VI. Information on Advising

Registrar's Office; Course Catalog; Course Schedule; Degree Audits; Registration Process; Confidentiality of Student Information; Academic Achievement Center; Web for Faculty

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Registrar's Office

The Registrar's Office maintains student academic records, issues transcripts for all current and former students, manages the registration and add/drop processes, coordinates data for the College Catalog and the Course Schedule each semester, schedules classrooms, verifies enrollment, records grades, confirms the graduation status of students, orders diplomas, and processes all changes and corrections to student records including addresses, names, and social security numbers. See http://www.bridgew.edu/Registrar/.

Course Catalog

The BSU Catalog is the definitive source of information on admission, academic policy, academic programs, and course descriptions. As of Fall 2004, the catalog is being printed in a two-year cycle, but an updated version is available online. See http://www.bridgew.edu/Catalog/.

Course Schedule

Course schedules are produced in advance of every semester and contain a detailed listing of the sections, times, and professors for each course.

Degree Audits

Degree audits are printouts from the official database showing what courses students have taken and how those courses meet specific major, minor and General Education Requirements for an individual student. The audit is intended to serve as a tool for both student and advisor in the academic advising and course registration process. Faculty may access an advisee's degree audit through Web for Faculty.

Registration Process

Your department will provide you with a list of your advisees. Please check with your chair or the department secretary regarding the registration process for advisees in your department. Each student must have an advisor’s signature to register for classes. Since most students register online, the advisor must give each student access to web registration. Please refer to the instructions provided by the Registrar’s Office for the "Assignment of Web Access Codes to Advisees."

Confidentiality of Student Information

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) governs the access to and release of information contained in student records. Information about student performance or grades must not be disclosed to anyone, including the student's parents, without the student's written consent. However, disclosure without consent can be made to "college officials with legitimate educational interests." See FERPA Guidelines at http://www.bridgew.edu/Registrar/FERPA.cfm?Records=. For specific questions, contact the Registrar’s Office at extension 1231.

Academic Achievement Center

Located on the ground floor of the Maxwell Library, the Academic Achievement Center (ext. 1214), http://www.bridgew.edu/AAC/, provides the following academic support services to students.

Freshman advising - By the end of their first semester, students receive up to 5 hours of advising from the Academic Achievement Center. This advising goes beyond simply providing guidance in course selection. Students are taught how to figure GPAs, how to study, and how to use the Center to their benefit. The Center continues advising for second semester freshmen who are undeclared majors, on academic probation, or have been readmitted after dismissal from the college.

Tutoring - The Center provides content tutoring for all GER courses. Students can contact the Center for walk-in hours or appointments. Additionally, the Center provides general help with study and research skills and helps students form study groups. Both kinds of tutoring are student led.

Writing Studio - The Writing Studio helps students improve their writing skills. It does not provide proofreading service.

Math Lab - The Math Lab provides students with one-on-one or group tutoring for math courses.

Exit Counseling - The Center will talk to students who are considering withdrawing from a class after the deadline for withdrawals or withdrawing from the College to help them make the best decision and to be assured that they are aware of the consequences of their actions regarding GPA, insurance, financial aid, etc.

Computer Lab - The Center houses a computer lab with 17 PCs. Faculty members may reserve the room for one-time class use by contacting the Center at ext. 1214.

International Students - There is a full-time counselor on staff at the Center for Japanese students contracted through the National Collegiate Network (NCN).

Status Reports - Faculty who refer students to the Academic Achievement Center for any reason can request and receive a status report on when and how the student has used the Center.

Learning Disabilities – The Disabilities Resources Office (ext. 2304) helps students with disabilities (physical and learning) build their schedules at the start of every semester and helps to ensure that proper accommodations are made. These include but are not limited to note-takers, readers, scribes, interpreters for the hearing impaired, hearing devices, and card recorders.

The Center also has a number of computers with adaptive technology for students with physical disabilities including a Braille keyboard, a Braille transcriber, voice recognition software, and Jaws software for the visually impaired.

Faculty can help students (and themselves) by asking students to identify any disabilities they have and if accommodations need to be made. Students who identify themselves as learning disabled should speak to the LD Specialist. If they request accommodations such as extra time on an exam, she will have the documentation and will write the instructor a letter requesting the exception.

The LD Office also puts out a regular newsletter, distributed to faculty by e-mail, explaining what resources are available on campus. They also conduct a pre-college workshop for students with disabilities, explaining what is expected of them, and what they can expect from the college. The LD Specialist also conducts a leadership and peer education program in which students learn to advocate for themselves and talk to high school students about what to expect in college.

It is the goal of the office to have students learn to be as independent as possible, while making reasonable accommodations. If an instructor feels that a student is making an unreasonable request, the LD Specialist can be contacted to help resolve the problem. The learning disabilities office does not test for learning disabilities but will make referrals when appropriate.

Web for Faculty

Information on Web for Faculty is in the Resource Guide at http://www.bridgew.edu/Depts/AcAffairs/ft/teaching.cfm#web.

Last Modified: April 29, 2011