Advising Bulletin No. 1, Fall 2009

Schieffer Students:

Fall semester is underway and soon it will be time to enroll for Spring 2010. Formal advising for spring semester begins November 2 and continues through November 13.

An advising hold will be placed on your account until you meet with your Schieffer School advisor and make your academic plans for the spring semester. You have been assigned a specific Schieffer School advisor from our full-time faculty. You can find out who that is by going to my.tcu.edu and looking under Student Center (you have to click on it twice) or you can check the posted list on the Journalism office bulletin board.

If you do not find that information in either place, please contact the Schieffer Office.

There will be pre-advising meetings for Strategic Communication majors and News Division majors on October 20. You'll be hearing more about those soon. You are strongly encouraged to attend these sessions. We will be letting you know at that time what preparation you will need to make before your individual appointments.

We also strongly urge you to visit the Schieffer School website where answers to many of your questions may be found:

http://www.schiefferschool.tcu.edu/42.htm

Your time with your advisor may be as valuable as any other time you spend this semester on your academic experience at Schieffer School. To make it count, you can do much to prepare yourself so you and your advisor can go directly to specifics about your degree plan. To that end, we are preparing a form for you to complete before your appointment that will list information that is essential for the appointment.

If you have a new advisor, you may want to get acquainted by visiting her/him during the adviser's posted visiting hours before the formal meeting about your spring schedule.

As we noted at the all-majors meeting in September, our goal is for you to have a permanent advisor throughout your undergraduate career at TCU, barring sabbaticals or retirements. Your advisor is your primary point of contact on your personal academic issues.

For students just now coming into the major, the GSP (Grammar, Spelling and Punctuation) Test will be given as follows:

-Monday, October 19, Tuesday, October 20, and Wednesday, October 21, at 4 p.m. in 204 Moudy South.

-Wednesday, October 28, at 3 p.m. in 204 Moudy South.

-Thursday, October 29, at 3 p.m. in 320 Moudy South.

There will be a review session in the Writing Center (located in Rickel room 244) at 3 p.m. on Friday, October 16. You must pass the GSP in order to enroll in Media Writing I and to advance in the major.

Schieffer School is a fully accredited academic program. It is your responsibility to understand and fulfill all degree requirements. That is why we have scheduled the pre-advising sessions and why you will be meeting with a specific Schieffer School advisor. These are your opportunities to learn about degree requirements, discuss your academic goals and make your plans for next semester.

I write on behalf of our faculty, who are looking forward to helping you meet your academic goals at TCU.

John Lumpkin
Director
Schieffer School of Journalism