Welcome to the College of General Studies New Student Tutorial

1. Welcome to the College of General StudiesNew Student Tutorial

2. Welcome to the College of General Studies New Student Tutorial • The purpose of this tutorial is to introduce you to the resources and tools you will need to be successful at the University of Pittsburgh. • It may take up to an hour to complete and must be completed prior to your first advising appointment. • There are several quizzes throughout the tutorial that you must complete correctly in order to move on in the presentation.

3. Welcome to the College of General Studies New Student Tutorial • Pause the presentation by clicking the PAUSE button at the bottom of the presentation. • Use the arrows in the player below to go back to previous slides.

4. Purpose of the New Student Tutorial You will be expected to: • understand the degree requirements necessary for your Major/Program Plan. • login to PeopleSoft and search for appropriate and open courses. • use your Academic Advisement Report as a map for your degree progress and creation of your course schedule. • create a tentative course schedule.

5. Purpose of the New Student Tutorial You will also be expected to: • be actively engaged in seeking the academic and career information necessary to meet your educational goals. • access important dates, University e-mail and resources, and course information via my.pitt.edu. • become knowledgeable about University policies, procedures, and academic programs. • assume final responsibility for course scheduling, program planning, and graduation requirements.

6. Tutorial Overview • There are 8 sections of material to cover in this tutorial. • Section 1 • Your Welcome Folder • Section 2 • Distribution of Studies and • Transfer Credit Summary Report • Section 3 • Logging in to PeopleSoft • Section 4 • Accessing and Reviewing • the Academic Advisement Report

7. Tutorial Overview • There are 8 sections of material to cover in this tutorial. • Section 5 • General Education and Major Requirements • Section 6 • Searching for Courses and Creating a Schedule • Section 7 • Student Online Self-Enrollment • Section 8 • Meeting with your Advisor

8. Let’s get started!

9. Section 1: Your Welcome Folder

10. Section 1: Your Welcome Folder You should have received a packet of information from the College of General Studies after you were admitted that includes the following important documents: • To-Do List • College Student Inventory (CSI) Login Instructions • Transfer Credit Summary Report and Transfer Evaluation Guide • Your personalized Distribution of Studies and At-A-Glance • Advising Registration and Technology Guide • Enrollment Worksheet

11. Section 1: Your Welcome Folder You should have received a packet of information from the College of General Studies after you were admitted that includes the following important documents: • Registration Information • Student Online Self-Enrollment Information • Financial Aid Information • Paying your University of Pittsburgh Bills • PittPAY Checklist • Payment Plan

12. Section 1: Your Welcome Folder Make sure you go through your welcome packet and become familiar with all of its contents. The information it contains is essential to your success at the University of Pittsburgh. The following items are of particular importance.

13. Section 1: Your Welcome Folder This is an example of a Transfer Credit Summary Report. If you have credits from another school, you should have something like this in your welcome packet. The Transfer Evaluation Guide in your folder will help you to understand your Transfer Credit Summary Report.

14. This is an example of a Distribution of Studies. The At-A-Glance sheet in your folder provides detailed information on how to understand your Distribution of Studies. Your Distribution of Studies is a tool you will use to keep track of your progress while in the College of General Studies

15. Section 1: Your Welcome Folder • Attached to your Distribution of Studies sheet is your advisor’s business card. • After you have completed this tutorial, call the number on the card to make your first appointment to meet with your advisor. • You must also complete Nontraditional Student Survey at the end of this tutorial. • The College Student Inventory (CSI) is another survey that must be completed prior to your first advising appointment.

16. Section 1: Your Welcome Folder • Important Registration Information Sheet • This sheet provides important dates for you to know regarding registration, the last day to add or drop a class without a financial penalty, and the last day to withdraw from a course. • Add/Drop allows you to add or drop a course without financial penalty at the beginning of a term. Just remember to do it before it’s too late! • Withdrawing from a course will result in a ‘W’ on your transcript, and you will be held financially responsible. • Check your Registration Information sheet for specific dates regarding Registration, Add/Drop, and Withdrawal.

17. Section 1: Your Welcome Folder • Financial Aid sheet • This document provides information regarding your financial aid and what funds may be available for you. • Review this sheet for specific deadlines and application procedures. • Paying Your Bill sheet • All bills are electronic. Review this document to learn how to view and pay your bill.

18. Section 2: Your Transfer Credit Summary

19. Section 2: Your Transfer Credit Summary Report • Transfer Credit and Advanced Standing: • Your “Advanced Standing” is the list of courses on your Transfer Credit Summary Report which came in your welcome packet. • It is an evaluation of your transcript(s) from the school(s) you previously attended before coming to Pitt. • This evaluation indicates what courses will transfer to CGS. (This sheet is your Transfer Credit Summary Report, a.k.a “Advanced Standing”) • At CGS, up to 90 credits from a four-year institution, or up to 60 credits from a two-year institution (total may not exceed 90 credits) may be applied to your degree, either to fulfill general education requirements or electives. • The next page will discuss your Transfer Credit Summary Report in more detail.

20. Section 2: Your Transfer Credit Summary Report This is your old school. These are the courses you took at your old school. This is how many credits will transfer from your old school. These are the course equivalents at Pitt.

21. Section 2: Your Transfer Credit Summary Report • Quiz time! • On the next page, you will be asked a series of questions about the Transfer Credit Summary Report. • You will not be able to advance in the presentation unless you answer all of the questions correctly. • Now would be a good time to go back and look at that section one more time if you need to review. • Use the left/right arrow buttons below.

22. Section 2 Quiz P. 1: Your Transfer Credit Summary

23. Section 2: Your Distribution of Studies • Distribution of Studies • This document breaks your degree program into three sections: • General Education Requirements • Major Requirements • General Electives • It will tell you what requirements you still need to complete, and what has already been done. The next page will discuss the Distribution of Studies in more detail.

24. This is a Distribution of Studies for a Media and Professional Communications Major. Your name and PeopleSoft ID number are at the top. There are 5 columns: General Education Requirements are on the left side of the sheet. AS Earned: Your Transfer Credits Major requirements are in the upper right hand corner, and Earned to Date: Credits you’ve earned at Pitt General Electives can be found at the bottom right. To Be Earned: Credits you still need to complete Grade: What you earned in the course Q.P = Quality Points, or how much your grade is worth per number of credits. How many credits you have left to complete How many credits you’ve already completed including transfer credits Your GPA, or Grade Point Average (will be established once you complete a course at Pitt.) Total number of credits you need to graduate.

25. Section 2: Your Distribution of Studies • Quiz time! • On the next page, you will be asked a series of questions about the Distribution of Studies. • You will not be able to advance in the presentation unless you answer all of the questions correctly. • Now would be a good time to go back and look at that section one more time if you need to review. • Use the left/right arrow buttons below.

26. Section 2 Quiz P. 2: Distribution of Studies

27. Section 2: Your Transfer Credit Summary and Distribution of Studies • You can set aside these documents for now. We will be looking at them again later. • In the mean time, let’s move on to Section 3: Logging in to PeopleSoft. • Remember, you can pause the presentation if you need to, and then use the left/right arrow buttons below to go back to a previous page.

28. Section 3: Logging in to PeopleSoft

29. Section 3: Logging in to PeopleSoft • Your Username and Password: • You should have received a letter from the University of Pittsburgh’s Computer Services & Systems Development (CSSD.) • It will arrive separately from your welcome folder. • It contains information on how to change your password. • You must change your password the first time you log in and is the first item on your To-Do list.

30. Section 3: Logging in to PeopleSoft • The following screens will show you how to log in and navigate through PeopleSoft. • You will use PeopleSoft to search for classes, check your e-mail, and keep track of your degree program. • Open a Web browser to follow along on your computer.

31. Section 3: Logging in to PeopleSoft Step 1: Go to my.pitt.edu. It will bring you to this screen. Step 2: Type in Your Username and Password. Remember, it’s on the letter you got from the University Computing Center (CSSD). Don’t forget to change your password. (The directions are on the letter you got from CSSD.)

32. Click on the ‘Webmail’ tab to check your university e-mail. If you prefer to use a personal e-mail account, such Verizon, Comcast, or Yahoo, you should set up your webmail to forward all university e-mail to your personal account. Section 3: Logging in to PeopleSoft Click on the ‘Student Center Login’ link to access your Student Center. This will give you access to information regarding your degree program, course schedule, class search and much more. Or log in to CourseWeb. (Your instructor will let you know if you need to use CourseWeb.) From this screen you can also pay your bill,

33. Section 3: Logging in to PeopleSoft This screen will appear after you click the Student Center Link. Click on Self Service to access your Student Center

34. Section 3: Logging in to PeopleSoft Now, click on the ‘Student Center’ link.

35. Section 3: Logging in to PeopleSoft From here you will search for and enroll in classes in PeopleSoft. (We will learn about that a little bit later on.) • By clicking on ‘other academics’ • you can view many tools and features including: • your class schedule, • your degree progress, • your grades Enroll in classes by clicking on Enrollment Add, Enrollment Drop,or Enrollment Edit

36. Section 3: Logging in to PeopleSoft • Quiz time! • On the next page, you will be asked a series of questions about Logging in to PeopleSoft. • You will not be able to advance in the presentation unless you answer all of the questions correctly. • Now would be a good time to go back and look at that section one more time if you need to review. • Use the left/right arrow buttons below.

37. Section 3 Quiz: Logging in to PeopleSoft

38. Section 4:Accessing and Reviewing the Academic Advisement Report

39. Section 4: Your Academic Advisement Report • Your Academic Advisement Report is an unofficial record of: • the courses you have already taken, • courses that are currently in progress, • how those courses are being used to fulfill general education and major requirements, • and what requirements still need to be fulfilled. • It contains the same information as your Distribution of Studies, but can be accessed from any computer.

40. Section 4: Your Academic Advisement Report Again, this is your Student Center. To access and review your AAT, click on My Academics.

41. Section 4: Your Academic Advisement Report Click on View my advisement report

42. Section 4: Your Academic Advisement Report Hint: there aren’t any other choices. Click“go.” Choose “University of Pittsburgh”for Academic Institution and “ACADEMIC ADVISEMENT TRANSCRIPT”for Report Type from the dropdown menu.

43. Section 4: Your Academic Advisement Report This is the first part of a student’s Academic Advisement Report. This is where you’ll find what school you’re in at Pitt. If there is more than one listed, it’s the one with the most recent date. This is the current major/program plan.

44. Section 4: Reviewing Your Report If you scroll down, you will see a list of courses matching your Transfer Credit Summary Report. (Pause the presentation if you want to take a look at your transfer credit sheet and compare to yours.) Your previous school Total number of credits transferred:

45. Section 4: Reviewing Your Report • You may have noticed in the example on the previous page that some courses are denoted by “0000” just after the subject name. • 0000 means the transferred course is considered “non-equivalent.” • Credit is awarded for the course, but since Pitt doesn’t have an equivalent, then it might just be used to fulfill an elective. (Click the left arrow button to take another look at the previous page.)

46. Section 4: Reviewing Your Report • If you have a “non-equivalent” (0000) course that you think could be used to fulfill a general education requirement, talk to your advisor. • Look on your Distribution of Studies sheet. If the course is in the Electives section (bottom right corner), then it is being used as an elective. • Bring a syllabus and course description to your next advising appointment to help your advisor decide if the course can be used to fulfill a general education requirement.

47. Section 4: Reviewing Your Report This is a student’s Undergraduate Record. It is considered an unofficial transcript, and lists completed courses as well as courses that are currently in progress. Course Name TERM GPA is the number of Quality Points earned per term, divided by the number of credits attempted for that term. Quality Points (Or, how many points you get per credit -- an A in a 3 credit course is worth 12 quality points.) CUM GPA is the cumulative number of quality points divided by the total number of credits attempted.

48. Section 4: Reviewing Your Report • Scroll down further until you see “Academic Advisement Report.” • This will list all the requirements that still need to be satisfied according to your degree program. • Cross reference with your Distribution of Studies to make sure they match. (You can pause the presentation while you compare your Distribution to your Advisement Report.) • Because the Advisement Report is often updated manually, it may not always match. • For non-CGS majors, it will not match. • If necessary, consult with your advisor.

49. Section 4: Reviewing Your Report This student needs to complete a Literature course, a History course and two international perspective courses. *If you are not pursuing a CGS major, your AAT will not reflect the appropriate requirements. Use your Distribution of Studies and consult with your advisor. General Education requirementsare listed first, followed by the requirements for your major. Your AAT consists of both General Education requirements (like the ones you see here) and Major requirements (which we will see later). When the requirement is satisfied, the course will be listed with a grade and quality points, and the requirement will no longer be bolded.

50. Section 4: Reviewing Your Report • Quiz time! • On the next page, you will be asked a series of questions about Reviewing Your Academic Advisement Report. • You will not be able to advance in the presentation unless you answer all of the questions correctly. • Now would be a good time to go back and look at that section one more time if you need to review. • Use the left/right arrow buttons below.