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.

Upon declaring the major, you will be assigned to be advised by a member of the Political Science faculty. 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. Via the University’s “Degree Works” program, the Department will maintain a record of your progress towards the degree by maintaining an advising checklist for both the University and College General Education ( GEC Requirements ) and the Department major. Depending on your area of emphasis, click on the links below for advising checklist for requirements in the areas of emphasis below:

General Political Science
Pre-Law and Legal Studies
American Politics and Policy and Government and Business
International Relations, Comparative Politics, and National Security

Please note: as a result of our strategic planning efforts, the Department has substantially revised its Political Science tracks. Student 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, contact the Department Chair, Professor Scott Crichlow, or the Department Undergraduate Director, Professor John Kilwein.

Spring 2012 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 early 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 2012 Spring semester will commence in early October, and appointments with advisors can be made for throughout October and early November. The ””priority dates” for course registration for these semesters are as follows:

November 1st to November 4th: Honors Advising (according to class rank)
November 7th: Seniors
November 9th: Juniors
November 11th: Sophomores
November 14th: Freshmen

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.

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 website of the WVU Office of the Registrar and, in particular, click on this link for an updated listing department courses currently open for the upcoming semesters. By early October, courses for Spring semester and you will be able to click on this link and select Spring 2012 courses offered at “WVU campus” 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.