Drop-In Hours | Add/Drop Deadline

Drop-In Hours

During drop-in hours, I will see students on a first-come, first-serve basis. Check-in at the front desk of Career & Academic Planning (3210 Student Success Center) during the following hours if you want to meet:

Office Hours:
Monday (1/12): 2:30 - 4:30 p.m.
Tuesday (1/13): 10 a.m. - 12 p.m & 2:30 - 4:30 p.m.

Beginning Wednesday, January 14, you'll need to schedule an appointment. Please remember I work during business hours, which are 8am-5pm Monday through Friday.

IS 202

If open sections do not fit with your schedule, complete the IS 202 Override Request Form. Even if none of the sections (closed or open) fit with your schedule, please complete this form. There’s an option that “none of the sections fit with my schedule, but I want to take the course.” Finally, attending the first class is required to be able to take the course. Overrides are not given if you missed the first class.

Upcoming Dates & Deadlines

Add/Drop Deadline

Tuesday, January 20 is the add/drop deadline; therefore, it’s your last opportunity to drop a class without receiving a “W” on your transcript or add a course without the Department Head’s signature. If you change courses after Friday, January 16, then you’ve already missed one week of class, so there will be a lot of work to make-up.  Carefully consider adjusting your schedule at the beginning of the first week of classes to avoid missing too much class. You can adjust your schedule on MyMadison. If you change your schedule, be sure that you are still completing all of the Cluster One courses you need to complete by the end of your first-year. If you have questions or want to discuss this, visit your advisor during the drop-in hours posted above.

Double-Check Schedule | Informational Interviews

Double-Check Your Schedule

Before or during Thanksgiving break, take time to double-check what you are registered to take during spring semester:

• Are you registered in a full course load (14-16 credit hours unless we specifically discussed otherwise)?
• Are you registered in the remaining courses you need to complete Cluster I by the end of your first year?
• Did you register for courses that you did not discuss with your advisor? Do you want to discuss those with with your advisor so that you get confirmation that your schedule will help you progress towards General Education, declared/potential major, and declared/potential degree requirements?

Remember, you can still make changes to your spring semester schedule until the second Tuesday of spring semester. Many students making course changes between the New Years and the first day of classes. Granted, after classes have started you want to be more strategic about making changes since you may have already missed classes.

Spotlight on Exploring Resources

Informational Interviews

The Holiday Breaks are a great time to connect with people in career fields you’re considering by conducting an informational interview! This is a uninterrupted time for you to have a Q&A with a professional. Generally, this runs 20-30 minutes, and can happen over the phone, at the professional’s place of employment, or another central meeting location Seriously, people love sharing their experiences and helping the next generation.

When you conduct an informational interview, you can gather information you cannot learn online. When you talk with a professional, you can learn subjective information, such as opinions, advice, and an outline of their personal experience. For example, here are some great questions to ask:

• How did you get into this field?  What was your major in college?
• What do you like most/least about this position?
• What is the typical career path this job follows?
• What is a typical day or week like on the job?
• What skills and abilities have you found to be most important in your work?
• What personal qualities do you feel are needed to succeed in this line of work?
• What kinds of classes/experiences do you recommend someone obtain in college that’s entering this field?
• How would you advise someone to begin seeking an internship in your field?

You don’t want to ask questions you can find the answer to online, and nobody wants to take time answering those questions. O*Net and the Occupational Outlook Handbook are good places to begin your research so you go to the interview with basic understandings about their profession. To identify a professional, utilize:

• JMU Alumni Network or JMU Alumni Groups
• Social Media – LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter
• Professional Organizations associated with the career field
• Organization/Company websites
• Your Personal Network (e.g. parents, family friends, friend connections)

Learn more about (1) how to make contact, (2) how to prepare, (3) what to wear, (4) saying thank you, and (5) reflect on the experience by reading Informational Interviewing: Get the Inside Scoop on Careers.  Remember, you can always meet with me to process what you learned with your informational interview to determine your next steps to make a decision!

Waitlists and Overrides

Registration Updates

Here, I will post any updates that are “News to Me, too!” Right now, I haven’t learned anything that that I haven’t known and communicated with you.

Overrides

Classes have enrollment limits based upon educational pedagogy, technology, laboratory equipment and/or room size (number of actual seats available). Sometimes a department is willing to grant a student an override into a class that is already full. 

~ JMU Registrar's Webpage

Overrides are a difficult process. If you want an override because you want a better time or a "better" professor, do not ask for an override. Faculty are inundated with override requests, and these “cosmetic” reasons are not enough to request an override. I don't mean to be too forward by saying this, but I don't want you wasting your time (or the instructor/department's time) and hoping for something that's unrealistic.

Legitimate reasons for requesting an override include, but are not limited to:

• You are declared a major or are strongly considering declaring a major, and you need a class because of the major requirements. This is particularly the case when the course fulfills progression requirements for the major or is the first in a sequence of courses you will need to take for the major.
• There are multiple classes you need for a major that you are declared or strongly considering, and the only section(s) that are open for a class conflict with other class(es) for the major which are already enrolled in... and there's no way you can figure out to adjust your schedule to "make it work" (as Tim Gunn would say).

If you decide to attempt to get overrides or have enrolled in a waitlist, don't count on these courses for a full schedule. Attempt to get the 15-16 credit hour load as if you aren't going to get the override... because you may not!

Overrides are given at the discretion of the Academic Department the course is taught within or instructor who teaches the section you are trying to add. There is no easy way to know if you should contact the department or instructor to get an override. Here are some Departments (that I am aware of) have outlined their process online:

• College of Business (COB, GECON, and ECON courses). The COB override request period will begin on November 6 and conclude on November 12 at midnight. Students need to complete the online submission form during this time period. 
• Computer Science (CS courses)
• Geographic Science (GGEOG and GEOG courses)
• Integrated Science & Technology (GISAT and ISAT courses)
• IS 202: Career & Life Planning
• Mathematics (MATH courses). The override requests into math and statistics courses are not being accepted at this time. The Department is utilizing the waitlist feature in MyMadison, so you need to find a course that could fit with your schedule an enroll in the waitlist.
• Psychology (GPSYC and PSYC courses)

To find the Academic Department's location and phone number, go to Department's homepage. You can find the Academic Department's homepage by utilizing the Search on JMU’s Homepage.

To find an instructor's contact information, go to JMU's Homepage, and click "Campus Directory." Remember, an instructor's email inbox can be overloading during this time of year. Sometimes it's more effective to call or stop by their office. Many faculty post their office hours outside of their office door so you know when to come back if they aren’t there.

Finding closed classes and classes that are accepting waitlists, you need to log-in to MyMadison. After you login to MyMadison, go to the Student Center, and go to Class Search, you need to enter the subject and course number like usual. Then, uncheck Show Open Classes Only. Now when you search, you'll see all of the open and closed classes.

If a class is showing that it has open seats but you are unable to register, please try registering for the course again beginning November 6, because that’s when Open Registration begins. Sometimes Departments will restrict the course to certain majors only until Open Registration, and once Open Registration starts they lift this restriction so anyone can register for the remaining available seats.

Registration 101

Take a breath. If you’ve scheduled a registration preparation meeting with your advisor, you’re going to be prepared to do this! You can successfully do this!

While you can see courses that are being offered for spring semester, that doesn’t mean you should begin looking at them more than 24 hours prior to your registration window opening. Students with more priority than you, like seniors, will be taking seats in courses, and you have no control over the situation as everything is constantly changing. You have no idea what will still remain open when your registration window opens. You will get classes, though, and you’re going to get classes that work towards your graduation requirements.

Before You Register

Besides scheduling and meeting with your advisor, here are the productive things to do for registration:

1. Clear holds placed on your registration ability.

If you look in your Student Center on MyMadison and see "No Enrollment Activity" or "Withhold All Services", then you will not be able to register for classes until you take care of the hold. Click "details" and then "No Enrollment Activity" to learn who has placed the hold on you and how you contact them to learn what you need to do to get the hold lifted. Some of you may have more than one hold.

2. Look for your registration date and time on MyMadison.

It will be in the right-hand column within your Student Center. You need to click on "details" to see exactly what time your window opens. The time your window opens is not assigned while looking at your course schedule; therefore, you may be in class when your window opens. It's alright! Just get to a computer with internet access as soon as you can after class to register on MyMadison.

3. Preference General Education (GenEd) Cluster requirements you still need to fulfill.

You don't want to be making decisions about which classes you prefer when you're in the middle of registering. For example, if you still need to complete a Cluster IV - American Experience, then preference which class in Cluster IV - American Experience you would want to take first, then second, and third. This will make registration much easier to balance your course preferences with the availability of classes and fit with your schedule.

4. View MyMadison Video Tutorials.

You’ll register for classes by yourself on MyMadison. Information Systems provides a support page with videos about how to add, drop, and swap a class on MyMadison. Watch these before your registration window opens and review them as much as you need. Below, I’ve embedded some of these videos with extra tips for your convenience:

Adding Classes

Here are some common error messages you can get when trying to add a class:

You cannot add this class due to a time conflict.

This means that you have another course you're registered for that conflicts with the time of the class you're trying to add.

Class #### is full.

This means there are no more available seats in this section.

Requisites not met.

This can mean that (1) you must be declared in a certain major to take this course, (2) you must be a certain class standing (i.e. sophomore), (3) there is a co-requisite you need to enroll in simultaneously with the Shopping Cart feature [watch next video], or (4) there is a pre-requisite that you have not completed.

To view restrictions placed on a specific section, click "View Details" and read the "Enrollment Requirements" and "Class Notes" sections. The example shown tells you that this section of CHEM 131 is only for the specific academic programs listed and CHEM 131L is a co-requisite. You’ll notice, “View Details” also shows you: how many students can enroll in a class (a.k.a. class capacity), how many students are enrolled (a.k.a. enrollment total), and how many seats are still available, a course description, and the number of credit hours (a.k.a. units).

click to enlarge

click to enlarge

Utilizing the Shopping Cart

Understanding the "Shopping Cart" is extremely important when you're registering for classes that are co-requisistes, like the CHEM 131 and CHEM 131L example above.

Swapping Classes

Now, you can swap any course for any other course - not just the same course for a different class section. Swapping courses doesn't drop you out of a class unless you're guaranteed to add the other class.

Search for All Courses Open within a GenEd Requirement

You can find all of the Cluster Codes on your GenEd Checklist and online.

When You Register

Here’s a list of items to have in front of you:

1. Advising notes we completed during our individual registration preparation meeting.

2. General Education Checklist and Preferences, which will make it easier to pick the best course option for you within a GenEd requirement that you can take any of the courses.

3. Daily Schedule Planner so that you can keep track of classes that you've scheduled so that you don't try to add a class when you have another one. Don't forget to keep track of what building your classes are in so that you can determine if you can make the commute from one class to the next if courses are close together. Remember to balance the days and times of your schedule as best you can!

4. Campus Map so you can find where buildings are on campus to determine if you can make it to your classes on time. You can view and print the campus map online. You can utilize the Can I Get There on Time? developed by the Madison Advising Peers.

Withdraw Deadline | Registration

Withdrawal Deadline

There are two reasons you may want to withdraw from a class: (1) lightening your course load will help you feel more balanced due to personal, life reasons or (2) you’re not doing well in a course at midterms. Either way, you want to take a moment and consider if you should withdraw from the course before the withdraw deadline for semester classes on Thursday, October 23. 

Withdrawing from the course means that it will not impact your GPA, and it may help you to focus and do well in your other courses. Here are other points about withdrawing:

• Full-Time Status. 12 credit hours is the magic number to stay full-time. If you drop below part-time, there are extra considerations, like how it might affect your health insurance, financial aid, car insurance, and scholarships.
• Your Transcript. You will have a W on your transcript. Generally, having a W or two on your college transcript is alright. However, when you have multiple W’s, it can show a pattern of how you problem-solve that is not appealing to an employer or graduate schools.
• 4-Year Plan. Keep in mind that you must take an average of 15 credits each semester to graduate in a 4-year plan without summer coursework. So, if you complete lower than the average of 15, then you’ll need to make-up the average somewhere - taking 16 credits for a couple of semesters or taking a summer course.  It is doable, though!
• Financial Aid. If you receive Financial Aid, be sure you are aware of Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) and how this can affect you; because a W is like an F for SAP.
• International Student Visa. If you are an international student on an F-1 Visa, remember that in order to keep your I-20 active and keep the benefits of your F-1 visa, you must be registered as a full-time student (at least 12 credits). If you’re thinking about withdrawing from a class and it would result in you dropping below 12 credits, it may be possible for you to receive permission to do this. There are specific and limited reasons why a student may receive a reduced course load authorization, including medical problems, academic difficulties related to English language acquisition, or the adjustment to studying in a US classroom. Check out the Office of International Program’s website for more information on Maintaining Student Status. If you have any questions about whether or not you would be eligible for reduced course load authorization, contact International Student and Scholar Services in oIP.

Registration Window

On or around Monday, October 20, you will be able to go onto MyMadison and view the specific date and time your registration window opens. You’ll also be able to see what courses will be offered in spring semester. However, remember that you are “low on the totem pole,” which means your seniority is low (as a freshmen) compared to others at the university (like seniors). You’ll move up the totem pole eventually, but right now there are a lot of students ahead of you that will have more priority during registration. Do not spend time picking the specific times and professors you want for classes, because they will likely be gone by the time your window opens. You can prepare during your meeting with your advisor for the types of classes you should be looking for when you register, but don’t plan too much detail about specific sections, professors, or times. You have no control over what’s available by the time your window opens. We’ll talk about this more during our individual registration meeting.

Appointment with Your Advisor

As mentioned in previous posts, in emails, and on your advising syllabus, individual meetings have started (based on your last name) to prepare you for registration. If you haven’t already, email me your availability if your assigned week is during October 20 - 24 or October 27- 31. When you come to the meeting, you will want to bring the items mentioned in your syllabus.

Double-Check Your Schedule

You are responsible for assuring that you're taking the appropriate classes. The Undergraduate Catalog, Department websites, and your assigned academic advisor help guide your understanding of the appropriate classes you should be taking. The Information for Undeclared Students in the 1st Semester Preparation Modules provides lots of great information that you can refer back to for guidance. I recommend you re-watch the video for Undeclared students:

Double-check your schedule to be sure you are enrolled in:

• 1-2 Cluster One courses. 
• Classes that will double-count in General Education and majors that you are considering. 
• Optional: IS 202: Career & Life Planning, a 1-credit elective that will help you with your decision about a major and career path.
• 14-16 credit hours, total.

If you have questions, contact me!

Upcoming Dates & Deadlines

Monday, August 4: Open Enrollment opens for all JMU students

Upcoming Blog Post Topics

Tuesday, August 5: This post will provide some housing information and roommate advice.
Friday, August 8: This post will introduce you to the JMU Honor Code and a required tutorial and test that all first-year JMU students complete at the beginning of their first semester.

Open Enrollment

Beginning Monday, August 4, you can attempt to change your classes on MyMadison. Make sure you are enrolled in 14-16 credit hours for fall semester.

We strongly recommend you do not use the drop or add features if you are changing one class for another. Think about it... You see a class you want to enroll in has an open seat (GPSYC 160). So, you drop a class (e.g. GPSYC 101) so that you can add GPSYC 160. But, when you go to add GPSYC 160, the class is closed because someone else registered for the last seat. So then you go back to add the GPSYC 101 class you just dropped, but someone took that seat too! So now you cannot take GPSYC 101 or 160. Bummer! You can avoid this by using the swap feature. The swap feature doesn’t drop you out of a class unless you’re guaranteed to get into the other class. Watch this video about how to swap classes:

If you were on a waitlist and have not been given a seat in the class, then you will not be getting a seat. Therefore, make adjustments to your schedule to be in a total of 14-16 credit hours. If you have questions, please contact me (contact information in the right-hand column of this blog).

Remember as you make changes to your schedule, pay attention to the campus map and the Can I Get There On Time? map created by the Madison Advising Peers.

Also, each section of a class may have pre-requisites, restrictions, or requirements that aren't obvious from the search screen. Viewing the class details will show you more information about a specific section of a class.

Upcoming Dates & Deadlines

Monday, August 4: Open Enrollment begins for all JMU students.

Upcoming Blog Post Topics

Tuesday, August 5: This post will provide some housing information and roommate advice.
Friday, August 8: This post will introduce you to the JMU Honor Code and a required tutorial and test that all first-year JMU students complete at the beginning of their first semester.