Academic Planning & Scheduling Guide

Steps in Planning an Academic Program

1. Familiarize yourself with university academic information, as explained in the Bulletin and The Logger (Academic Handbook).
2. Think about your personal, academic and career goals, both short- and long-term, and consider how these goals will affect your academic planning. Visit the Office of Academic Advising (Howarth 114) as early in your career as possible for help with interest assessment and academic choice.
3. Stay current on policies and regulations at the university by reviewing academic requirements every year, and by scanning Course Offerings carefully before registering for classes.
4. Familiarize yourself thoroughly with the requirements of the major you select using your Degree Progress Report and relevant Curriculum Guides and Checklists, and quiz your advisor on any requirements that aren't clear to you.
5. Seek your academic advisor's help in making academic choices, but always remember that you are responsible for your own decisions.
6. Save your own copies of academic records, transcripts, and planning materials.
7. Stay in touch with your advisor. If you find it difficult to work with your current advisor, or if your advisor leaves the university, or if you change your academic plans, visit the Office of Academic Advising for help in making an advisor change.
8. Learn where academic support services on campus are located and what services they provide. Your academic success and fulfillment may depend on them. If you need a referral, your advisor can help you.

Steps in Class Scheduling:

1. Review your academic records. Bring any short- and long-range planning sheets you might have with you to your meeting with your advisor.
2. Write down a list of questions for your advisor so you won't forget anything.
3. Review your Degree Progress Report on Cascade, as well as relevant sections of the Bulletin and The Logger. They'll help you prepare to choose classes, lay out your major, or petition for a waiver of university rules.
4. Be aware of the academic calendar.  The calendar includes such information as registration, add and drop deadlines, vacation breaks, and exam schedules. Remember that you are responsible for meeting these deadlines.
5. Put together a list of class choices, complete with times, before you arrive for a meeting with your advisor. Use the university's online Course Offerings, which will allow you to get up-to-the-minute information on open and closed classes, waitlists, meeting times and other essential scheduling information. You should also choose three or four alternate classes in case one of your first choices closes.
6. Make an appointment to see your advisor well in advance; don't drop in. Particularly if a deadline (registration, add/drop) looms, don't wait till the last minute, since your advisor may not be available or may have other students to see.  When you and your advisor have discussed your academic plans, he or she will provide you with the registration access code you need to register on Cascade.
7. Proceed to register on Cascade at your appointed registration time. If a course for which you wish to register is closed, you may place your name on a waitlist, which will automatically register you for the course if a space becomes available. Students are allowed to place their names on up to two waitlists.
8. Make schedule adjustments at any time during the open registration period after registration by simply logging on to Cascade and adding and dropping classes. During the add period at the beginning of each term, you will need add codes from instructors to make such changes. Attend the class you wish to add on the first day and inquire of the instructor if he or she has space to add you. The decision about whether to add students beyond the class limit is at the instructor's sole discretion. Be aware that the add period is very brief; ordinarily, no classes can be added after the second Tuesday of any semester.