Making it as an Undergraduate
Many college students are faced with new challenges when they enter college and are living away from home for the first time. It is therefore a good idea to provide tips which will enable them to identify these and more competently deal with them. For, in many cases there are ways of anticipating and countering these difficulties. I have served in higher education for over 30 years at SUNY - Oswego , University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, and Norfolk State University - Va. During this time, I taught, advised, chaired a department, and ran a graduate program. With this background, I have a variety of experiences with students and advised them to do the following:
1) Make sure that you are assigned to an adviser. Ask questions and always consult with him before choosing your courses, for you want to graduate on time and do not wish any surprises. With this in mind, have him sign off on what was discussed and agreed upon.
2) Be sure you examine the curriculum. Understand what your pre -requisites are and find out from your adviser if down the road you can make substitutions.
3) Be clear about your major. For some students, this may not be easy. You may have to take a number of required courses before you are able to make a declaration. It is okay to be "undeclared" before deciding.
4) Know how many hours you have to earn to graduate with those that have to be in your major. Your courses will be from: Arts & Letters, Foreign Languages, Social Sciences, Science and Technology.
5) Have a handle on your social life. Some students after they leave home are unable to cope with their new-found freedom.
6) Join a club or clubs on campus. A student can become involved in student government, debating, and campus ministry, just to mention a few.
7) There are many opportunities to participate in a variety of sports, e.g., football, baseball, basket ball, tennis, athletics, and archery.
8) It is essential that you are courteous and polite to your instructors. If you have to miss a class, it should be your responsibility to let your instructor know beforehand.
9) If you come to class when it is in session, it is your responsibility to explain the reason for your tardiness.
10) These policies and those of your school are found in the student handbook and/or course outline.
11) If there is a problem with some aspect of a course or its outline which is not clearly explained you have the responsibility to have this clarified by seeking such explanation from your professor.
12) With a problem that you do not feel is satisfactorily resolved, it is the student's responsibility to go up the chain of command until the matter is resolved - the professor, chair, dean, vice-president of academic affairs, and ultimately the president. Hopefully, your matter will be resolved before it reaches the president of your institution.
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The above guidelines are general. Each institution sets its own policies. For example, in 1968, when I was a student at the University of Oregon in Eugene, my professors with large classes of psychology and survey of visual arts with over 800 students in each lecture, never took roll. But while a professor at Norfolk State, it was required that we take roll. If a student was to receive a certain number of misses, regardless of how he does on his tests, the professor can fail that student.
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