ADVISOR HELP PAGE
We have developed this special web page to help academic advisors. Below is a list of common items for which we receive questions. Click on the link for more information. If there is something that you would like for us to add here, please let us know.
Advising Holds:
All undergraduate (and some graduate) students will have an advising hold on SIS to prevent them from registering without first seeing an advisor. The hold will read, "ADVISING REQ'D - SEE MAJOR DEPT." Depending on the procedure set up in your department, the advisor may be clearing these holds, or it may be the department secretary. The hold must be cleared before the student will be allowed to register.

Please note that the hold screen is not term specific -- meaning that in the Spring, once the hold is cleared, the student will be able to enroll for Summer I, Summer II, and Fall. Holds will be reset each October and February.

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Class Rolls -- What is the Importance?
In Fall and Spring semesters you will receive 1st, 4th, and 12th day class rolls. Twelfth day is the official enrollment date. In Summer terms you will receive 1st and 4th day rolls. Fourth day is the official enrollment date. Verifying your class rolls at the beginning of each term is one of the most important things you can do.

If it is not your policy to take roll regularly, at least on the above days when a new class roll is sent, please physically take roll and note any problems on the actual roll sheet such as:

  • If a student has never been to class by 4th or 12th day (mark them both).
  • If an extra student who is not on the roll is in the class. (Ask if there is anyone whose name has not been called after you check roll and document it.)
  • If a student who was coming suddenly quits attending by 4th or 12th day and you do not know if they dropped the class or withdrew from school.
Sign the roll sheet and return to the Office of the Registrar as soon as possible!

Please don't wait until a month or two into the semester to drop someone who has never attended -- report it early, and if you're going to drop them, do so.

Students must be at least 50% paid by the 4th class day (Spring 2005 and forward) or they are voided. If they reinstate with payment by the 20th day (15th in summer) we can count them for funding, if not or if they register after the official census, we lose the funding -- this is why we need you to check roll and correct enrollment errors early!  Students voided for non-payment will be subject to reinstatement fees.

This is important for many reasons:

  • Financial Aid status may be affected.
  • Athletic status may be affected.
  • Veterans status may be affected.
  • Official enrollment reports must be correct for reporting to state - errors need to be found as early as possible.
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Degree Plans and Catalog Requirements:
The degree plan is prepared by the student's advisor and approved by the heads of the major and minor program areas. The degree plan should be prepared as soon as the student's degree, major, and minor objectives have been determined, but no later than the first semester of the junior year. The original signed degree plan should be sent to the Office of the Registrar when it is prepared.

Any course substitutions should be prepared at this time also. (Reminder: Core exceptions require the approval of the dean of the college of the course concerned.)

Bachelor of Arts requirements are often misunderstood. Only humanities or literature can be used to meet that part of the BA requirement. This is different from core humanities where philosophy and western civilization can be used.

Electives: Any course can be used as an elective, EXCEPT kinesiology activities or developmental courses. If degree program specifies upper level electives, they must be filled by courses numbered 3000-4000's.

How to total up hours for the degree minimum of 124?

  • Take their earned hours (from SIS),
  • subtract developmentals and extra KNES activities (anything over two activities, regardless of the hours), and
  • add currently enrolled hours. If any of the currently enrolled hours are repeats of C or D, make sure they are only being counted once, and
  • add hours for required courses to be completed. The result will show if elective hours are needed.
Some students think if they complete the core and their major and minor, that they have completed the degree, but this is not so in most cases. Questions can be directed to JaNelle Savage or April Taack in the Registrar's Office.

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Distance Education Questions:
Distance Education questions should be referred as follows:

  • Advising questions such as what course to take, call number, PIN, etc. should be directed to the department (BAAS, Radiologic Sciences, Nursing, Public Administration, etc.)
  • WebCT questions or problems should be directed to the Distance Education Office (http://distance.mwsu.edu/distance).
  • Registration questions should be directed to the Office of the Registrar (940-397-4321).
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Drop/Add forms: When do we switch from using the big, blue drop/add forms to using the small drop slips?
The big, blue drop/add forms are to be used during regular and late registration only for students who are adding, dropping, or both. Students can complete their changes on the web -- except for overrides, overloads, TSI students, and other special situations which must be done in person at the Office of the Registrar.  (Remember in summer there is no late registration.)

Once late registration is over, the student should only be able to choose to drop, not add. This is when we switch to using the small drop slips that the student must pick up at the Registrar Office's windows.

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Financial Aid:  What Faculty and Advisors should know:

Financial aid recipients are awarded grants, loans and other types of assistance based on information provided to the Financial Aid Office which includes, but is not limited to, enrollment status (full-time, half-time, etc), classification (undergraduate, graduate, etc) and types of aid requested (loans, college work-study, etc.).

While it is important to understand that the student’s financial aid is based on the aforementioned criteria, it is equally important to understand that the student’s prior academic performance can directly affect his/her eligibility for future financial aid.  The student has a responsibility to attend class and satisfactorily progress towards his/her degree. For example, if a student enrolls full-time and fails to complete any coursework (or, receives ‘all F’s’), this should be taken into consideration and the student carefully advised before being allowed to enroll for a full-time course load in a subsequent semester(s).

Additionally, failure to attend class should result in the following action being taken by the instructor:

-  if a student has NEVER ATTENDED class(es), an ‘Instructor Drop’ form (available from the College Dean or from the MSU Print Shop) should be submitted and noted with the Last Date of Attendance as ‘Never Attended’.

- if a student simply stops attending class(es), the Dean of Students Office should be contacted  to initiate a ‘Conduct and Attendance Referral’ form – OR the Referral can be submitted online at http://students.mwsu.edu/dean (click on ‘Conduct and Attendance Referral’).  If the instructor does not receive any response from the student after the Referral has been issued (i.e., the student still fails to attend class(es)), the instructor is encouraged to submit an ‘Instructor Drop’ form – and note the student’s Last Date of Attendance.

- also if an instructor signs a ‘Drop Slip’ for a student, the student’s  Last Date of Attendance must be noted in the upper right hand corner of the Drop Slip.

Removing students from class rolls who never attend OR who cease attendance is critical. Federal law prohibits the university from retaining Title IV Student Financial Assistance funds (such as Pell Grant, student loans, etc…) for a student who never attends or stops attending class.   Inappropriately keeping someone on class rolls will create a potential financial liability for the university.

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Honors Students and Courses
The Honors Program is an academic program for high achieving students. Honors students must complete 24 semester hours of honors courses, including the Honors Introductory and Capstone courses. Up to 18 hours may be taken at either the lower or the upper level. The majority of the courses, both upper and lower levels, meet core requirements. Honors courses are limited to 20 students. Non-honors students with an honors level GPA may enroll in upper-level honors courses, on a space-available basis, and with permission of the Honors Director.

To identify students on SIS who are in the Honors Program each term, a psuedo test named "Honor" is added to their test score screen with a term that is equivalent to the semester. (Example: Honor - 61, is referring to term 061 - which is Spring 2006.) Then these test scores are tied to the honors courses for allowing registration. If a student receives a "prerequisite not met" message when they web register, or if they have any questions regarding the Honors Program, they would need to contact the Honors Program Director at (940) 397-4837. Click here to go to the Honors Program website.

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How do students drop courses (on-campus vs. distance education)?
On-campus: Students who live in the local area and/or students who attend any classes on campus may drop a class by picking up a drop slip in the Registrar's Office, then take it to be signed by their advisor, instructor, and Financial Aid (athletes must also have the signature of the Athletic Compliance Officer). When all is completed, the student must return the drop slip to the Registrar's Office prior to the last day to drop with a W (see schedule of classes). If a student is dropping all classes, this is considered a withdrawal and the student must contact the Dean of Students Office instead of completing a drop slip.

Distance education: Students who do NOT live locally and are only enrolled in distance education courses may complete an online drop slip by going to the Registrar webpage (http://registrar.mwsu.edu) and clicking on "Course Drop Petition - Distance Ed. Only." After completing the information, they click Submit and it sends an e-mail notification to the Registrar's Office. (Drops must be submitted prior to the last day to drop with a W - see schedule of classes.) We confirm approvals of the advisor, instructor and Financial Aid and then process the drop. If a student is dropping all classes, this is considered a withdrawal and the student must contact the Dean of Students Office instead of completing the online drop slip. Note: If you are an instructor of a distance education course, this information should appear on all syllabi of distance education courses.

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Orientation:
Orientation is sponsored by the Office of Student Activities and Orientation (940-397-4500).  All new undergraduate students are required to attend a session of orientation prior to their first enrollment at MSU. Please refer students to the current Schedule of Classes for specific days and times. (Summer Guest students are not required to attend orientation.)  Undergraduate distance education students must complete an online orientation which can be found on the Student Activities webpage.

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Personal Identification Number (PIN):
The PIN is a six digit number that students are assigned before registration. It is required for them to use the web system (WebWorld) -- which is our web registration system, but also where they can pay online, check financial aid, check grades, change their address, and even change their PIN, plus more.

The advisor should release the PIN to the student during their first advising session.  For most new students, the PIN will be their date of birth (mmddyy), but they will be required to change it upon initial login to WebWorld.  (Please advise them to change it to another 6 digit number that will be easy for them to remember.  Students should NOT include letters in their PIN.)

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PREQ Test Score -- What is this?
When looking on the test score screen on SIS you may see a test score called PREQ with four sections: READ, WRIT, MATA, MATB. The only scores you should ever see are 0, 50 (on MATB only), or 100.

This is not an actual test that the student took, but a prerequisite indicator for meeting our developmental-level courses (ENGL 1013, ENGL 1003, MATH 0003, and MATH 1003). If the score is zero, the requirement is not met, if it is a 100, the requirement has been met.  (On MATB only, if the score is 50, that means the student made a D in Math 1003 and he/she is only eligible to go on to MATH 1053.)

There are many ways in which the requirement can be met: certain scores on the ACT, SAT, TAAS, TAKS, THEA (formerly TASP), Accuplacer, etc. by passing the actual developmental courses, and also by taking/transferring in college-level courses in these areas. Meeting TSI requirements is a separate issue. If they have failed a section of a TSI test, even if a 50 or 100 is on the PREQ, developmental work may still be required. Do not assume 50/100 means TSI is passed.  Click here to see more information on the Texas Success Initiative.

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Student Information System (SIS) access and/or training:
If you need a sign-on for the Student Information System, please get with the secretary in your area and she will contact Information Systems to assign you one.

If you have a sign-on, but would like a list of screens or some training, please contact Jamie Wilson in the Registrar's Office for more information.

SIS training is highly recommended because it provides one of your most valuable advising tools.

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TSI - Texas Success Initiative:
What are passing THEA scores? 230 - reading, 230 - math*, 220 - writing.
What are passing Accuplacer scores? 78 - reading, 63 - math*, 6 - writing sample (or 5 essay with 80 sentence skills).

*math -- to go right into college-level math, students must have at least a 270 on THEA, or 90 on Accuplacer.

In which courses must a student enroll if they failed a section of a TSI test? ENGL 1013 - reading, MATH 0003, then 1003 - math, ENGL 1003 - writing.

Students cannot enroll in college-level math or English courses until the respective areas of TSI are completed.

If a student is TSI failed and it's summer, do they have to be in a developmental course? Yes. The student must be continuously enrolled in a developmental program until all TSI requirements are completed.

Please check out the TSI website for exemptions and other details. If you have any other questions, please contact Jamie Wilson in the Registrar's Office at jamie.wilson@mwsu.edu or 397-4320.

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Transfer Courses and Equivalencies:
New transfer student evaluations are completed by the Admissions Office when the student submits an application for admission and all transcripts have arrived. These are available for you to view on SIS.

American Government from out-of-state schools often transfers in as POLS 1433, not 1333. Advisors should check SIS and be very careful which political science they advise a transfer student to take.

Visit the Admissions website for Transfer Equivalencies for some Texas community college equivalency guides and more information.

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Unofficial transcript - how to get a copy for advising:
Advisors can use the Student Information System (SIS) to view the student's MSU transcript (since Summer 1986) and transfer credit accepted. If you need a copy of MSU work prior to 1986, advisors/secretaries may call the Registrar's Office and ask that we campus-mail you an unofficial transcript for the student. There is no need to have the student come to our office to request this.

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What is College Connections?
MWSU 1233 - College Connections: This course assists new students in their transition to the college environment and focuses on the cognitive and behavioral dimensions of learning. Emphasis is placed on the disciplines of written and oral communication. A career exploration project is required. It is highly recommended that students enroll in this course. Limited to new students. Click here for the College Connections website.
(Note:  Beginning Fall 2006, students who are admitted under "Advised Admissions" are required to enroll in certain (A*) sections of this course their first term.  These students are also limited to no more than 14 hours each long term.  They will be released from this status upon successful completion of 24 semester hours.  The Academic Support Center monitors these students. <Fall 2004-Spring 2006 students took MWSU 1003-A* Skills for Success.>) 
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What is Skills for Success?
MWSU 1003 - Skills for Success: This course is designed for students with previous college experience to assist them in improving learning strategies and enhancing their success in college and in life. It is highly recommended for students who have experienced difficulties in studying, reading or writing strategies, or are returning to an academic environment. Opportunities are provided for students to understand, develop and maximize individualized learning strategies. Students on scholastic probation or who are returning from academic suspension may be required to enroll in this course.  Click here for the Skills for Success website.

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What is Supplemental Instruction (SI)?
Supplemental Instruction is an academic enrichment program that targets historically difficult academic courses and offers free, peer-assisted study sessions to all enrolled students in a designated section of selected courses.

An SI leader will present information about this program during the first class meeting. Students who enroll in an "SI" section may choose to attend free study sessions which are regularly scheduled, out-of-class review sessions held each week of the semester.

Research indicates that students earn one-half to one full letter grade higher if they attend "SI" sessions regularly during the semester. To see which SI classes are being offered, check the current schedule of classes.  For more information, please call the Academic Support Center at (940) 397-4684, or click here for the SI website.

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What is the First Year Probation Program?
In an effort to provide early intervention for freshmen who are placed on probation, the First Year Probation Program was developed in Fall 2002.  Students in the program are new freshmen who have less than 30 hours, and a grade point average (gpa) of less than 1.70.

A probation hold is placed on SIS for each of these students and they are sent a letter listing their requirements for the next semester. They are required to enroll for MWSU 1003 - Skills for Success, repeat two classes in which grades of D or F were earned, and can choose to take one Kinesiology activity and one other course - limiting their hours to no more than 14. These students must clear their schedules with the Academic Support Center. 

At the end of each Fall and Spring term, a new cohort will be selected. We are hopeful that this early intervention will direct the student's academic studies toward success.

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