The navigation for Robert’s online schedule is as follows:  NDSU.EDU/click on “H” in the index directory/click on Human Sciences and Education, College Of/Click on the Advising Center link in the left menu/choose the appropriate advisor schedule block/click on the appropriate week link at the top of each 3 week block/click on the 30 minute block you want/enter your name, id number and email address and click on submit.

The minimum you should meet with your advisor is once per semester during Advising Week or as we call it, “Advising Season” since our week lasts about 1½ months to see all of our advisees.  The purpose of this meeting is to make sure you understand any changes that have come about in your major since our last meeting, discuss career paths and/or minors or double majors, and to just see how you are doing overall.  We always encourage students to see us or contact us anytime that you have questions so don’t feel like you can only see us once per semester.  Be sure to write down your questions prior to our meeting so you can keep your focus as we work through your concerns.

You may always make an appointment if you want to have an immediate discussion.  In these cases, you may simply want to discuss it with your advisor during your spring advising appointment in November.

In order to keep the system as accurate as possible, new students are added to Advisor rosters once classes begin and the initial drop date has passed.  This way students accepted to NDSU but choose not to attend do not have to be deleted from the system.  In addition, because each College has a unique way of handling how advisors are assigned it can take some time.  We are working on ways to improve the time lapse.  If you need answers and don’t know who to contact, there are two helpful areas:  Bison Connection or the academic department office (i.e., Psychology dept. or HNES office).

You bet we can help, that is what we are here for.  We can help you see what you will need to do to “catch up” and help you make an individual plan that is right for you.  We will send you an email in October inviting you to make an advising appointment.  But please don’t hesitate to come in earlier!  You can make an appointment any time by visiting our website:   http://www.ndsu.edu/hse/academic_advising_center/

Yes, your advisor will look through your curriculum guide and 4 year plan with you to help you decide on courses for the next term.  It is ultimately your decision to select and enroll in courses and therefore helpful if you come to the appointment with a list of courses you feel would be most appropriate.  You can even have your Campus Connection shopping cart filled for review at the appointment!

The "curriculum guide" is just a list of ALL the classes that you need to take either here at NDSU (or you could transfer them in from another university) but one way or another, you will need to take every class on that list to graduate.  It is basically like a contract between you and NDSU.

You have to follow the guide in place when you entered NDSU, or when you declare your new major.  For example, if you came in Fall of 2011 as an interior design major, you will follow the 2011 Interior Design guide.  But if you then change your major to communication in spring of 2012, you will follow the COMM 2012 guide (even though you came to NDSU in 2011). The guides only change in the fall. 

When you are a senior, they will actually check your guide against your transcript to make sure you have all the courses.  Once they have done this "degree audit" or "degree check" then you can get your degree from NDSU. 

All the curriculum guides can be found on the REGISTRATION and RECORDS website.  Under the CURRICULUM GUIDE tab.  

http://www.ndsu.edu/registrar/curricula/

Final grades for a semester will be posted to your transcript and available a few ways from your Campus Connection account.   By choosing “grades” or “unofficial transcript” from the drop down menu on your Student Center page, you can view or print your grades.  Remember, faculty have a few days at the end of each term to complete the grading and posting process.  A class held the first eight weeks may or may not have the grades posted until the end of the full term.

It is always best to schedule a meeting with an advisor or faculty member in the new major area of interest that you have.  Oftentimes, the easiest way is to use the NDSU alpha directory to contact the department of interest.  If you have any difficulty figuring out what department that new major is in, discuss it with your current advisor and they can help direct you to the right person.

If you go to the College of Business website using the alpha directory on the NDSU.Edu main site, you can view minor information by clicking on “Majors and Minors” link on the left hand menu.  This is often the same process to find other minors across campus.  Be sure and discuss your minor interest with your advisor at your advising meeting so they can help you plan on how to best fit the Business courses into your 4-year plan.

We are located in room 270 of EML (E. Morrow Lebedeff Hall).  This building is connected to the Memorial Union and to FLC (Family Life Center). 

If you are walking up the ramp behind the coffee shop in the Memorial Union, just turn left at the top of the ramp and keep going.  While you are on the tile, you are in FLC or the Family Life Center.  Once you hit carpet again, that is our building, EML.  Just look for room 270.  Here is a link to a campus map with our building highlighted in yellow:

http://www.ndsu.edu/ndsu/main/directory/bldg_details.php?choice=22

You will be receiving an email from your advisor in the next two weeks or so explaining when to schedule your advising appointment for spring registration.  Be sure to start planning your spring semester and putting classes into your shopping cart.  Also, write down any questions you may have for your advisor and we will discuss spring registration in depth at your advising meeting in early November.

Student Athletes sign up in the first time slot for their classification.  Example:  Seniors begin to register at 8:00 am on November 1 based on number of credits.  Senior Student Athletes would all register at 8:00 a.m. on November 1 regardless of their number of credits.  The first day of freshman registration has not been posted for spring yet so I cannot list the exact date for freshman athletes but it is usually around November 17 or so.  Watch your “Enrollment Dates” block on your Student Center and that will eventually populate mid-October or so.

The Academic Collegiate Enhancement (ACE) website is a great place to start http://www.ndsu.edu/studentsuccess/about_ace/.   The “Academic Resources” link in the left hand menu has extensive contact information for everything from Study Skills courses in the Counseling Services Office to resources to help with test anxiety in the Disability Services Office, to the Center for Writers in the Library.  As always, do not hesitate to contact your advisor if you need help locating these services or navigating the University to find them.

In Campus Connection right now, next summer’s offerings will appear as they did for the past summer.  The data was simply rolled over because many offerings are consistent from summer to summer.  This might be helpful for tentative planning, however the schedule is subject to change.  Around the 1^st of March, the schedule should be loaded accurately for the upcoming summer term.  You can register for summer courses at about the same time you register for fall courses. Your enrollment appointments for fall and summer may be a single day or even a few hours apart in the spring of the year.

It depends, not all credit transfers to NDSU.  Sometimes it will transfer but NDSU does not have an exact match to an NDSU class.  If that is the case, it transfers in as an elective.    Sometimes, even if that happens, it still works as an approved NDSU general education. 

You should be able to see what it transferred as by logging onto campus connection/Clicking STUDENT CENTER, then clicking on the PULL DOWN box that says “other academic” and then choose TRANSFER CREDIT REPORT.

If you don’t see anything there, it could mean a couple of things.  It could just mean that it is still in process.  Please keep in mind; it takes a very long time to evaluate transfer credit.  So the registrars office might just be in the process of evaluating your information.  It could also mean that you may have never had the credit sent to NDSU.   If you took it in high school, YOU have request this process.  It doesn’t just automatically come with your high school information.  This is because the credit is officially from another college or university (not from your high school). 

If you have not done so already, you need to make sure you sent your OFFICIAL transcript directly from the other school’s registrar’s office to the registrar’s office at NDSU.  Each university and college has a different procedure for requesting an official transcript.  The easiest way is to log into their main home page and put “OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT” into the search button for that university.

If you want to see what it might transfer as, you can use the TRANSFER SERVICE link on the NDSU’s Registration and Records page.  Once you are there, click the COURSE EQUIVALENCY DATABASE. 

http://www.ndsu.edu/transfer/equivalencies/

After you are on this page, just keep hitting the little > signs.  Please note that each page in this system takes a very long time to load.  But if you are patient, you will get the information you are looking for.

Yes.  All credits received in transfer count toward your student status or class standing (0-26 freshmen, 27-59 sophomore, 60-89 junior, 90+ senior).  Depending on your major or when you declared the major, you still may be in the first year of a program sequence even though you have enough credits to be a junior.  Higher class standing has some privileges (registering earlier), but does not dictate program completion.

Transfer courses are transfer courses no matter what term they are taken.  It is best to check, and double check, on how a credit will be received back at NDSU.  First of all, the institution must be regionally accredited to count for graduation credit at NDSU.  Then, the course equivalency is determined by the Office of Registration and Records. A course equivalency database can be found at the following link: http://www.ndsu.edu/transfer/equivalencies/

Be careful and work with your advisor BEFORE signing up for classes outside of NDSU that you plan to use toward your degree. 

You cannot actually get another degree through tri-college.  If you wanted to get a degree from MSUM, you certainly could be working on some of their classes while you were here as an NDSU student.  But you would need to eventually either transfer to MSUM or finish your NDSU degree and then get a second degree at MSUM. 

It is important to note, you can only take one tri-college course each semester, unless you are minoring in something that your home university does not offer, for example, Special Education.  The special education minor at MSUM consists of:

Special Education Certification- MSUM Tri-College

• SPED 320-MSUM (or equivalent: This is the same course as our EDUC 240 offered through VCSU).  This introductory special education course is a required course for all elementary education students and is a prerequisite for advanced special education coursework.
• SPED 413 Instructional Strategies: MSUM through Tri-College
• SPED 445 Remedial & Corrective Reading: MSUM through Tri-College (will count toward elementary education directed elective requirement)
• Three additional special education courses.

For more information contact Keri DeSutter desutter@mnstate.edu

Another option is to get your regular elementary education degree through NDSU/VCSU and then get a masters degree in special education.  Both UND and MSUM offer this type of program to people who do NOT have a special education undergraduate, but do have a regular elementary education.  Both of these programs are online and you could actually be working as a teacher while you get your MS.

MSUM: http://www.mnstate.edu/graduate/special_education.cfm

UND: http://distance.und.edu/degree/?id=specialed2