PORTER ADVISING NEWS - MAY 27, 2008

The Porter Advising Newsletter is produced to keep you informed of important deadlines and to alert you to programs and resources that may be of interest to you. The newsletters will be archived at: http://www2.ucsc.edu/porter/academics.html. Porter Advising Office is located at Porter College, Room D-104 and advising office hours are Monday through Friday, 9:00 am. To 12 noon. And 1:00 pm. To 4:00 pm.

IN THIS ISSUE:
Deadline to Remove an Incomplete: June 12
Fall Enrollment Dates/Summer Blocked Dates
Summer Courses at UCSC
Porter Summer Courses
Writing Placement Exam: May 31
Satisfying GE's Over The Summer
Do You Need to Apply for the Commencement Ceremony?
Approval For More Than 19 Credits
Get Ready for Finals!  June 9-12
Avoiding Plagiarism Disasters

DEADLINE TO REMOVE AN INCOMPLETE FROM WINTER 2008: THURS, JUNE 12
If you received a grade of "I" (Incomplete) in a Winter 2008 course, it's time to start thinking about finishing up. You will need to complete the work for the course and file the "Petition for Removal of an Incomplete" before the last day of the quarter, June 12. Complete procedures can be found in The Navigator (see Section 4) or you can scroll to the bottom of this newsletter. If you do not complete the work by the end of spring quarter, your Incomplete will lapse to a No Pass or an "F" depending on which letter-grade option you selected. Both of these grades will appear on your official transcript. If you will be graduating this year, it is especially important to make sure you don't end up with an unexpected "F" on your record since it could prevent you from graduating.

FALL ENROLLMENT DATES / SUMMER BLOCKED DATES
By now, all students should have had their first opportunity to enroll in fall classes. Priority Enrollment for Fall 2008 began on May 19. See below for important enrollment dates.
5/19 - 5/25: First pass opportunities for enrollment. (See your appt time on the MyUCSC portal.)
5/26 - 5/28: Second pass opportunities for enrollment. (See your appt time on the MyUCSC portal.)
5/29 - 6/27: Open enrollment (begins after your 2nd pass appt - see your appt time on the MyUCSC portal)
6/28 - 7/28: ENROLLMENT CLOSED TO CONTINUING STUDENTS. This is the enrollment period for new incoming students.
7/29 - 9/24: Open Enrollment for ALL students.
* For Frequently Asked Questions on enrollment appointments, refer to the Office of the Registrar's FAQs.

SUMMER COURSES AT UCSC
Summer Session at UCSC is a great option to catch up on missing requirements or credits. You can also take courses that typically fill quickly during the school year or take courses to explore possible majors. Here are some courses that might fit your situation.
* WRITING 2. Need to complete your C2 requirement? (Remember that your C2 requirement MUST be completed BEFORE your 7th quarter of enrollment!) Writing 2 is the only UCSC course that meets your C2 requirement and is offered in both Session 1 and Session 2. Taking Writing 2 in the summer can be a smart choice; courses fill quickly during the school year and it can be difficult to get a space.
* PSYC 1. If you missed your opportunity to enroll in PSYC 1 during your first enrollment appointment, you'll have a difficult time finding space for fall. PSYC 1 is offered in Session 1.
* CHEM 1A, B, & C. Because of changes to the Chemistry series this past year, it can be difficult to find equivalent courses at community colleges. Chem 1A & 1B are offered in Session 1 and Chem 1C is offered in Session 2 along with their associated labs.
* ART 20 & 30. If you are interested in art classes, you already know how difficult it can be to take these classes during the school year. In the summer, there are no major restrictions on these courses! ART 20, Intro to Drawing & ART 30, Intro to Photography are both offered in Session 1.
* SOCY 1, 10 & 15. Sociology majors must complete these 3 courses with a GPA of 3.0 before they can declare the major. It can be difficult to take all these courses before your 90 credit deadline to declare your major, so taking one or two of these classes during the summer is a smart idea. SOCY 1 & SOCY 15 are offered in Session 1 and SOCY 10 is offered in Session 2.
* LIT 1. Are you having difficulty satisfying your W requirement? LIT 1 meets this requirement and is offered in both Session 1 & Session 2. During the summer, LIT 1 is open to all class levels and majors. During the school year, LIT 1 is only available to first & second year students and Lit majors/minors. AND, LIT 1 is now offered only in Winter & Spring quarters, so if you intend to declare a Literature major, it could help your plan to take this during the summer.
* OTHER W COURSES: These courses meet the W reqt and do not have prerequisites beyond satisfaction of your ELWR and Composition requirements - WRIT 161, ENVS 172 & THEA 184.
* The last day to enroll for Session 1 is June 27. More information can be found at the <http://summer.ucsc.edu/>Summer Session web site or in the searchable Schedule of Classes.

PORTER SUMMER COURSES:
Summer Session 1 (5 Weeks) 71705 PRTR-23B-01 Pers Narr Thea/Film LEC W 05:30PM-09:00PM Porter Din 002
Summer Session 1 (5 Weeks) 71397 PRTR-80I-01 Improvisation STU TuTh 06:00PM-09:00PM Baskin Multi D101
Summer Session 1 (5 Weeks) 71256 PRTR-80J-01 Mockumentary Film SEM MW 01:00PM-04:30PM Porter Acad 250

WRITING PLACEMENT EXAM: SAT, MAY 31
The Writing Placement Exam (also known as the Analytical Writing Placement Exam or AWPE) will be held on Saturday, May 31, 10:30-12:30 in Kresge 327. If you were admitted prior to Fall 2005 and need to satisfy your "C" requirement, the exam can be taken to try to "test out" of the "C" requirement for graduation. For information on taking the exam for this purpose, check out the Writing Program's website. The test cannot be used to appeal the C1 or C2 requirement. See a Porter adviser if you have questions about satisfying your Composition requirement.

SATISFYING GE'S OVER THE SUMMER
Thinking of taking community college courses over the summer to satisfy some GE's? The easiest way to find out which courses to take is to use the www.assist.org web site funded by the California state legislature. From the main page, use the pull-down menu under "Explore Transfer Information" to select "University of California, Santa Cruz", then select the community college where you'd like to take classes, then select "General Education Requirements" in the menu marked "For General-Education, Breadth." It will then display an articulation agreement that should show which courses at the community college will satisfy our GE's. Some colleges do not have updated agreements and will not display any courses. In that case, you can consult an academic adviser who can assist you. After you take the course, you will need to order a transcript from the community college and have it sent to the Office of Admissions to receive your unit credit and GE credit. As always, see an academic adviser if you have any questions. If you need to satisfy a lower-division requirement for your major, you can either use ASSIST to look up major requirements or see the department adviser in your major department.

DO YOU NEED TO APPLY FOR THE COMMENCEMENT CEREMONY?
Seniors! Are you planning to participate in the Porter Commencement Ceremony on June 14? May 16 was the deadline to fill out the "2008 Commencement Form." You can still apply for the commencement ceremony, however, you will now be accessed a $75 dollar fee and if you have any questions, contact the Porter Activities Office at 831.459.2857.
* Students completing their requirements in the spring should both "Apply to Graduate" on the my.ucsc.edu portal and fill out the "2008 Commencement Form."
* Students finishing their requirements in the summer or fall who wish to participate in the ceremony should fill out only the "2008 Commencement Form" and wait to "Apply to Graduate" for the quarter in which they will finish their graduation requirements.

APPROVAL FOR MORE THAN 19 CREDITS
The enrollment system will allow you to enroll in up to 19 credits without approval after your 2nd pass enrollment appointment. Students with a cumulative UCSC GPA of 3.0 or above may enroll in up to 22 units without approval from the college. You need to petition for an increased courseload if you would like to:
1) enroll in more than 22 credits and you have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or above, or
2) enroll in more than 19 credits and you have a cumulative GPA below 3.0.
Students may not enroll in more than 19 credits until the first day of instruction (September 25) to allow all students the opportunity to enroll into 3 classes. To petition for an increased courseload, fill out the form at the Porter Advising Office. We will need to wait until spring grades come in to review your petition, then you will be notified via email or college mail of the approval or denial of your request. All students approved or eligible for additional credits will need to wait until classes begin to enroll in more than 19 credits.

GET READY FOR FINALS! JUNE 9-12
How do you prepare for finals? If your answer to that question is a vague "study real hard," you might want to check out this informative website from MIT.
This online module covers all phases of exam preparation, from deciding what to study, to creating a plan, carrying it out and performing well on test day.

AVOIDING PLAGIARISM DISASTERS
During the end of the quarter crunch, taking shortcuts by not citing your work can be tempting.
Because the consequences of plagiarism are so severe (possible sanctions include suspension and dismissal from the university), you owe it to yourself to be informed! For an informative look at making research a little less painful, refer to UCLA's excellent online guide, Bruin Success with Less Stress. (Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.)

IN THE NEXT ISSUE:
End of the Quarter, Final Exam Schedule, Deadline to Remove an Incomplete, Deadline to Petition for a Leave of Absence, Deadline to Pay Fees for Fall 2008, Summer Mailroom Info, First Day of Fall Instruction.

This newsletter is produced by the Porter College Advising Staff:
* Lupe M. Allen, Academic Preceptor: 459-2273
* Bob Giges, Academic Preceptor: 459-2273
* Mary Spafford, Academic Adviser: 459-2273

Removal of an Incomplete Grade Notation
If you have received a grade notation of I (Incomplete) for a course, you must follow the steps below to convert it to a final grade. If you do not complete this process before the deadline listed in the Academic Calendar for the quarter following the one in which you earned the I, it will become a permanent failing grade (F or NP, depending on the grading option you chose for the course).
1) Obtain a Petition for Removal of Incomplete form at the Office of the Registrar and complete the top section.
2) Take it to the Cashier's Office before 4 p.m. on the deadline given in the Academic and Administrative Calendar and pay the $10 fee. The Cashier's Office will validate the petition, keep one copy, and return the remaining pages of the petition to you with a receipt of payment.
3) Take the validated petition with the completed course work to the instructor of the course by the same deadline. The instructor will complete the process.
The instructor will assign a final grade for the course based on the work that you submit. That final grade will be reported to the department that sponsored the course, which will forward the completed petition to the Office of the Registrar. Your final grade will be officially recorded by the Registrar and a copy of the completed petition will be sent to you at your college.

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