September 6, 2005



TO: All Seniors

FROM: Aaron Schneider, Senior Associate Dean of Studies and Senior Class Dean

SUBJECT: Degree Requirements, Major Advising, Program Filing

Welcome back. I hope you’ve had a good summer. Please try to make it to one of the two meetings I’ve scheduled for seniors, which will be held on Friday, September 9, from noon to 1:00 p.m., and Monday, September 12, from 4 to 5 p.m. (Both meetings will take place in 202 Altschul -- Lehman Auditorium.) At the meetings, representatives of various campus offices will introduce themselves and talk about the work they do with seniors. We will spend some significant time on academic advising matters, and there’ll be plenty of time for questions, but, nevertheless, there are a few especially important issues I’d like to go over here.

While it’s certainly the case that students and advisers can work together successfully in a variety of different ways, I hope we can all agree on a few points.

**Meet with your major adviser. It’s especially important for seniors (and all other students, for that matter) to keep in mind that the process of selecting courses and filing one’s program necessarily involves at least one in-person meeting with one’s adviser. Adviser Online is a wonderful thing—but (sometimes painful) experience has shown that nothing can or should take the place of a real, live discussion between a student and her adviser. Some productive discussion of one’s program can of course occur via e-mail, but do not let such exchanges take the place of a thorough, in-person conversation. One of Barnard’s most distinctive qualities is the willingness—indeed, eagerness—of its faculty members to work closely with students. One of the many ways in which you can take advantage of that opportunity is by visiting your adviser to discuss your academic progress, goals, and program for the coming semester.

**Don’t wait until the last minute to see your adviser. While advisers are encouraged to hold office hours shortly before program-filing deadlines, the only way to make sure you’ll be able to get in to see your adviser is to check her or his office hours well in advance of the deadline. It’s not a good idea to wait until the day of or the day before the deadline, and then just drop in and hope your adviser is available. It’s your responsibility to ensure that you’re able to see your adviser in person.

**Changing advisers: Departments are strongly encouraged to inform students when major advisers go on leave. Departments have varying practices when it comes to reassigning the advisees of faculty members who have gone on leave or left the college for other reasons. Some take the initiative and do the reassigning; others require students to find new advisers themselves. In any event, if your adviser has left the College, try to get squared away with a new adviser right away. And be sure that the change gets reported to the Registrar’s Office by your department, promptly and in writing. (Or, if you wish, you can simply file a new, signed major declaration form, listing your new adviser.) It can be quite distracting and unhelpful to have to spend most of the program-filing period looking for a new adviser. If you encounter any difficulty getting assigned to a new adviser, let me know.

**Resolve transfer credit and audit issues. It’s crucial that you take care of all transfer credit (summer, study abroad, e.g.) and audit questions before filing your final programs. To put that another way, it is not—ever—a good idea to file your last, or even next to last, program with the idea that it, along with some prospective transfer credit and/or audit revisions that have yet to be finalized, will graduate you. It’s always dangerous, especially in the senior year, to assume that certain courses will eventually get approved for the general education requirements. The approval process is, necessarily, not always quick, or easy to predict. In general, your safest bet, by far, is to take courses that have already been approved for the requirements. (A very helpful listing of such courses can be found on the Registrar’s web page.)

**Review your audit. When you sit down to meet with your adviser, it’s important that you go over your proposed courses not only with reference to your major requirements, but also in the context of all other graduation requirements. That is, it is crucial that you and your adviser make sure that successful completion of your fall and spring programs will indeed enable you to graduate. As questions arise, you and/or your adviser are welcome to contact me. For a summary of the general education and major requirements, you may of course wish to read over the relevant pages in the catalogue. (The general education requirements can be found on pages 31-40 of the 2005-2006 catalogue.)

**A few other words of caution:
• If you’ve taken a number of studio arts courses over the course of your Barnard career, make sure that you’ve stayed within the limit. (See catalogue, page 39.)
• If you’re using psychology for the laboratory science requirement, be sure you’ve taken, or will take, lab courses from two different categories. (See catalogue, page 35 and page 341.)
• If you’re doing a double major with one, integrating senior project, don’t sign up for the thesis sequence in both departments. (See catalogue, page 38.)
• If you’re doing a special or combined major, keep in mind that all changes to your major as it was originally approved must be approved by the Committee on Programs and Academic Standing.
• If you earn a “D” in a course you need for the major, and thus need to repeat the course, please note that you won’t receive credit (i.e., “points”) for the course the second time you take it.

I don’t wish to alarm anyone unnecessarily. Most students don’t encounter difficulties; however, when problems do arise, it’s important that we catch them as soon as possible, to increase the chances that you’ll be able to take remedial action in time for graduation. And I also feel that it’s important to define clearly your program-filing responsibilities and the role that your adviser will play in the process. Understanding these responsibilities clearly, fully, and early on, is, certainly, the best way to ensure that problems don’t come up at all. If you have any questions about these or any other issues related to your degree requirements, please don’t hesitate to see me. I’m in 105 Milbank, and our receptionist (854-2024) will always have my office hours.

I’ll look forward to speaking with you over the course of the coming year about any aspect of your life here at Barnard, in particular: your interest in grad school; fellowship opportunities; post-baccalaureate study; Commencement; and, of course, any issues, questions, or problems that come up regarding your program, courses, and/or degree requirements. If you come in to see me about something that’s on your mind, and it turns out that I’m not the person with whom you should be speaking, the chances are quite good that I’ll be able to point you in the direction of the person who can help you.

Also, I’ll be in touch in the weeks ahead about our annual grad school panel discussion, and about my proposal and personal statement workshop. If you’re thinking of applying to grad school, and/or for fellowships, please drop by the Dean of Studies Office and pick up copies of two relevant booklets: “Selected Fellowships and Scholarships” and “Thinking About graduate school in the arts and sciences?”

Best wishes for an exciting, successful, and rewarding year. I very much look forward to working with you.



cc: major advisers