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CONTACT

Department of Political Science
316 Woodburn Hall
West Virginia University
P.O. Box 6317
Morgantown, WV 26506-6317
Phone: (304)-293-3811
FAX: (304)-293-8644

Academic Advising

Advising and careful academic planning are essential to a successful under- graduate experience. Students intent on majoring in Political Science should, as soon as possible, enroll in the Political Science Orientation Class (POLS199), either in their freshman or sophomore year. In the first semester of your sophomore year, you should complete the process of moving your student file from Academic Advising Center to the Department of Political Science. If your GPA is 2.1 or above, and you have completed a minimum of 28 hours of coursework, you can request your file from the Undergraduate Academic Services Center and bring it to the main office of the Department of Political Science. At that point, the Department secretary will pass your file to the Department’s Director of Undergraduate Studies who, in turn, will designate a Political Science faculty member as your permanent academic advisor.

You should expect to meet with your adviser at least once a semester, i.e., during WVU pre-registration for the next semester. Your adviser will work with you in selecting appropriate courses and discussing other academic opportunities such internships and study abroad. At the same time it is very important that you come prepared to your scheduled advising appointment. To enhance the quality of your pre-registration advising you should be very familiar with the student advising responsibilities expected of each Political Science major.

General Advising Documents

Three documents are very important for planning your major from the start of your college career or when you have decided to become a Political Science major. The first is the Four Year Plan of Study . It provides an overview of the courses to be taken across your four year college career. The second document provides a four year overview of advising activities to be pursued during time as a Political Science major: Academic Planning and Advising Calendar . Finally, click on this link for a updated list of Political Science courses offered by the Department on a regular basis.

Each political science major is expected to have knowledge of the Departmental and College requirements for the B.A. Degree in Political Science. The Department will maintain a record of your progress towards the degree by maintaining an advising checklist for both the University/ College General Education ( GEC Requirements ) and the Department major. Depending on your area of emphasis, access the advising checklist for the following tracks: the General Political Science , American Politics and Policy , Pre-Law and Legal Studies , International Relations, Comparative Politics, and National Security , and Government and Business . Please note: as a result of our strategic planning efforts, we have substantially revised our Political Science tracks. These have now been approved by the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, and students entering the major as of Fall 2009 are expected to choose among these tracks. However, current majors (i.e., those entering prior to Fall 2009) are able to continue with the previous versions of these tracks (e.g., Pre-Law and Legal Studies, World Politics and International Relations, and General Political Science) as well with tracks that have now been eliminated (Environmental Politics and Public Policy and Administration). In short, the existing tracks will remain available to current majors. If you have questions, please contact the Department Chair, Professor Joe Hagan.

SPRING 2010 Pre-Registration Information and Materials

One purpose of this advising section of the Political Science website is to post advising information for pre-registration for the Spring semester (early-October to mid-November) and the Fall and Summer semesters (early-March to mid-April). In this section, you be able to find the priority dates for registration, a list of courses offered in the upcoming semester, and links to key information provided by the Office of Admission and Records.

Pre-Registration for the 2010 Spring semester is now in progress. The ””priority dates” for course registration for these semesters are as follows:

March 16th-19th: Honors
March 16th: Athletes and Disabilities
March 23rd: Seniors
April 6th: Juniors
April 13th: Sophomores
April 20th: Freshman

Each major should plan to meet with his/her advisor no later that the week prior to the priority date for students in their class rank. Political Science faculty members have reserved time for advising and have posted available advising times on “sign-up” sheets outside their individual offices. You should soon sign up for an appointment. If you can not find a time that fits your schedule, contact your adviser personally, by phone, or by email. This contact information for each faculty member can be located by clicking on the link to faculty and staff. NOTE: if you subsequently find that you are unable to keep a scheduled appointment, please be sure to contact your adviser in advance in order to request an alternative advising time.

Prior to your advising appointment, you should develop a tentative schedule of classes for the Spring semester—and bring that draft to your appointment. In the process of planning your schedule, please be sure to update your personal copy of your “advising checklist”. Copies of the advising checklist can be accessed in the links provided above. Also, bring to your advising meeting a list of alternate courses you would consider taking, in the event you don’t get your first choices because one or more classes has filled to capacity. Finally, after you have met with your adviser and he/she has signed your schedule, be sure to register as soon as possible via the STAR registration system.

Click on these links for a complete list of “Fall 2010 Political Science courses—forthcoming”. These include regularly offered courses as well as various “special topics” undergraduate classes offered with a POLS293 or POLS493 designation. Click here for full descriptions of courses offered during the Fall Semester (Spring 2010 update forthcoming).

Note: before you construct your semester schedule, you need to make sure your selected courses are still available at the time you register. To do so you should access the Admissions and Records website and, in particular, click on this link for an “updated listing department courses currently open for the upcoming semesters. Select Fall 2010 courses offered at WVU and, in particular, select the “subject area” of Political Science. Course availability is regularly updated during the month of pre-registration, so be sure to re-check this site immediately prior to your advising appointment.