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Winter 2009 Advising Notes

Advising Information

Quick Reference

Registration for the summer 2009 session begins Monday, March 16^th^.
Registration for the fall 2009 semester begins Friday, March 20^th^.
Last day to drop a winter 2009 full semester course and receive a “W” grade is March 27^th.

Academic and Career Advisement Center

Visit ACAC online at: www.nmu.edu/acac. The ACAC website is a comprehensive web resource for advising information:

Academic Support Services

Free academic support services are available for NMU students. Please visit www.nmu.edu/tutoring for detailed information about these resources:

All Campus Tutoring (ACT)
Computer Science and Math Labs
Language Lab
Jacobetti Complex Tutoring
Student Support Services (SSS)
Writing Center

Career Exploration

Meeting with an advisee that is unsure about their major? Their career path? Their options?

The following information sessions, hosted by the Academic and Career Advisement Center and the academic departments listed below, are scheduled for March 2009:

March 11^th: College of Business (4:00pm, Hedgcock Career Resource Room)
March 16^th: Engineering Technology (4:00pm, Hedgcock Career Resource Room)
March 24^th: Music (4:00pm, Reynolds Recital Hall)
March 30^th: Communication and Performance Studies (4:00pm, Hedgcock Career Resource Room)

Laptop Return?

The immediate return of the NMU Notebook is required upon complete withdrawal from NMU, graduation from NMU, non-payment of required fees, or notification by NMU of the required Notebook computer return. Detailed information regarding return dates, guidelines, and instructions can be found here: www.acs.nmu.edu.

Online Degree Evaluation

NMU’s on-line Curriculum, Advising, and Program Planning (CAPP) Degree Evaluation program is available to students through mynmu.nmu.edu. Students now have the capability of generating an unofficial degree evaluation for the program in which they are currently enrolled.

Advisers are still able to generate informal degree evaluations for their advisees. Directions are below:

Log in to mynmu.nmu.edu,
Once logged in, click the “Advisor Services” tab,
Refer to the “Advisee Information” section,
Click the ‘Advisee Degree Evaluation (degree audit)” link,
Then follow the prompts.

Faculty are reminded that most, but not all, majors are available on CAPP. For a list of those major programs not available on CAPP, visit: /records/node/41

Faculty with questions on how to access online degree evaluations should first talk with their department head. They may also contact the Assistant Registrar, Sara Niemi, at 227-1350. Sara is in charge of the degree audit process and keeps online programs up-to-date. She specifically wants to hear from anyone who believes there is an error with the online evaluation system.

In October and March, Degree Audit staff review records for undergraduate students eligible for an official degree evaluation: Bachelor candidates with 87 earned credits; Associate candidates with 36 earned credits; and Certificate/Diploma candidates with 16 earned credits. Once an evaluation is generated, students and their major department are notified by email that an official evaluation is available.

Student Athlete Advising

Some tips for advising student athletes:

Each semester, student athletes MUST be enrolled in at least 12 degree-applicable credits.
Furthermore, course choices must be filed with the Registrar’s Office and submitted as part of the student’s Plan of Study. Bottom line: Student athletes cannot enroll in “random” courses. If a student athlete is taking elective courses, those elective courses must be approved by the adviser, and then filed with the Registrar’s office.
In order for student athletes to be eligible for athletic participation and competition, they must be actively pursuing a baccalaureate-level degree.
The university administration endorses a policy that permits student athletes to be excused from class due to athletics travel or home competition. Faculty members are to provide student athletes with reasonable accommodations to make up missed course work due to the circumstances listed above.

If your student athlete advisee has questions that you cannot answer – please feel free to contact:

Bridget Beerman (Assistant Director of Athletics). She is very knowledgeable regarding NCAA academic rules and regulations for student athletes. Via phone at 227-2371, or via email at bbeerman@nmu.edu.
Julie Rochester (Associate Professor and NCAA Faculty Athletic Representative to the NCAA). Julie provides oversight and advice in the administration of the institutional athletics program, including academic oversight of student athletes. Via phone at 227-2026, or via email at jrochest@nmu.edu.

Undergraduate Bulletin: Additional Course Information Available

The 2008-2009 Undergraduate Bulletin allows users to query when certain courses are offered. This will be especially helpful if you work with a student who wants to plan out subsequent semesters, and needs to know during which semester(s) a course will be offered.

Visit www.nmu.edu/bulletin,
Select the “Courses” tab at the top of the page,
Click the “Search for courses” link,
Provide the course information,
Then select the term in question using the “Offered” tab,
Finally, make sure to hit the “Search” button at the bottom of the page.

Departmental News

Academic Information Services

Academic Information Services will offer a special topics course for the fall 2009 semester:

AIS 495, Special Topics in Library and Information Science: Global Issues in Information (2.0 credits). Prerequisite of junior standing.

The course will examine the various issues in information creation and access across the world, including (but not limited to) censorship, technology, economics, scholarly communication, ownership of information, and the ethics of information use.

Chemistry

NMU’s Chemistry department has instituted a formal process for checking the math skills of students who wish to enroll in introductory chemistry courses. Advisers should know that students should take either the Math Placement or Math Diagnostic test prior to enrolling in CH 105, CH 107, or CH 111. Advisers are also encouraged to refer to the Course Description section of the Undergraduate Bulletin for further clarification of math course prerequisites for the chemistry courses listed above.

College of Business

The College of Business provides several minor programs that are well-aligned with most non-business major programs. Current College of Business minor offerings are: Accounting, Business Administration, Computer Information Systems, Entrepreneurship, Finance, Management, Marketing, and Office Services. For more information, please visit www.nmu.edu/bizminors.

Criminal Justice

Students interested in pursuing a Criminal Justice degree should meet with advisers in the Criminal Justice department. Faculty in that department use advising sheets specific to their academic program to advise students. It is best if students are advised using the Criminal Justice department’s specific advising sheets.

Economics

Before your advisees register for EC 101, they should consider:

In order to register for EC 101, a student must have never earned credit for a college-level economics course (particularly EC 201 and/or EC 202), or received advanced placement from a high school experience.
A student cannot take EC 101 concurrently with any other economics class.
If a student dropped or failed any economics class (including EC 101, and assuming the student has no other economics credit), he or she may enroll in EC 101.
If the above conditions are met, EC 101 may be counted toward the economics major or minor.

Education

While selecting courses for summer and/or fall 2009, advisers need to be aware that there are several courses in the Education program that will no longer be offered during the summer sessions. These courses are:

AD 310
ED 201/301
HL 150
MSED 250, 251, and 252
MU 149A
PE 224

English

Those students choosing a major or minor in English Secondary Education should take EN 350 (Materials and Methods of Teaching English) the semester just prior to their student teaching semester.

Those students who are eligible to student teach in fall 2009 should contact Professor Tom Hyslop via email at thyslop@nmu.edu. Those students who are eligible to student teach in winter 2010 should contact Dr. Kia Jane Richmond via email at krichmon@nmu.edu. The following information should be included:

Name
ID #
email
phone
Major
Minor (or 2nd major)
Accepted to Methods                                           Yes/No
Taken and passed MTTC Basic Skills Test         Yes/No
Planning to student teach winter 2010                 Yes/No

Mathematics and Computer Science

All mathematics courses have the prerequisites included with the course descriptions. If your advisees do not have the prerequisites for a course, the Banner system will not permit them to sign up for that particular class. If the student believes he/she has the correct prerequisite for a class and cannot sign up, have him/her contact the Mathematics and Computer Science department office.

There are two placement exams, and it is important that students take the correct test.

The Mathematics Placement Exam is for freshmen coming straight out of high school.
The Diagnostic Test is for all other students who have been enrolled at NMU for a semester or more. This includes transfer students, non-traditional students, etc.

Additional Information:

If a student has taken a math course at NMU, that information should be available in the student’s records.
If a freshman has not taken a mathematics course yet, review their placement test results and help them make the appropriate course choice.
If a student has taken a mathematics course elsewhere, ask to see NMU’s transcript evaluation before enrolling them in any mathematics course.
If math placement information is not readily available, call the Mathematics and Computer Science department (227-2020) and ask the secretary to provide that information.
Students who are eligible to enroll in the MA 090 class should be advised that they are unable to register for this class without first visiting the Student Service Center.

Modern Languages and Literatures

Proper language course placement is essential to student success and satisfaction with their language course. When advising students about language courses, it is important to follow these guidelines:

If a student HAS HAD foreign language courses in high school, advisers should encourage them to take the Modern Languages and Literatures department’s placement test so that they can be placed in to the appropriate language course at NMU.
If a student HAS NOT previously taken foreign language courses, they should take NMU’s 101 level language course.
Students desiring to take foreign language courses at NMU should be directed to the Modern Languages and Literatures department so that they can be assisted with planning their language course sequence in a manner that will not delay their anticipated graduation.

The Modern Languages and Literatures department will offer a German language course (GR 102) in fall 2009. This course would be for students who have taken first semester German, or who have had one or two years of German in high school. In the past, GR 102 was offered only in the winter semester. For further clarification, please contact Associate Professor Carol Strauss Sotiropoulos via email at csotirop@nmu.edu.

Music

The Music department would like advisers to remind students that choose to MINOR in music that their course curriculum must be approved by Professor Donald Grant (department head). Contact information: (906) 227-1039 or via email at dgrant@nmu.edu.

Nursing

The Nursing department is in the process of revising their curriculum for fall 2009 and advisers should be aware of the following:

A number of changes will be made to program pre-requisites. Details regarding these changes are available from the Nursing department.
As part of the revision process, no students were admitted to the program in the winter 2009 semester.
Beginning with the fall 2009 semester, students will have three semesters to complete program prerequisites, and upon admission to the Nursing program, will complete the NE sequence courses in five semesters.
Changes to the BSN fast track program requirements have not yet been finalized. Also, it has yet to be determined if that program will proceed in the fall 2009 semester.

For questions pertaining to NMU's Nursing programs, contact the School of Nursing office at bsnnurse@nmu.edu or 906-227-2834.

Office of International Programs

NMU sends students to study abroad in a variety of placement settings: 1:1 exchanges, service learning internships, university direct enroll, and traditional cultural/language immersion centers. Programs range from short-term field experiences, led by NMU faculty members, to a semester or academic year abroad.

The Adviser’s Role:

Encourage your advisees to consider working a study abroad into their academic program. Your influence plants a seed that will grow.
Start them out early: Even freshmen can begin to plan a study abroad. (In fact – more and more incoming students seek us out during freshman orientation, eager to find out when and how they can study abroad.)
Send them over to visit with us in the Office of International Programs, 145 Whitman. We are staffed to help students select programs that best suit their needs and interests.
Better yet – Invite us into your classroom for a brief presentation. (Returnees love to help us spread the message about study abroad.)
Department Heads usually prefer to sign off on specific study abroad course pre-evaluation, but students will ask for your input as well. They should be prepared to show you contact hours, recommended U.S. credit, and course description and/or syllabus. You can help them fit electives, major/minor credits, and liberal studies requirements into their particular degree program.

Physics

NMU’s Physics department would like to remind advisers that advisees enrolled in major programs that require physics courses (PH 201, PH 202, PH 220, PH 221), should take the required physics course PRIOR to their senior year. This allows for the most flexibility in the case that the course needs to be repeated.

Political Science and Public Administration

For students with either Political Science or Public Administration minors, please be aware that if following an Undergraduate Bulletin that is 2005-2006 or newer and they earn less than a C in a PS course, it will not count towards their minor.

This same policy applies to all Political Science majors as well.