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Advising and Registration

Fall 2024 Advising Guide

PREPARING FOR REGISTRATION

 

Academic Advisement

Your academic advisor plays an important role in designing and realizing an enriching college experience that will prepare you for life’s opportunities and challenges. From experience and training, faculty members know of the best learning opportunities on- and off-campus, how to combine The College’s signature experiences into your program of study, and various rules and procedures of The College. Please meet with your assigned advisor roughly once a semester to discuss these issues.

If you are unsure who your advisor is, please open your student account in PAWS and check the right-hand column under ADVISOR. If you have not been assigned an International Studies faculty advisor, please contact Dr. Zakiya Adair.

 

Preparing for an advising session

Prior to meeting with your assigned advisor:

Consider asking your advisor about issues beyond the semester, such as study abroad or plans after graduation. For guidance on how to prepare better for your advisement session and plan your academic career, see the “Advising” links on the School of Humanities & Social Sciences website.

When you place courses in your PAWS shopping cart, be sure to hit the “validate” button to make sure you have met all prerequisites. Plan alternatives for major courses, liberal learning courses, and electives so that you can register quickly. This is particularly true if you are a first or second-year student and competing over the last seats in such courses. If a course is full, add your name to the department’s waitlist. 

 

If you are thinking about adding a concentration, double major, or a minor, please run a “What If” report in PAWS. The report will show your academic requirements as if you formally added the concentration/major/minor. It is a very useful tool! Click here for instructions on printing your unofficial transcript and Academic Requirements Report.

 

Holds on your account

Please check and clear all holds on PAWS well in advance of your registration window. Holds will keep you from registering for next semester’s courses! There are several different types of holds and some might require time to clear. Your advisor can only lift advising holds, and they can only lift an advising hold after you have attended an advising meeting.

 

Transfer credit

Make sure any and all transfer and test credit is on your PAWS unofficial transcript or transfer credit pages, as this will affect your registration window, course selection, and the advice that you receive for academic planning. Do not miss your first available registration appointment window on PAWS, as you may be closed out of your preferred courses.

 

Add/Drop deadline

Remember that the Add/Drop deadline comes quickly in the semester. After the deadline has passed, you can withdraw from a course but your transcript will show a grade of “W,” or a “WF” if you withdraw later in the semester. Even though you have withdrawn from a class, the unit still counts in your load for the semester. For more information on registration deadlines, see the Academic Calendar. Information on all TCNJ policies can be found in the “Policy Manual” on the Records and Registration website.

 

Overload requests

Humanities and Social Sciences Course Overload

Students who have earned 8 units at the college and maintain a 3.3 cumulative TCNJ GPA may request an overload for a maximum of 5 course units in any one semester. There is no maximum limit to the number of overload semesters. Common reasons for applying for an overload are needing to fulfill major or minor requirements, wanting to take a course that is not offered regularly, to take an intensive-language, or to complete an independent course (study, research, thesis, or internship).

First-year students, with less than 8 TCNJ earned units, may apply for an overload to take an intensive language after they have a TCNJ GPA. We do not approve overloads for the Winter Term or Summer Session I because there are not enough hours in 3 weeks to meet the contact-hour requirement for more than 1 course. Classes taken at a community college or another college/university count toward these limits and so you need to be sure that you are staying within the course unit limit when you combine the courses that you are taking across institutionsFor example, you could not take 4 units at TCNJ and 1.5 units at a Community College in the same semester.

You do not need any approval to take 4.5 units. If you are interested in taking 4.75 or 5 units, you should complete the Overload Interest Form.  Completing the form will automatically generate an email that will be sent to Dr. Adair, Program Director, who will reach out to you for advising. The Program Director will communicate directly with the Dean’s office who will correspond with you about your overload request.

NOTE: If you are applying for Independent Study/Research or Internship and need a course overload, you should submit your Overload interest form first, as you will need to upload the email from the Assistant Dean, stating that the overload has been entered into PAWS, into the independent course application systems.

 

A Note about Business Courses

Please take your upper-level economics/international business course in the semester immediately after you take ECO 102/Macroeconomics. Since better mathematical skills improve student performance in economics courses, ECO 102 requires one of the following as a prerequisite: MAT 95, 96, 125, 127 or 128.

 

Languages across the curriculum

Many courses in the International Studies major and specializations can be complemented with Languages Across the Curriculum credit. This is a one-quarter unit independent study whereby those students who have intermediate-level proficiency in another language complement work in a course by utilizing their language skills. Students must enroll before the add/ drop deadline. Please visit the LAC website or contact lac@tcnj.edu for more information.

 

Course Repeat Policy

Students are allowed by TCNJ policy to retake a course once without additional approval. If an INT major fails either INT 200 or INT 498 (or fails to meet the INT 200 minimum grade threshold) for the second time, the Program Director will send a letter by mail and by email to the student explaining the procedure to take the course for a third time. The student must write a letter, to be submitted to the Director by e-mail no later than three weeks before the beginning of the semester in which the student wishes to retake the course, which includes the following information. First, the letter must provide an explanation for why the student was not successful in her or his previous two attempts to pass the course. Second, the letter should show why the student believes she or he will be successful if allowed to retake the course a third time. Finally, the letter should include a detailed action plan the student will implement to avoid previous problems and increase chances for successfully completing the course. The student’s letter should be submitted along with the “Repeat of Course Authorization Form” to the Program Chair for consideration.

Please click here for the full course repeat policy and procedures.

 

Honors in International Studies

 

Advising Materials

International Studies Academic Bulletins

Requirements for the Major

Four Year Sequence Samples 

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