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My Arts and Sciences

Advising Processes

Having a great experience in college begins with planning – our professional, academic, and faculty advisors are here to help you create that plan.  Below you can find information on all things Academic Advising.  If you have any questions, email us at CASundergrad@mailbox.sc.edu or call our office at 803-777-2993. 

Advising Overview

In the College of Arts and Sciences, all first-year students are advised by professional staff Academic Advisors.  After your first year, you’ll be assigned to an advisor within your major – either a faculty advisor, student services advisor, or continue with a professional staff Academic Advisor. You can always find the name of your advisor through Self-Service Carolina.

Whether you are a new or returning student, you will have the best advising experience when you arrive to your advising appointment prepared! Be sure to have questions and talking points in mind so that you can make the most of your time with your advisor. Make sure to check out the Pre-Advisement Checklist to look at the five recommended steps for preparing for your Academic Advising Appointment! 

  • Review Pre-Advisement Checklist 
  • Find out who your advisor is by logging into Self-Service Carolina, click on “Student Information” and look for “Primary Advisor.”  
  • All freshmen have professional staff Academic Advisors who use EAB Navigate to schedule appointments, send you messages and make advising notes. 
  • As you transition into your sophomore year, in most programs, you’ll be assigned a new advisor in your academic program. Always check Self-Service Carolina to find out who your advisor is. These advisors will either be a Faculty Advisor, Department Advisor, or professional Academic Advisor. 

Registering for classes is an online process you complete through Self Service Carolina (my.sc.edu). Review these Registration Checklists from the Registrar’s Office to help navigate through the process. 

Major Program Cards
The semester before you plan to graduate, or once you’ve completed 90 hours, you should meet with your academic advisor who will complete a Major Program Card (MPC). This is a list of major courses that you have completed and those you still need to complete. Either you or your advisor will upload a copy of your MPC to the Office of Undergraduate Studies Forms System (go.sc.edu/CASforms) and will upload a copy into EAB Navigate. 

Senior Checks
The semester before you plan to graduate, or once you’ve completed 90 credit hours and are in your last year of academic study, you’ll need to request a Senior Check appointment with a Dean’s Advisor from the Office of Undergraduate Studies (Flinn Hall). To request a Senior Check, either you or your advisor will upload your Major Program Card to the College of Arts and Sciences Forms System.  This is meant to provide you a list of courses that you still need to complete. A Senior Check is a review of your transcript, your degree programs course requirements, and your Major Program Card. Advisors will check what courses you still have left to take in order to earn your degree diploma. If you make any changes to what courses your advisors indicate you need to take, you may not graduate in the semester you have planned.  

Registration Problems 

If you experience any problems when registering for classes, we recommend checking for holds – if you do, then resolve these to have the hold lifted. For a complete list of registration holds and how to fix them, see below: 

Needs to be lifted by an advisor during/after an academic advising appointment.

In the College of Arts and Sciences, all first-year students are advised by professional staff Academic Advisors.  After your first year, you’ll be assigned to an advisor within your major – either a faculty advisor, student services advisor, or continue with a professional staff Academic Advisor. You can always find the name of your advisor through Self-Service Carolina. 

All students must maintain a cumulative University of South Carolina GPA of at least 2.00 to remain in good academic standing. Many academic majors have higher GPA requirements to continue in their degree programs. You should become familiar with the academic requirements necessary to progress within your major.  

Read Academic Probation and Suspension processes to find out what to do if you find yourself on probation and face suspension. 

If you do find yourself on Academic Suspension, or if you need a Hardship Withdrawal, you will need to complete a Petitions form, obtain all required signatures, and then submit it for review to the College of Arts and Sciences Forms System.  Once it is received, the Scholastic Standards and Petitions Committee of the College of Arts and Sciences will review your request and make a recommendation to the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies. 

In the College of Arts and Sciences, all first-year students are advised by professional staff Academic Advisors.  After your first year, you’ll be assigned to an advisor within your major – either a faculty advisor, student services advisor, or continue with a professional staff Academic Advisor. You can always find the name of your advisor through Self-Service Carolina. 

All students must maintain a cumulative University of South Carolina GPA of at least 2.00 to remain in good academic standing. Many academic majors have higher GPA requirements to continue in their degree programs. You should become familiar with the academic requirements necessary to progress within your major.  

Read Academic Probation and Suspension processes to find out what to do if you find yourself on probation and face suspension. 

If you do find yourself on Academic Suspension, or if you need a Hardship Withdrawal, you will need to complete a Petitions form, obtain all required signatures, and then submit it for review to the College of Arts and Sciences Forms System.  Once it is received, the Scholastic Standards and Petitions Committee of the College of Arts and Sciences will review your request and make a recommendation to the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies. 

Review Withdrawal processes through the University Registrar’s website.

Hardship Withdrawals may be available through Student Affairs and Academic Support if a mental health, medical, or personal crisis prevented academic success during a past semester or the Withdrawal Fail (WF) period of a current semester, students may be interested in petitioning for hardship withdrawal.

First-year undergraduate students on academic probation after their first semester must complete an academic coaching session. Student needs to schedule and attend an Academic Coaching session in the University Advising Center.

Failure to pay outstanding charges by deadlines (parking, tuition, fees, etc.) may result in a financial hold on the student’s record. A financial hold may prohibit students from future registration, receiving transcripts, or receiving a diploma. Students should contact the Bursar's Office with questions about their balance.

There are two types of conduct holds: Failure to attend a scheduled meeting with conduct administrator/hearing officer or failure to complete the sanctions assigned to the student. In order to have the hold lifted, student needs to attend conduct meeting and complete sanctions. Contact Student Conduct and Academic Integrity for information.

Students who have taken coursework at another institution before beginning or while enrolled at USC must submit an official transcript. If USC does not receive an official transcript, a transcript hold will be placed. To have the hold lifted, students need to have transcripts sent to the Office of the University Registrar.

Questions form: https://sc.edu/about/offices_and_divisions/registrar/toolbox/contact.php

Students must verify U.S. citizenship by completing and submitting the Citizenship Verification Form to the University Registrar’s office. To have the hold lifted, students need to complete Citizenship Verification Form and submit to the University Registrar.

Non-US citizens at the Columbia campus, contact International Student Services at iss@sc.edu or 803-777-7461

Immunization requirements must be met and the form on file at Student Student Health and Well-Being before a student can register for classes, move into a residence hall, or attend classes. To have the hold lifted, students need to submit immunization record to Student Student Health and Well-Being. Contact Student Student Health and Well-Being for information.

Students need to complete AlcoholEdu and SAPU. Contact Substance Abuse Prevention and Education with questions.

Deadlines for Fall 2022

August 19: AlcoholEdu Part 1 and Sexual Assault Prevention for Undergraduates Part 1 complete 

October 19: AlcoholEdu Part 2 and Sexual Assault Prevention for Undergraduates Part 2 complete 

 Please note:

  • If you complete Part One after the Part Two deadline, you must email sape@sc.edu to have your hold lifted for 45 days while you are in the intersession.
  • The hold will remove itself within 24 hours. This may mean you will have to wait to register for classes.

Course Restrictions and Special Permissions

Check course restrictions and special permissions. Some course sections may have restrictions placed on them or have a letter in front of the section number. See below for a breakdown of course restrictions, special permissions, and the meanings of letters in front of course sections.

Some sections are reserved for majors only, students in Opportunity scholars or Honors, or specific classifications such as sophomores or above.

The course may only be open to certain majors, minors, and concentrations (see list on when field of study restrictions are lifted). Contact the sponsoring academic department and request a field of study override.

Only for students in the Honors College (could ask for an override into the class but ONLY if there are additional seats and registration has been open for a while. See override forms and links for more information) 

The student has to obtain special approval from the department offering the course.

Class is full.

May not have the required pre-requisites (could ask for override though, please see override forms and links for more information).

May not have the correct co-requisite. If a course is a co-requisite, both CRNs must be entered on the Add Classes Worksheet when the submit button is pressed.

The course may be offered on a different campus.

The course may be offered at a different level (graduate, undergraduate, law, medical, pharmacy, etc).

Course sections beginning with an alpha character are intended for specific student populations. See below for more information.

Section beginning with...  

Meaning of alpha character 

A 

Preston Residential College Students 

C 

Capstone Scholar Students 

H 

SC Honors College 

J 

Online sections open to all students, just make sure that the section is designated for the Columbia campus 

M 

PMBA students 

N 

Nursing Students enrolled in online sections 

P 

Palmetto College students 

Q 

International Accelerator Program Students 

R 

Contract Courses: only open to students affiliated with the course contract 

S 

Special populations including Living and Learning Communities 

T 

TRiO Students 

Y 

Open to all students, sections scheduled by On Your Time Initiatives Office 

Z 

Ft. Jackson students  

If there is a class you need to take and it has reached enrollment caps, you may be able to request a registration override.  If you need an override to get into a course, you will need the permission of the instructor to do so. Contact the academic department that sponsors the class you need an override for and line up your overrides before your registration window opens.  Academic departments specify override priorities but will not allow more students than the room can hold by fire code limits.  

If you have taken an AP or IB class, or are waiting for a class to transfer from another institution and this class satisfies a prerequisite for a class at UofSC, you will need to complete a prerequisite waiver. Some departments have links to prerequisite waiver forms (see below), but for any other department, just contact the academic department that sponsors the class that you need a prerequisite override for.  

If you need an override for a non-CSCE course, please complete the other department’s forms, listed below. Although we cannot grant an override for another department’s course, we recommend you fill out both their form and our form so we can track the concern.

If you have taken an AP Calculus or IB Mathematics (higher level) test and are waiting for the scores to come to USC to satisfy a prerequisite or if you are waiting for course credit from another College or University in order to satisfy a prerequisite, then complete the Department of Mathematics' Temporary Prerequisite Override Request form, and take note of the agreement you are making there.

 


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