The RAC (Registrar Advisory Committee) met for the first time a few weeks ago!!!
“Who gives a hoot?” you may say…

Well, in fact, YOU DO! This year we are discussing important issues that will affect each student’s everyday life, such as E-Portfolio, Pre-Registration, and Drop/Add policy.

We want to know how the students feel about all of these issues, and any others regarding course selection, classes, registration, etc.

Best part is…YOU NOW HAVE A WAY TO GET YOUR VOICE HEARD on these important academic issues.

Just email your questions, comments, concerns, or greatest wishes to:

ACAD@WESLEYAN.EDU

Faithfully yours,

The AAC (Academic Affairs Committee)

I’m Jeff Stein ‘10, Chair of the Academic Affairs Committee.

Academic life is central to, if not the primary focus of, Student life at Wesleyan. It is therefore, with great pleasure that I announce a semester long drive to increase the student voice in academic issues on campus.

We are going to have an exciting year visiting the prospect of new academic programs, as noted in President Roth’s 2020 document, looking into First Year Initiatives, and working to make changes to E-Portfolio and registration.

Additionally, we would like to respond to the challenge of an economic climate that demands cost-cutting by the university. To do this we will be presenting the administration with our academic priorities. No cut is off the table and to be protected we need to express our interests in a unified voice. As the faculty, staff and administration, consider their own priorities, I urge you to take into account what you feel ought be prioritized as Wesleyan deals with the crisis. Do you think that class size, departmental diversity, tenured faculty, technical support or library funding is most important to your Wesleyan education. What MUST be kept. What CAN be cut?
The best chance for student interests to be respected in a period of cost cutting and reorganization is for students to voice their concerns directly and succinctly to the administration.

It is with this in mind that I ask for you opinions. This is the first of many blog posts and forums to come, discussing how we define our Academic priorities and what we are doing to best serve student interests at Wesleyan.

EMAIL YOUR THOUGHTS ON ACADEMIC PRIORITIES TO JSTEIN02@WESLEYAN.EDU

-Jeff Stein ‘10,

Chair of Academic Affairs Committee

Before you find yourself overwhelmed by registration, add-drop, and getting into the academic grind, take some time to get to know the registration/add-drop process and familiarize yourself with some of the terms and processes you’ll likely encounter during your first weeks at Wes.

Registration & Drop-Add:

• Drop/Add Period begins on September 8 at 8:30 a.m. and ends on September 21 at 11:59 p.m.

• Don’t worry if you don’t have 4 classes going in to Add-Drop. The important thing to understand is that this is all a process, and you are free, up until the end of add-drop, to change your schedule. It never hurts to visit classes you might be interested in even if you are not registered for them, or already have a full schedule. Use Add-Drop to consider your options.

• Email professors. The best way to get into classes is to keep communicating with your prospective professors and faculty adviser. If you are enrolled in a class, and want to try out another class which is taught at the same time, email the professor of the class you are enrolled in to see if you are able to miss the first class for add-drop. Similarly, email the professor of the class you want to get into and ask what the chances are of getting if. If you are really interested in a class BE PERSISTENT (respectfully). Even if you don’t get into a class this semester, if you start communicating with the professor early on you have a better case for getting in the next time it’s taught.

• Have a plan. You don’t need to know what you want to major in, or if you want to complete your Gen-Eds, but try to know what your future options are and start considering what you need to do to keep certain future options open. (i.e. If you are interested in being a College of Social Studies major, it is recommended to have taken ECON 110, or ECON 101 and another economics class before the Sophomore year.) Explore your options, but know what’s needed to be a major in different departments.

General Education Expectations (Gen-Eds):

• Encouraged but not required. “A student who does not meet these expectations by the time of graduation will not be eligible for University honors, Phi Beta Kappa, honors in general scholarship, or for honors in certain departments.” (From The Academic Regulations for Students Entering Wesleyan). Much like FYI’s, fulfilling your General Education Expectations is strongly encouraged but not required.

• Some majors do require them! While you do not have to fulfill your Gen-Eds, it is useful to know which majors require  them so that, if you do plan on majoring in a department that requires them, you can start planning early on and keep your options open.

Academic Resources:

• Your Faculty Advisor. They will be more than happy to consult with you about your academic life here and have great knowledge about the institution, even if they do not teach in an area of interest to you.

• Peer advisors. They know the deal.

• You class dean. Dean Brown is the dean for the class of 2013. She has drop in hours Mon-Fri (times available on the Class of 2013 blog) and is a great resource for questions, advice and concerns about all things Wes.

• RateMyProfessors.com. This site is not the best way to choose classes. It is often WAY WAY WAY out of date and the student reviews of professors are not always reliable. However, it never hurts to do research about a class or professor and some of the advice can be tremendously helpful and descriptive.

• Academic Regulations. READ IT! It’s brief and informative. Plus its available online for no charge.

• The WSA! Feel free to contact me, Jeff Stein (jstein02@wesleyan.edu), the Chair of the Academic Affairs Committee of the WSA with any questions and concerns.