The Academic Advising Tutorial. We Suggest Viewing This Tutorial After You’Ve Completed the Tutorial and Quiz for ‘How to Access Your Eweber Account.’
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Academic Advising Tutorial Script Slide 1 - Music Slide 2 - Welcome Welcome to the Academic Advising tutorial. We suggest viewing this tutorial after you’ve completed the tutorial and quiz for ‘how to access your eWeber account.’ Slide 3 - Outline This tutorial will cover basic information about degree options, general education requirements and tools to help you prepare to register for classes. At the end of the tutorial, you’ll be able to select the academic advising information based on your major. Slide 4 – Credit hours To begin with, let’s discuss what a credit hour means. Credit hours are a unit of measurement to determine how much time you will spend in a class. For every credit hour you register for, you will spend that many hours in class each week. In addition, you need to consider the time you’ll spend outside of the classroom. For every hour in class, we recommend spending two hours outside of class on homework and studying. So, for example, if you are registered for 12 credit hours, you will spend 12 hours in class a week and 24 hours outside of class on school-related homework or study time. If you are working full-time and going to school full-time, that is like 2 full time jobs! Consider all of your other responsibilities and commitments when registering for classes so you can ensure that you will have enough time to devote to school in order to be successful. Slide 5 – Degree Types We offer several different degrees depending on your major and academic goals. An associate degree requires a minimum of 60-63 credit hours, 20 of those need to be in residence at WSU which means those credits need to be taken through Weber State. We offer three types of associate degrees. The first is an associate of applied science (which typically focus on a skill or major along with general education classes). An associate of arts would require foreign language at or above the 1020 level, which usually means two semesters. An associate of science is very similar to the associate of arts although you would not be required to complete a foreign language. A bachelor degree requires a minimum of 120 credit hours (including the credit hours from your associate degree), 30 of those need to be completed at Weber State and 40 of those credits need to be upper division classes which would be any class 3000 level or above. Again, you have several choices for types of bachelor degrees. Your major or program of study may determine which degree you begin working towards. The Bachelor of Integrated Studies (BIS) is a unique degree allowing you to choose 3 concentration areas to create a custom degree. For more information on the BIS degree, click on the Bachelor of Integrated Studies link on the bottom of this page. Slide 6 – Anatomy of Degree When looking at a Bachelor degree, what requirements make up that degree? About 40 credit hours will come from general education courses. These courses could include Math, English, Humanities, and Science courses. The general education requirements will be the same for all students although the actual courses taken to fulfill the requirements may be different for each student. Allowing students the opportunity to challenge themselves by taking courses in new subjects enriches the overall educational experience and creates a more educated graduate. We’ll discuss the general education requirements in more detail in just a moment. 1 In addition to the general education requirements, your major requirements or primary program of study will make up about 45 credits towards your bachelor degree. These courses will allow you to study your major in depth. This section is also where you will take most of your upper division or 3000 level courses from. Some programs also require you to choose a secondary program of study or emphasis or minor. A minor allows you to tailor your degree to your career goals and focus your education. About 20 credit hours will come from this section. The remaining credits will come from the electives section, affording you the opportunity to try new courses that may not be required in your program. All of these credits combine make up your Bachelor degree. Slide 7 – Declaring your POS When you applied to Weber State, you listed your major or program of study. If you want to change this information, contact the academic department or academic advisor for the major you’re interested in. For more informaton, click on the link ‘weber.edu/majors’ Slide 8 – Catalog Year It is important to understand your catalog year. Your catalog identifies the courses you need to complete and policies you need to follow to graduate. The academic year indicates the year you were admitted or in which you declared your major. So, if you are in the 2012-2013 catalog and a requirement is added to the Associate Degree in the 2013-2014 catalog, you would not have to complete that requirement unless your catalog year expires. You have 3 years to complete your Associate degree under your declared catalog, and 6 years to complete a bachelor’s degree. If you do not complete your degree within that time frame, then you will be bumped up to the next catalog year, so if there are any additional or different requirements in that newer catalog year, you would have to complete those. You can access your catalog online at weber.edu/catalog or by clicking on the link on this page. Slide 9 – Course Placement If you were admitted prior to May 5, 2014, please skip to the next slide. If you were admitted after May 5, 2014, your admissions letter suggests appropriate math and English courses to start your academic career. Remember, this information is also displayed in your CatTracks report in your eWeber portal. Math and English course placement is based on prior academic and test performance. Generally, you can enroll in any course in which you meet the prerequisite. If you place into developmental courses, completing these classes as soon as possible can provide foundational skills for success in higher-level courses. Additional fees may be charged for developmental level courses. Depending on where you place, you will take your English classes in the following sequence; English 900, 955, 1010, then 2010 to complete your General Education Composition requirement. English 900 and 955 are developmental courses preparing you for college level English courses. Similarily, depending on where you place, you will take your Math classes in the following sequence: 950, 810 or 990, 1010 and Quantitative Literacy for a math Quantitative Literacy course. Which Quantitative Literacy course you take depends on your major. We’ll discuss this in more detail in a later section. Any courses numbered below the 1000 level do not count toward your graduation hours or affect your grade point average; however you must earn a grade of “C” or better in order to move on to the next course in the sequence. 2 It is possible to take either the Math mastery exam or Accuplacer to test into a different class. For a complete overview of Weber State University’s math and English placement policy, click on the link on this page ‘course placement info’. Just a note about placement expiration: ACT and SAT scores and Accuplacer scores as well as math courses as prerequisites to other math courses expire after 2 years. The Math mastery exam expires after 1 year. You can now click on the link ‘skip to general education requirements’. Slide 10 – Assessment and Placement Policy If you were admitted prior to May 5, 2014, placement for math and English classes is based on WSU’s Assessment & Placement Policy. WSU’s Assessment & Placement Policy is in place to match your knowledge with appropriate math & English courses based on ACT or Accuplacer test scores. Just a note about placement expiration: ACT and SAT scores expire after 2 years, Accuplacer scores expire after 2 years, and math courses as prerequisites to other math courses also expire after 2 years. Slide 11 – English Placement English placement is based on ACT reading and English subscores or Accuplacer scores. If you have current scores, click on the link ‘where do my English ACT scores place me?’ to find out where your scores place you. Keep in mind that English placement is based on the lowest of your reading and English subscores. If you don’t have ACT scores or your ACT scores are expired, you will need to take Weber State’s Reading Comprehension and Sentence Skills Accuplacer tests. Depending on where you place on the ACT or Accuplacer, you will take your classes in the following sequence; English 900, 955, 1010, then 2010 to complete your General Education Composition requirement. English 900 and 955 are developmental courses preparing you for college level English courses. Any courses numbered below the 1000 level do not count toward your graduation hours or affect your grade point average; however you must earn a grade of “C” or better in order to move on to the next course in the sequence. Slide 12 – Math Placement Math placement is based on ACT math subscores or Accuplacer scores. If you have current scores, click on the link “where do my Math ACT scores place me?” to find out where your scores place you. If you don’t have a math ACT score, if your math ACT score is below 23, or if your ACT scores have expired, you need to take Weber State’s math Accuplacer test.