Campus Academic Advising Process
UCSC Major Declaration Procedures, effective spring 2010
The Declaration of Major process is designed to make declaring a major/minor a simple administrative process while ensuring students have feasible graduation plans and access to timely advising tailored to their needs. Formal declaration (entering a major on AIS) is no longer temporally tied to a series of sequential mandatory advising contacts. Instead, programs have great flexibility to develop their own internal advising timelines and major/minor planning processes to meet students’ and institutional needs. Planning and advising, including faculty mentorship of undergraduates, can take place in advance of formal declaration and/or following formal declaration. Only complex plans (double majors, major/minors, combined majors) and plans that take students beyond their posted EGT (expected graduation term) will require a standard campus academic planning form in conjunction with declaration.
Because formal declaration and advising are no longer temporally linked, the process encourages innovative delivery of advising services; high-quality advising and rich mentorship that is student-centered, responsive and flexible; advising and planning motivated by need and good management rather than driven by deadlines.
Guiding principles for the process:
- The process should be student-friendly and not require students to take actions that are not useful.
- Programs have flexibility and discretion on type of planning required in most cases.
- More scrutiny should be required (in the form of a quarter-by-quarter academic plan) for students who may have difficulties completing the program within their maximum quarters of eligibility.
Highlights of the process:
- Single majors may be declared directly at the major program office – potentially in one stop – when EGT is not exceeded.
- Double majors, major/minor, and combined majors may be declared by filing a planning form signed by relevant program advisers – when EGT is not exceeded.
- Only plans that exceed the EGT require planning with the major/minor program advisers and the college adviser so that EGT may be revised.
- College advising on general requirements as well as time-to-degree policies will routinely be delivered by various methods outside the context of major declaration.
