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Academic Advising

Course Program of Study (CPOS) Advisor Outreach

To support students' progression towards their degree, academic advisors will receive cases for students who are not meeting Course Program of Study (CPoS) requirements for federal financial aid. Academic advisors have the ability to assist students with adjusting their course schedule to satisfy both CPoS and degree requirements.

Intended Outcomes:

The primary goal of this initiative is to ensure that students receiving federal financial aid are registered for courses that satisfy CPoS requirements for federal financial aid. CPoS requires that full-time, undergraduate students are enrolled in a minimum of 12 credit hours (minimum of 6 credit hours for part-time students) of required, degree-applicable coursework each semester in order to receive the full financial aid package. More information about CPoS is available here.

Students who are not meeting CPoS requirements will be notified by the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships and may require advisor assistance to identify the appropriate courses to take for CPoS and for their degree program at USC. This initiative will allow advisors to connect with students and ensure that they are registered for appropriate courses. Advisors have the contextual knowledge to guide students in selecting appropriate courses to satisfy CPoS requirements while aligning with their academic goals.

Timeline for Intervention:

Mid-July through the add/drop deadline

Intervention Process:

  1. The Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships (OFAS) identifies students who are not meeting CPoS requirements based on their current enrollment.
  2. OFAS sends a list of students currently not meeting CPoS requirements to the UAC who distributes the list to college advising contacts. If possible, these contacts complete an initial review and make exceptions in Degreeworks as needed to bring students in alignment with CPoS. Students whose records are corrected with exceptions are removed from the OFAS outreach list.
  3. OFAS notifies students of CPoS requirements and encourages them to liaise with their academic advisor to adjust their schedule.
  4. OFAS sends the UAC a list of students who were contacted for not meeting CPoS requirements.
  5. The UAC opens cases for these students in EAB Navigate. Cases are automatically assigned to the student’s assigned academic advisor.
  6. Advisors review the cases assigned to them and identify what schedule changes a student needs to make to meet CPoS requirements. If Degreeworks exceptions are necessary, academic advisors will ensure these are completed. 
  7. Advisors reach out to their students using a variety of methods (email, text message, phone call, etc.) to assist the student with making any necessary adjustments to their schedule for CPoS.
    • This may require re-advisement of courses. All re-advisement is noted in Degreeworks.
    • Advisors will also respond to any student outreach on this topic and assist students with modifying their current schedule to meet CPoS requirements.
  8. Advisors document outreach in EAB and close the case with the appropriate case close reason (see below).

Collaboration with the Office of Financial Aid:

What Financial Aid can do

What advisors can do
  • Run the CPoS process in Banner to audit student registrations 
  • Alert students if they are not meeting CPoS requirements
  • Provide list of contacted students to UAC
  • Advise towards courses that are degree-applicable and count towards CPoS requirements 
  • Assist students with registration needs/requests

What Financial Aid cannot do

What advisors cannot do
  • Advise towards degree-applicable courses
  • Directly alter a student’s schedule
  • Provide financial aid counseling

How to access student CPoS information

Students’ CPoS evaluations are available in Banner for advisors to view. Follow the steps below to view your students’ CPoS evaluations.

  1. Log in to Self-Service Carolina (my.sc.edu).
  2. Under the “Faculty and Advisors tab”, scroll down to the “Advisors” section and open the “Advisee Search” menu.
  3. Click on “Course Program of Study (CPoS) Evaluation”.
  4. Select the upcoming term.
  5. Enter the student’s USC ID. Click “Find”.
  6. This will open the student’s CPoS Evaluation. This page will show you the courses the student is registered for and whether they count towards CPoS requirements.  

FINANCIAL AID EMAIL NOTICE TO STUDENTS ON CPoS  

Dear <Student name>, 

Federal student financial aid can only be used to pay for courses that are applicable to a student's degree. To ensure degree-applicability of enrolled coursework, students who receive federal student financial aid are subject to an ongoing evaluation process called Course Program of Study, or CPoS. Your CPoS evaluation for the upcoming semester indicates that you may not be enrolled in enough degree-applicable credits, which may result in an adjustment to your federal student financial aid.   This evaluation does not affect any state or University scholarships/grants you may be receiving. 

Click here to learn more about CPoS:                           https://sc.edu/about/offices_and_divisions/advising/advisor_toolbox/advising_technology/degreeworks/cpos_info/index.php 

Full-time, undergraduate students must be enrolled in a minimum of 12 credit hours of required coursework for their program of study each semester to remain eligible for and receive full federal student financial aid. If you are enrolled in less than 12 credit hours of required coursework for your program of study, your federal student financial aid may be prorated and/or cancelled as required by federal regulations. As long as you are enrolled in at least 12 credit hours that count toward your program of study, you will receive your federal student financial aid. If you are enrolled in a course that doesn’t count toward your program of study beyond the 12 credit hours needed (i.e. a course that will take you to 15 credit hours), then you will still receive your federal student financial aid. 

Please visit https://ssb.onecarolina.sc.edu/ to view the results of the CPoS evaluation. Once you have signed into SSC: 

  • Select "Student."
  • Select "Advisement Planning."
  • Select "Course Program of Study (CPoS Evaluation)".
  • Select the term and review the course or courses that may not count toward your degree. 

For questions about your course or courses that may not count toward your degree, contact your academic advisor. 

For questions about how this CPoS evaluation may affect your federal student financial aid, contact the Office of Student Financial Aid and Scholarships at 803-777-8134 or by email at uscfaid@sc.edu. 

Office of Student Financial Aid and Scholarships 

*Advisors should customize this language and send individual emails to each student.

Hi [student name],

I have received notification from the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships that you are not enrolled in enough credit hours and/or the correct courses to meet your requirements for federal financial aid. I am reaching out to help you adjust your schedule to meet these requirements.

To receive federal financial aid as a full-time undergraduate student, you must be enrolled in at least 12 credit hours of degree-applicable courses (courses that count towards your degree requirements). I have reviewed your schedule and noticed that [include information about the issue- i.e. student is not enrolled in enough credit hours, students is registered for a course that is not degree-applicable, etc.].

To meet your requirements for financial aid, I recommend that you [include information about the proposed solution- i.e. adding a specific course, changing a certain class, etc.].

Please reach out to me so that I can help you adjust your schedule and register for degree-applicable courses. You may also wish to reach out to the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships at 803-777-8134 or uscfaid@sc.edu.

Best,

[your name]

Cases should be closed once outreach has been completed or at the designated end date of the initiative, whichever comes first. Advisors will use the following case close reasons and will select the reason that matches the outcome of their outreach/contact with the student. Please include comments regarding the outreach process and the student’s response/plan.

  • Select "Connected with Student- Concern Addressed" if communication was established with the student and the concern was addressed. This may include a course of action plan and does not necessarily mean that the situation is completely resolved.
  • Select "Connected with Student- No Plan of Action" if you made successful contact with the student but no plan of action was made. This may include students who decline assistance.
  • Select "Student Unresponsive to Multiple Approaches" if you were unable to make contact with the student.
  • Select “Administrative Close” if the alert seems to be erroneous (for example, student has already adjusted their schedule).

When discussing course options with students for the purpose of meeting CPoS requirements, consider the following factors:

  • Course relevance to the student’s academic program
    • CPoS requires that full-time undergraduate students take a minimum of 12 credit hours of degree-applicable courses each semester. Credits 13 and beyond do not have to be degree-applicable.
  • Course availability and schedule
  • Balance of course load

For more information on CPoS, review the Course Program of Study (CPoS) Information website. 

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