O-Week Academic Planning Session

1. O-Week Academic Planning Session August 15, 2012 Brown College

2. Brown’s O-week PAAs Michelle Green Irving, TX Mechanical Engineering 2013 mlg6@rice.edu Alison Moscoso Houston, TX Sociology, PJHC 2014 am49@rice.edu Sarah Frazier China Spring, TX Physics 2015 saf3@rice.edu

3. Overview • Graduation & Distribution Requirements • Honor Code Exam • ESTHER • Course Registration • Advising Resources • Other useful information

4. Graduation Requirements • Be registered at Rice full time for at least four full fall and/or spring semesters • Complete the requirements of at least one major degree program • Complete at least 120 semester hours (some degree programs require more than 120 hours) • Complete at least 60 semester hours at Rice University • Complete at least 48 hours of all degree work in upper-level courses (at the 300 level or higher) • Complete more than half of the upper-level courses in degree work at Rice

5. Graduation Requirements (cont.) • Complete more than half of the upper-level courses in their major work at Rice (certain departments may specify a higher proportion) • Satisfy the Writing & Communication Requirement • 1 one-credit LPAP • Complete courses to satisfy the Distribution Requirement (12 hours each group, at least 2 departments/group)

6. Distribution Requirements • At least 12 semester hours of designated distribution courses in groups I, II and III • The 12 hours in each group must include courses in at least two departments in that group. • Can only count one interdivisional course (ex. HUMA, NSCI) toward the 12 required hours in any one group. • Must be listed as a distribution course for the academic year the course is taken. • Check master lists: http://registrar.rice.edu/students/master_lists/

7. Pass/Fail Option • Students may complete courses on a pass/fail basis • May not take more than 1 course as pass/fail per semester • 1 pass/fail for each full year of residence (no more than 4 for most students) • May not take FWIS pass/fail • Recommended not to take pre-med requirements P/F • Can pass/fail within your major division ONLY IF the course does not count towards your major requirements

8. First Year Writing Seminars • Required for all new students • Assigned to fall or spring • Transfer students may petition for credit if a similar writing course was taken at the previous university • Community college and AP credit are not accepted as a substitution for the FWIS course

9. FWIS Guidelines • Composition Exam • If you did not pass the exam, you are required to enroll in FWIS 100 in the fall and take your regular FWIS in the spring • Cannot drop • Cannot change sections after the first two weeks of the semester (like regular classes) • Cannot pass/fail • Can be used to fulfill English requirement for med school • All FWIS courses offer distribution credit • Ex. FWIS 108: Graphic Novels (D1) • Ex. FWIS 132: The Rise and Fall of Cognitive Processes (D2) • Ex. FWIS 121: The Body Against Itself: Autoimmune Diseases and Diagnosis (D3)

10. Honor Code Exam • Test on information about the Rice Honor Code • Simple open-book exam • Should be taken seriously • Mustpass in order to add/drop classes in the first week

11. Course Schedule • Lists all available courses, class sizes, and CRNs for Fall 2012 • Constantly changing until first day of classes • Not all classes are offered every semester • Check http://courses.rice.edu/ for most updated version • Wait-lists are dropped on the third day of classes

12. ESTHER • Holds • Register, add, and drop courses • View Course & Instructor Evaluations • Course schedule • ECAPP Degree Audit • Access your final grades • View your unofficial transcript • View financial aid information

13. Logging into ESTHER • Go to esther.rice.edu • Use your Student Id number (S########) and your password

14. Checking Holds • Click on “Student Services & Account Information” • Click “View Holds”

15. Common Holds & How to Remove Them

16. Checking Holds have been removed • Type “Registration Status” into the search bar • Click the Link and enter appropriate term • It should look something like this:

17. Registration Overview • ESTHER Course Registration Planner • Shopping Period begins Tuesday afternoon and ends at 11:59 pm Thursday night • Notified of courses on Friday at 7 am • Note: if you have any remaining holds on Thursday night, your courses will NOT be processed by this time • Add/Drop Period and wait-listing options begin at 7:30 AM • Be in the commons with your laptop

18. How to sign up for courses • Login to ESTHER • Click on Student Services & Account Information > Course Registration Planner • Add courses to “shopping cart” by typing in CRNS and clicking “Submit” • Max Hours: 20 • Alternate Options • Additional section for the course offered (ie. CHEM 121) • Entirely different course

19. Adding Courses Type in the CRN (available on courses.rice.edu) to add a course.

20. Adding Courses Once you have selected a course, it will appear both in red text at the top of the screen and in the course planner section. Clicking the icon on the right will reveal more course information and the alternate course selection.

21. Alternate Courses The drop-down menu shows other sections of a course as suggestions for the alternate course.

22. Removing Courses and Course Listings Courses can be removed by clicking the remove button (1), and the action will be displayed in red (2). Clicking the blue course listing will open the description on the Rice course schedule (opens in a new tab).

23. Duplicate Courses The course planner will not let you put the same class twice in your primary course selections (for example, MATH 211).

24. Duplicate Courses You can add a the same course in your alternate course selections.

25. Registration Closing The system will close at 12:00 am on Friday (Thursday midnight) and the results will be available Friday at 7 am.

26. Registration Results

27. ESTHER Course Registration Planner • Limitations • Cannot guarantee any one spot • Will not add a course if you lack the pre-requisites • Will not add courses with conflicting times • Will not automatically add you to a wait-list

28. Add Courses • Log-in to Esther • Click on “Student Services and Account Information” • Scroll down and click on “Registration” • Click on “Register or Add/Drop Classes” • Fill in the boxes near the bottom with the CRNs

29. Drop Courses • Log-in to Esther • Click on “Student Services and Account Information” • Scroll down and click on “Registration” • Click on “Register or Add/Drop Classes” • Click on the drop-down menu next to the course you want to drop and select “Web Dropped”

30. How to Sign Up for a Waitlist • Follow the procedure for adding a course • Fill in the boxes near the bottom with the CRNs of courses you would like to waitlist • The section will be closed, but you can select “Wait-list” from the drop down menu and submit

31. Course & Instructor Evaluations • At the end of each semester, students cannot access final grades until they complete course and instructor evaluations. • One evaluation for the course, one for instructor • Available on ESTHER for you to consult • Click “Student Services & Account Information” • Then, click “Course and Instructor Evaluation Results” • Accept the terms; enter the information of the class you want • Helpful when deciding on classes to take: • Compare the workload and difficulty of different classes • Look at grade distributions • Read students’ comments about the class and instructor

32. ECAPP Degree Audit • Check your progress on GENERAL graduation requirements, not major requirements. • On ESTHER, type in the search bar “audit” • Click “ECAPP Degree Audit” • Click “Request Audit” • It will be available the next day on ESTHER under “Current Evaluations” • You should do this at least at the end of each semester

33. Also on ESTHER • Access your Final Grades • Type in the search bar “Final Grades” and select appropriate term • After you complete your Course & Instructor Evaluations, your grades will appear as they become available • View your Unofficial Transcript • Type in the search bar “Transcript” • Submit “All levels” and “Unofficial” • Financial Aid • Click “Financial Aid” • Scroll down to view your financial aid package

34. Advising Resources • Office of Academic Advising Website • www.rice.edu/advising • Includes links to distribution master lists, advisor lists, and a variety of resources. • General Announcements • http://ga.rice.edu/ • Divisional Advisors • knowledgeable about requirements specific to their academic division but not necessarily each specific discipline, major or department

35. Advising Resources (cont.) • Major Advisors • represent their respective academic department or discipline and are familiar with specific major graduation requirements • Peer Academic Advisors (PAAs) • That’s us! • There are 21 PAAs at Brown College to help you year round • You will have a PAA assigned to you the first week of classes • Academic Fellows and Mentors • Enhance academic life of the college • Faculty lectures • Research symposia • Provide academic assistance on a regular basis

36. Helpful Resources • Advising Expectations/Preparing for Advising Appointments • Divisional Advisor Appointment Notecards • Academic Planning “Cheat” Sheet • Course Registration by Time and CRN# • Academic Planning Worksheet (Online)

37. Advising Expectations/ Meeting with Faculty Advisors • Provides guidelines for attending meetings with your advisors Academic Planning Worksheet • Helps you plan your schedule for the next 4 years • Use pencil if printed! • Provides a checklist of graduation requirements

38. Academic Planning “Cheat” Sheet • A quick guide to registration and other resources at Rice • A summary to most of the information in this presentation Course Registration by Time and CRN# • Fill this out to make registering on Friday easier. • To register for classes, you input the CRN numbers into ESTHER • This allows you to have alternate classes on hand, just incase you don’t get into a class at a certain time.

39. Special Registration • Registering for <12 hours • contact Dean of Undergraduates at ugdean@rice.edu • (Especially international students, athletes, students on financial aid) • Registration for >20 • On left tab of website: Undergraduate Experience- Registering for Overloads- Print Petition • Registration for Closed courses, unfulfilled prereqs, etc • Check out Registar’s website: http://registrar.rice.edu/content.aspx?id=117

40. Student Taught Courses • Students teach 1-credit hour courses • Only 3 can be taken for credit • Each course is worth 1 credit hour and is graded on a S/U scale. • Courses are about engaging in intellectual conversation on a fun topic. • Look under college listings in course catalog • Light workload, classes meet once a week, TONS of FUN! • 4 offered this semester at Brown! But you can take any of the courses at any college.

41. Interested in Health Professions? • Go to www.rice.edu/advising -On the left side panel, click “Health Professions” -Click “Frequently Asked Questions” • Talk to a pre-med PAA • Kevin Jackson (O-Week) • Dorothy Chou • LayoObamehinti • Elisa Clark • DanDan Liu

42. Pre-Med Requirements **Check individual medical schools

43. BIOC 111/211 • Registration for these labs are different from regular courses • Start here: http:/www.ruf.rice.edu~bioslabs/ • STEP 1: complete the survey form as instructed • STEP 2: wait for instructions and take the pre-lab exam • STEP 3: after you have been notified of your status then please select a section of the course you plan to take and pick up a preregistration form; have a back up plan in case the section that you want is

44. Chem 121/123 Registration • CHEM 121: Lecture • Sections 1 and 3: SCALAR Approach • Section 2: Traditional Lecture Approach • CHEM 123: Lab • There are 10 sections • Co-requisite for the lecture  must register for both • Choose two lab times that work best with your schedule • After registration, if you are not chosen for your primary and secondary lab times, you may try to add yourself to the waitlist or special register for the course.

45. Additional Information • For additional resources, look for us on the web: • Office of Academic Advising website • www.rice.edu/advising • Facebook • http://www.facebook.com/RiceAcademicAdvising • Twitter • http://twitter.com/#!/riceacademics

46. Questions?