Advisement Information for Advisors
Minor and Cognates
Please note to your students that they must have a minor or cognate to graduate. If they are pursuing a
double major, a minor or cognate is not necessary. If they are pursuing a double degree,
the student will need to choose a minor or cognate to graduate. The difference between a double major and double
degree follows: it is a double major if the students' other course of study is a major within the College of Arts and Sciences,
such as English. A double degree is when a student takes a second major outside of the College of Arts and Sciences, such as
Business. Students must earn a "C" or better for a class to count towards a minor or cognate. Note that pre-med, pre-law and pre-pharmacy
cannot be minors. They can qualify as cognates but classes must be taken at the appropriate level.
- Notes on Cognates
Please note to your students who choose the cognate option that most areas of study require them to take courses at the 300-level.
For example, if a student wants to pursue an "education cognate", all their courses should start at the 300-level and higher.
There are exceptions to this rule such as philosophy cognates which can begin at the 200-level. The exceptions can be found in the student handbook.
- Minor Bulletin
Encourage your students to choose a minor as soon as possible. Some minors require classes which are only offered in certain semesters or require prerequisites.
The current minor bulletin can be found at:
http://bulletin.sc.edu/
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Grade Forgiveness Policy, university-wide
It is the policy of the University of South Carolina that every currently enrolled fully-admitted, degree-seeking undergraduate earning
a "D+," "D," "F," or "WF" in a USC course may take up to two (2) undergraduate courses for a second time for the purpose of grade forgiveness.
Both the first and second grades shall appear on the USC permanent record, but only the second grade will be used in computing the University of South Carolina
cumulative grade point average. An explanatory notice will appear on the record. Once grade forgiveness is applied to a repeated course, the action may not be
revoked.
Eligible students wishing to apply the course grade forgiveness policy to a course enrollment may do so at any time during his/her undergraduate enrollment,
but no applications will be honored after the degree is awarded. Grade forgiveness can only be applied once per course for a maximum of two courses (not to exceed 8 credits)
on a student's undergraduate academic record, without regard to the number of degrees sought. Under the grade forgiveness policy, the forgiven and repeated class must both be taken
at the same USC campus. Courses transferred from other institutions are excluded from this policy.
This policy does not preclude students from repeating classes multiple times, in accordance with program requirements, but only the second attempt at the class may forgive the original grade
of D+, D, F, or WF. Only a regular letter grade can replace a forgiven grade. Grades of "W," "I," "S," "U," or "AUDIT" may not replace previous grades. Grades carrying an honor code violation
sanction of "X" are not eligible for grade forgiveness.
Established requirements for repeating classes, admission to, or progression in, specific academic programs of the University take precedence over the grade forgiveness policy. Program or
progression grade point averages are not affected by this policy. Refer to the guidelines for each program for specific requirements. Courses intended to be repeated for additional credit,
such as research or applied music, are not eligible for grade forgiveness. Semester honors (dean's or president's honor list), academic standing (scholastic deficiency, probation, suspension),
or previous grade point totals will not change retroactively as a result of applying this policy.
Students who have been granted Academic Forgiveness to reset the grade point average after readmission are not eligible for course grade forgiveness.
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Grade Forgiveness Policy, departmental
The grade forgiveness cannot be used to replace a grade of D+, D, F, or WF acquired during a student's second
attempt at PSYC 226, 227, or 228. If a student takes one of these classes a second time without receiving a C or higher
they will be removed from the major, per established departmental policy.
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Senior Checks
Students are advised to get a senior check done for them the semester before the semester they plan to graduate
(so if they are graduating in May of any given year, they should do their senior check in the previous fall semester).
This way, the undergraduate office in combination with the Dean's office can catch any errors in the student's file or
warn them of classes they need to finish in order to graduate. Waiting until the semester of graduation poses a risk of
not being able to sign up for a class that might be needed for graduation.
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Study Abroad
Students should discuss their plans for study abroad with their advisors. However, it is necessary that they see me as well
before implementing their study abroad ideas.
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New and Notable for 2009
I. General Notes
A. The dean’s office now wants students to have a senior check once they reach 90 hours.
B. The dean’s office is has moved to Flinn Hall.
C. Handbooks have been updated to reflect new requirements for the PSYC BS degree and the new PSYC core curriculum.
1. For advising purposes you probably will not see any students on the new PSYC core curriculum this semester. All old students have been grandfathered on the old core. In the future, if a student is on the new core, their folder will reflect this, so no work or guessing on your part is needed!
2. For the BS students, the new requirement of having to take an advanced PSYC lab (570-572, 574-575, or 598) only applies if they started the Fall 2009 semester with less than 90 hours. If the student had 90 or more hours at the beginning of this semester they are exempt from this requirement.
D. Because of the new BS requirements you should be asking your advisees what degree they will be working towards and remind them of the different requirements for BA versus BS.
E. There is now an undergraduate degree in Social Work.
F. Don’t forget about our new GSA. Laura Baucom is available for students to ask questions about graduate school. She has a web page at the following link. It can be found on the “Undergraduate Student Services” page under “Graduate School Advisor”. http://www.psych.sc.edu/psycugrad/gsa.html
II. Cultural Awareness Changes
1. The required N. American History classes (HIST 111 and 112) now count for N. American Cultural Awareness (Culture B). This is retroactive.
2. Other Culture changes. All also retroactive.
HIST 101 now counts for Latin Foreign Language Culture.
HIST 102 now counts for French, German, and Russian Foreign Language Culture.
HIST 108 now counts for Greek, German, and Latin Foreign Language Culture.
III. Laboratory Science Additions
1. ANTH 161 now counts as a laboratory science for BA. Does not count for BS! (On a side note, GEOG 201 and 202 also do not count towards the BS.)
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