or other major programs with rigorous pre-requisites or competitive applications, you must have an alternative major in mind and must take appropriate pre-requisite courses to explore your alternate major. This is especially important if you are a third-year student, since no third-year student will be able to return to full-time study in the spring without having declared a major in the College.

Finally, you should consider studying abroad during January-term, during Summer Session, or during the fall or spring of your third year. To begin your planning, visit the International Studies Office home page.

Dean Ozment hopes as well that you will make an appointment to see her to introduce yourself and to let her know about your academic plans at U.Va. You may set up an appointment to meet with her by calling 924-3350 or by stopping by 101 Monroe Hall. Alternatively, her walk-in office hours during the Fall 2018 term are on Wednesdays from 2:30-4:00pm.

Area Requirements

Be sure to become familiar with and check your "Academic Requirements" page on SIS regularly. Print it out and take it to all advising appointments. If you have any questions or concerns, consult the College Registrar, your advisor, or Dean Ozment.

Clarification of Requirements:

One course (including cross-listed courses such as AAS 1010 and HIAF 2031) may simultaneously meet NO MORE THAN TWO AREA REQUIREMENTS. It may also satisfy the Second Writing Requirement and/or count toward a first major, second major, or minor. Be sure to check your SIS record carefully and if you have any questions contact the College Registrar's Office (924-8867) or Dean Ozment.

Remember too that once you begin your studies here, you may not fulfill remaining area requirements with additional transfer credit. You must fulfill all remaining area requirements at U.Va. The only exception is that students may complete the foreign language requirement by studying the language in a country where it is the native language.

Degree Credit

Students may count no more than 60 non-U.Va. credits (transfer as well as advanced standing) toward the College degree. While we will transfer over 60 credits, 60 is the limit that may be applied toward the degree. Please make an appointment with Dean Ozmont if you have any questions regarding the total number of transfer credits that you may apply toward your degree.

Additional Transfer Credit

If you have transfer credit which we have not already posted, please have an official transcript sent to Ms. Meredith Burke, P.O. Box 400133, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904. Although there is no deadline for transferring credit, it will be to your advantage to have any additional credit posted prior to spring course selection in November. Try to resolve any remaining transfer credit questions by October 1. Check SIS if you are not sure if your credit has transferred. Please see Ms. Burke in 201C Monroe Hall if you have any questions.

College Deadlines

The College faculty take very seriously our deadlines for dropping, adding and withdrawing from courses.To assist you in observing these deadlines, the University Registrar will send your schedule to you via UVa e-mail about three days before the drop deadline.  It is your responsibility to carefully verify your schedule and to make any necessary changes (i.e., drop any courses you are not attending and add any courses you are attending). To be sure, you should log onto SIS on or just before the DROP, ADD, and WITHDRAWAL deadlines, to verify your enrollments. To further assist you in observing the withdrawal deadline, another e-mail will be sent to you about 5 days before the withdrawal deadline.  College deadlines are posted on the College Academic Calender at Academic Calendar - Arts & Sciences, U.Va.

  1. Should you sign up for a class you subsequently do not attend and fail to drop on time, you will have to use a withdrawal form to withdraw from the class which will result in a "W" on your transcript.
  2. After the withdrawal deadline passes, should you find yourself in a class you never attended, you will need to fill out both a withdrawal form and a Late Schedule Correction Form to correct the error.
  3. If you miss the withdrawal deadline, you may not withdraw from a class that you have attended. You are in the class and will receive a grade, even if it is an F.
  4. Should you find yourself after the ADD deadline NOT enrolled in a class that you have been attending, you will need to complete a Late Schedule Correction Form to add into the class. As a result of your failure to verify the accuracy of your schedule, you will lose your enrollment priority – meaning that you will enroll last for next semester's courses.
  5. Course enrollment change forms are available in 101 Monroe Hall.

To avoid penalties, you should always:

  • verify your enrollments on SIS BEFORE THE DROP DEADLINE, and
  • carefully read the e-mail sent to you by the University Registrar with your complete schedule.

If you have a HOLD on SIS, you will not be able to perform any transaction on SIS. You should (1) check SIS a few days before the end of the DROP and ADD deadlines to make sure you can drop or drop, and (2) bring a signed Course Action Form to 101 Monroe Hall before these deadlines pass.

 

 

Limit on Full-time Semesters

Students entering as second-year transfers are expected to complete their degrees in six semesters, students entering as fourth-semester transfers in five semesters, and students entering as third-year transfers in four semesters. Summer Session is not counted in your allotted full-time semesters, nor is part-time enrollment. Permission to enroll for an additional full-time semester, however, is not automatic. You should not assume that you will have more than the usual number of full-time allotted semesters. If you think you will need an extra time to complete your minimum degree requirements, you should meet with Dean Ozment before November 1.

University Career Services (UCS)

The UCS staff is well prepared to work with students to identify and develop skills and strategies that will be useful in the ever-changing world of employment. They have several trained counselors on their staff who assist College students with any career and job search concerns, from local jobs to internships to graduate school planning.

The UCS office, located at Scott Stadium in Bryant Hall, is open 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M., Monday through Friday. Inquiries for information or appointments can be made by calling (804) 924-8900. The Career Library, containing print and media resources, is open during normal office hours. Many of UCS's services are designed to help students use their own academic experiences to guide them toward specific occupational goals. 

 

Useful Links

Getting More Help

Refer to our advising page, a general list of online resources to serve most advising information needs.

Please feel free to call 924-3350 to arrange for a convenient time to discuss any questions you have with Dean Ozment. Alternatively, you may contact Dean Ozment by e-mail at [email protected]. Her office is located in 204 Monroe Hall, and her walk-in hours are Wednesdays from 2:30-4:00pm. Dean Ozment looks forward to meeting you. Please schedule an appointment soon.

Watch for the October Newsletter. Best of luck until then.