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College Student – “When To College Student – “When To Do…” Guide – A Strongly Do…” Guide – A Strongly Recommended ReadingRecommended Reading

College Student – “When To College Student – “When To Do…” Guide – A Strongly Do…” Guide – A Strongly Recommended ReadingRecommended ReadingDesigned by Scott Kelly, Ph.D. StudentDesigned by Scott Kelly, Ph.D. Student

DDivision of Undergraduate Studies (DUS) ivision of Undergraduate Studies (DUS) Programs Specialist and Criminal Justice ProgramPrograms Specialist and Criminal Justice Program

Part-Time Lecturer and Advisor for thePart-Time Lecturer and Advisor for thePenn State AltoonaPenn State Altoona

C106 Raymond Smith BuildingC106 Raymond Smith Building814-949-5718814-949-5718

sak229@psu.edusak229@psu.eduhttp://www.personal.psu.edu/sak229http://www.personal.psu.edu/sak229

*All information is credited to their original sources.*All information is credited to their original sources.

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Before you begin, you should review the CJ

Handbook • Reviewing the CJ Handbook on my web site

(http://www.personal.psu.edu/sak229) may answer some or all of your questions

• You should review my web site because it will have links to the necessary CJ Forms, CJ Links, Academic Information, etc. that will help you to become a better manager of your academic career

• Also, it has information pertaining to what you should do incase you must leave the university, for an extended period of time, due to an emergency

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Important Information• Before you review the rest of this

presentation; it is essential that you answer the following questions:

• Have you met with a faculty/staff member in the CJ program? If not, you should meet with a member quickly.

• Do you have a passion for criminal justice topics? If not, perhaps you should visit the Penn State Altoona Career Center and complete the Myers Briggs evaluation.

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Meeting with your academic advisor

• You should met with your academic counselor before you schedule courses for the next semester but after you have written down some courses that you want to schedule for the next semester

• When life becomes overwhelming your academic advisor should have a list of services available to you…you may want to go to my web site and click on the “Health and Wellness” button.

• Before you drop a course• Before you withdraw from the university due to personal or

academic reasons (CJ Handbook, p. 15)• Before you late drop or add a course• Obtaining information with getting involved in the Penn State

Altoona Campus Community

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Scheduling• Before you schedule courses for the next

semester, you should:• 1. Print out a current degree audit• 2. Write down a list of courses that you want

to schedule• 3. Meet with your academic advisor to make

sure that they are appropriate for your degree program

• My philosophy: it is always better to make sure before it is too late

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Drop/Add• Always talk to your Instructor before you drop

a course!• You may freely drop/add a course(s) during

the first ten (10) days of each new semester, however, you should always consult with the Registrar’s Office or your Academic Advisor before you drop/add a course(s)

• If you need to be a full-time student then you can not drop below 12.0 credits at any time

• If you need to be a part-time student then you can not schedule more than 12.0 credits at any time

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Critical Thinking• You will need to get in the habit of

critically thinking about your future plans• You will want to start connecting

relevant courses to your major so that you will have a greater focus to your major and it will look good on graduate/law school applications, as well as, job applications.

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Minors• You will want to decide on a relevant minor by the end

of your second semester• In doing so, you will leave ample time to finish your

choice of minor • To obtain a list of Penn State Altoona Minors and their

requirements click on the following link or copy and paste it to your web browser: http://www.aa.psu.edu/page2/minors.htm.

• Students in either the CJBA or CJBS will tyipcally use 12.0 credits out of the 18.0 required credits of a minor to fulfill their electives (usually students enrolled in the CJBA degree program) or as part of their Skills Enhancement requirement (this pertains to CJBS degree students); the remaining six (6) credits will automatically be moved into their free electives section.

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Get involved in the Penn State Altoona

Community• I encourage every student to get involved

in the Penn State Altoona Community during their second semester because the first semester will be time for students to adjust to the rigors of academics.

• Once a student is in their second semester, they should go to the Student Life Web site and search for student organizations that best fit their interests.

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Getting involved…continued

• Getting involved in a student organization will help bridge the gap from being home or friendship-sick

• It will provide the student with a sense of ownership and pride

• Your involvement will enrich our Campus Community• Look really good on your resume• Make you look really good as a leader on this campus• It will tell others that you care about them and your

campus community• Your academic advisor can help you or you may visit

the Student Life Office located on the 2nd floor of the SLEP Student Center

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Information about the STAT 200 course

• It is strongly recommended, but not required, that you complete MATH 021 before STAT 200

• Also, you may want to complete MATH 022 (after MATH 021) before taking STAT 200

• Depending on your MATH (Quantification- GQ) placement, you may be able to schedule STAT 200 at any time

• If you have successfully complete calculus in high school, you may be able ready to schedule STAT 200 and then any other GQ course later – always check with your academic advisor first!

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ENGL 202 A or D• You should schedule ENGL 202A or D.  • 1. ENGL 202A is commonly schedule by

students who choose to go onto law/grad school

• 2. ENGL 202D is commonly scheduled by students who plan to go onto a career in a CJ or related field (being able to write clearly and effectively on the job is required by most employers)

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Tutoring • You should obtain a tutor when you

know that you are not doing well in any given course; not when it is too late!

• A tutor will give you individual help outside the classroom

• Please go to the following web page for information on obtaining a tutor: http://www.aa.psu.edu/dept/altoonalrc/howto.html.

*Information provided by the Learning Resources Center on campus.

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Entrance to Major Procedures

By Maggie McNulty: Penn State Altoona’s Registrar (Fall 2005)

• When you receive a letter from the Registrar’s Office notifying you that you are eligible to apply for formal entrance to your academic major and location you must do the following:

• 1. Sign on to eLion’s home page: http://eLion.psu.edu

• 2. Select “Students”• 3. Select “Entrance to Major”

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Entrance to Major Continued

• 3a. Enter three choices for majors• 3b. The computer will assist you in

determining the appropriate location for the majors you enter

• 4. Usually between January 2nd and February 10th, you will be required to confirm that the three major/location preferences listed on the eLion screen are your intended desire.

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Entrance to Major Continued

• 4a. You may change your preferences at any time during this time period.

• 5. If you do not make this verification within the dates indicated on your letter (usually the dates I have specified on the previous slide) you will not be included in the entrance to major and location decision process completed by the Dean’s office administrators.

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Entrance to Major Continued

• 6. The college staff will review student major and location preferences soon after February 10th and will determine who qualifies for entrance to the majors in their college.

• 7. You will be notified through your PSU E-mail account regarding the college decisions for entrance to majors and locations by mid-March.

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Missing Class(s)• If you know in advance that you will be

missing a class, please either call or E-mail your professors

• Instructors/professors do care about you and may think that you do not like or are not interested in their course enough to attend…always let them know when you are going to miss; they do not need to know the reason(s) for you missing their class

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Conclusion• If you have not figured it out yet, you soon will:• You academic advisor/faculty members are

here to help you, however, he or she will not do all of the work for you

• You must take ownership of your own academic career and in doing so, it will prepare you for a successful career upon graduation

• Always meet with your academic advisor each semester!

• Review my web site at: http://www.personal.psu.edu/sak229