Transfer Student Newsletter: September 2005

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. Successful students are well informed about opportunities and policies in the College, they are in frequent touch with their advisors and their Association Dean, and they both formulate an academic plan.   One of the most important things you can do now is to avoid falling behind with any of your academic work.

Academic Advising in the College

If you 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 and you haven't declared your major yet, you should have conferred with the undergraduate director in the department in which you plan to declare.

Third-year students have until September 30 to declare a major OR to complete a petition to defer declaring. Forms for declaring or deferring are in the rack in the Garrett Hall lobby. 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 1 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 October 1 deadline, you will be unblocked but will lose your priority for spring course selection. Don't let this happen to you. Declare or defer your major soon. Remember also that 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 Admsiion application does not constitute declaring a major!

Second-year students should explore different majors by finding out about the prerequisites for declaring, the minimum GPA for acceptance or 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 career opportunities; who does major advising; and what previous graduates are doing now.  Students considering applying to the McIntire School must have an alternative major in mind and must take appropriate pre-requisite courses to explore their alternate major.

Finally, all students should consider studying abroad in their third year.  To begin your planning, visit the International Studies Office home page.

Mr. Papovich hopes as well that you will make an appointment to see him to introduce yourself and to let him know about your academic plans at U.Va. You may set up an appointment to meet with him by calling 924-3350 or -3351, or by stopping by Garrett Hall. His office is in Garret Hall 211-A.

Area Requirements

Be sure to become familiar with and check your VISTAA form 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 Mr. Papovich

Clarification of Requirements:

One course (including cross-listed courses such as AAS 101 and HIAF 203) 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. Your VISTAA Report may incorrectly list a course as counting toward three area requirements rather than two. Be sure to check your records carefully and if you have any questions contact the College Registrar's Office (102 Garrett Hall, 924-8867) or Mr. Papovich.

Given that some courses can satisfy more than one Area Requirement, VISTAA Reports often do not reflect the preferences of students in this regard. VISTAA is an advising document only; it is not a formal or official document. As long as you meet the degree requirements as stated in the Undergraduate Record, you need not be concerned if VISTAA reflects a different allocation of courses.

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 that language 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 Mr. Papovich 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. Gloria Gates, 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 ourse selection in November. Try to resolve any remaining transfer credit questions by October 3.   Check ISIS/VISTAA if you are not sure if your credit has transferred.   Please see Ms. Gates in room 211-C Garrett 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.  This is also the day by which you should carefully verify your current course enrollments. 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 ISIS 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. You may not withdraw from a class that you have been attending if you miss the withdrawal deadline. 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 and you will lose your enrollment priority–meaning that you will enroll last for next semester's courses.
5. All course enrollment change forms are available in Garrett Hall.

To avoid penalties, you should always:

• verify your enrollments on ISIS BEFORE THE DROP DEADLINE which is two weeks from the first day of classes, and
• carefully read the e-mail sent to you by the University Registrar with your complete schedule.

If you have a block on ISIS from Student Financial Services, the Dean of Students, the College, Student Health, or the Registrar, you will not be able to perform any transaction on ISIS. You should (1) check ISIS a few days before the end of the drop and ADD deadlines to make sure you can drop or ADD, and (2) bring a signed Course Action Form to Garrett Hall before these deadlines pass.

Check the online calendar for fall 2004 semester deadlines.

October 17 = Last day to WITHDRAW from a course (W entered on records).

University Career Services (UCS)

The goal of UCS is to help students make rational decisions about educational and career options. 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.

The UCS office, located at Scott Stadium, 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 extensive written and audio-visual resources, is open during normal office hours.

Many of UCS's services are designed to help students use their academic experiences to guide themselves toward specific occupational goals. A class which is especially valuable for second- and third-year students is PLSK 101A/102A, Career Planning, a two-credit seminar that teaches a systematic approach to setting goals and making decisions.

Through UCS's EXTERN program, upper-class students can investigate career areas during semester break, spring break, late May, or during the summer months by visiting and observing the workplace of a sponsor, often a University graduate. Through the Alumni Association's UCAN software programs, students can obtain career advice from alumni nationwide and at the Arts and Sciences Career Forum on Grounds in February. Minority Career Day allows University students to meet directly with recruiters from major companies and organizations. Through FOCUS, a computerized career guidance program, students can discover specific career fields for further exploration. Stop by UCS to get acquainted and learn more about making the most of their workshops, print resources and electronic tools. Check the web site for information on choosing majors, career planing and more. As you consider majors, seek summer opportunities, ponder specific courses and their value in the world outside the academy, you should think of UCS as a valuable resource.

Useful Links

• College of Arts and Sciences Homepage
• Department Homepages
• Directors of Undergraduate Programs
• Office of Orientation and New Student Programs
• On-Line COD
• School of Architecture
• Curry School of Education
• School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
• McIntire School of Commerce
• School of Nursing

Getting More Help

Other resources containing information for Transfer Students can be found on the New Transfer Student web site, where we have tried to compile information that will be helpful not only for your early days here but that may prove useful to you now and in the future as new questions arise. Also, refer to our advising links collection, a general list of online resources to serve most advising information needs.

Please feel free to call 924-3350 or 924-3351 to arrange for a convenient time to discuss any questions you have with Dean Frank Papovich. Alternatively, you may contact Dean Papovich by e-mail at . Dean Papovich's office is located in Garrett Hall, room 211-A.  Mr. Papovich looks forward to meeting you. Please schedule an appointment soon.

Best of luck for the remainder of the semester.