To: Journalism students - majors and minors
From: Mike Cowling, Chair of Journalism Dept.
Date: February 22, 2008

RE: Journalism Advising

Advising for fall 2008 journalism classes will be held on March 6, 7, 10, 11 & 12, 2008. Sign up to meet with your adviser on the signup sheets that they will have posted on their doors by Wednesday, February 27. Check your Star Report for the name of your journalism adviser. Although your Star Report registration date may be different or later than the journalism advising dates, you should still sign up to meet with your j-adviser. Some classes fill up quickly once journalism advising starts.

• Honor students and those with 90 credits and more may sign up for advising on Thursday, March 6 and Friday, March 7.

• Students with 60 through 89 credits will be advised on Monday, March 10 and Tuesday, March 11.

• Students with 45 through 59 credits will be advised on Wednesday, March 12.

• Students with fewer than 45 credits must make an appointment with Ms. Rebecca Spurlock (spurlock@uwosh.edu) in Academic Advising, Dempsey 130. She will be there to assist you in the planning of your class schedule.

Students with a GPA below a 2.50 should make an appointment with Ms. Rebecca Spurlock, in the Advising Center (Dempsey 130). The advisers are available for exploratory advising, career-related consultation, and other advising assistance. Only three journalism courses, Introduction to Journalism and Mass Media (141), Principles of Public Relations (211) and Principles of Advertising (250), accept students whose GPAs are below 2.50. Courses in Writing for the Media (221) and Editing (224) have waiting lists for students whose GPAs are between 2.45 and 2.49. The chances of getting into one of those courses are subject to the class enrollment and rank order of your GPA on the waiting list.  Please make an appointment with Mike Cowling, Chair, Department of Journalism. Other journalism courses are closed to any students whose GPAs are below 2.50.

You are requested to be prepared when you come to see your adviser. Please plan as much as you are able. Print your STAR Report and bring it with you for advising.

You may check the department’s Web site: http://www.uwosh.edu/departments/journalism/index.php to find out more information about the advising procedure.

The Department of Journalism follows the standards of and is accredited by the Accrediting Council for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (ACEJMC). Therefore, you MUST earn 80 credit hours in courses outside of journalism and mass communications. Also 65 of those credit hours MUST be in the liberal arts.  Check with your adviser or the department chair if you have any questions.

The Department’s Early Drop Policy: Because the department frequently has waiting lists for the courses, Writing for the Media (221) and Editing (224), its policy is to maintain full enrollment in these courses. Students who drop one of the courses after the first meeting of the class interferes with the department’s efforts to assist all students in completing their journalism studies in a timely fashion. To discourage students from dropping one of the courses, the department imposes a one-semester penalty for the two courses. In other words, students who drop a course will have to wait one additional semester before re-enrolling in that course. This penalty will be waived if the drop occurs in a timeframe that allows another student to take the newly vacated seat or if there is no waiting list at the time.