Students are held accountable for completing the requirements that were in place during the time they enrolled at UVM. So hopefully you kept the copy of the advising materials provided as part of the orientation program. Your CATS report has accurate information. The program checksheets that are at the CESS Student Services website are for the students who enrolled as new students for the current academic year. Please come to 528 Waterman if you need assistance with an earlier program checksheet.
First, be certain that you understand your program checksheet and your CATS report, indicating that you then understand your requirements. Also review the Four year Plan so that you know which program specific courses are offered only once a year. Also check the total number of credits required for program completion (bottom of program checksheet) and work closely with your academic advisor.
The total number of credits required to reach program completion are listed at the bottom of your program checksheet. The totals are different for each program. If you plan to complete your program in four years, that means you will be completing 8 semesters. Divide the total by 8.
Then remember--
Many students have studied abroad without extending their programs, but it requires planning. You must also review your four-year plan with your advisor to determine how to make it happen. It seems that students prefer to go abroad in the junior year, but it may be easier during the second semester of your sophomore year. And if you go abroad for a year, you will likely be extending your program.
The CESS Student Services Specialist, Barbara Romanoff (656-1446; tracks your progress and you will benefit from the Graduation Status Notice she sends just prior to your senior year. And your CATS report will tell you when you are enrolled in your final requirements!
There are some courses that do fulfill more than one requirement, but this differs by program. For example, a student may be completing a Secondary Education History major. So History 11 or 12 would be completed as part of the major, but it would also fulfill the HST requirement in General Education. In other programs, courses may fulfill a Multicultural requirement and an English requirement. The general rule is that a course may fulfill two requirements if they are listed in different categories on the program checksheet (General Education, Major, etc.). Please remember that when one course is used to fulfill two requirements, you only receive the credits once! Your Cats report lists the credit by both requirements, but the credits are only counted once as part of your credits for program completion.
Students who are enrolled in programs that have minimum grade requirements for specific courses sometimes complete a course more than once to achieve the required minimum grade. Or a student may want to repeat a course in his/her major before moving to a higher level course. Both courses will be included in your grade point average, but the credits will only be counted once toward program completion.
You may only get credit once, so you need to be very careful not to complete a course at UVM that has already been completed elsewhere and transferred to UVM. If this happens, it is always possible to have the course re-evaluated for transfer as a different course (e.g. independent study credit), but there is no guarantee that it would be approved.
Review the prerequisites for the courses as listed in the Schedule of Courses (SOC) information available at the Registrar's webpage. It is possible to enroll in courses for which you aren't eligible, so do not assume that since you were able to schedule the course, you are eligible to be enrolled. The Banner system used for course enrollment cannot yet do prerequisite checking.
If you enroll in a course and you do not have the prerequisites, you aren't eligible to be enrolled and can be removed by the faculty teaching the course. It is much more appropriate to discuss your eligibility to enroll with the faculty so that you have an opportunity to enroll in another class if enrollment is denied.
Evening Division courses are offered through Continuing Education and very often, but not always, are offered in a 3-hour block late in the day or during the evening rather than three times a week during the day for 50 minutes. These courses have generally been set up to attract members of the broader community who aren't enrolled in degree programs.
Degree students have an opportunity to enroll in Evening Division courses if spaces remain. While the courses are frequently appropriate for degree students, FTFY students should not enroll if the course is taught in one three hour block. If you miss one class, you have actually missed three.
Look at the information under Registration & Verification at the Registrar's website so that you know when degree students might enroll. It is a different date than our day division registration dates for degree students.
When you access your schedule online, the names of your faculty will be listed next to the courses. Faculty should each have given you a course syllabus which includes his/her name and how to get in contact. If a course is listed as "staff" when you access your schedule online, you may need to wait until class begins or contact the appropriate departmental office for information.
You apparently have a "hold" on your account and should contact the Registrar's Office to determine why. It might be that you have an unpaid bill or you haven't provided the health center with the appropriate immunization information.
You will be blocked from registering for courses if you have an unpaid bill.
You will also be blocked if you haven't provided documentation to the Health Center indicating that you meet the Vermont State Requirements for protection against rubella. If you have already been immunized, you may not have provided the documentation.
This should only be an issue for FTFY, new transfers and graduate students. Letters have been mailed to these students telling them they can either provide documentation or get the vaccine.
The most common reason is that students don't have the appropriate class standing. This means you haven't earned the minimum number of credits to be eligible to enroll. Check the number of earned credits required for each level at the Registrar's webpage (click on Registration Schedule).
Students who are covered by medical insurance that requires "full-time enrollment" likely won't be eligible for insurance coverage by that policy. So before dropping below 12 credits come to the CESS Student Services office so that we can discuss options.
It likely won't be possible to reach program completion in four years unless courses are also completed during the summer months.