Where are the online SOTES?

Online SOTES are due this Friday - December 9th.  If you do not complete your SOTES your grade availability will be delayed in my.sjsu.   This is of great importance to students who are applying for the HS major this spring as the grade release will come after the application is due.  

So, where do I go to complete the SOTES?

Logon to my.sjsu and follow the link on the home page in the left hand column (see screenshot example below).

Applying to HS and Spring Enrollment for Non-Majors

Many students who are planning on applying to the Health Science major for this upcoming Spring semester have asked for advice around applying to HS and enrollment for spring 2014.   Here is a summary of what I generally say... 

Health Science Spring 2014 application process summary for current SJSU students

• Electronic application, available in the first week of January, due Fri. January 10th, 2014 
• Link to application will be emailed to all students who have signed up with the Health Science Office (Online sign up form) 
• Application will require *Name, Student ID, Current (fall13 included) Cumulative GPA, and HS Coursework completed 
• You must complete your online course evaluations - SOTES - in order to get your fall 2013 grades on time to apply! View the SOTE Calendar or the Online SOTE FAQ page.
• SOTES must be completed by Friday, December 9th, 2013.
• New majors will be accepted solely on GPA. 
• The minimum GPA to apply is 2.6
• The recommended minimum is 3.0
• Students who apply will be notified of the department's decision by January 15th 
• Group Advising Sessions will be planned for all newly accepted majors on 
  Friday January 17th and Wednesday, January 22nd 

Things to consider about spring enrollment - if you're not in the HS major (yet) 

• Know (or have an idea of) the concentration that you want to pursue
• The General BS in Health Science includes the prep courses, the core major courses, and either electives or a minor (including Gerontology).  
• You can pursue elective units or a minor without being in the HS major
• If you have completed 60 units or more and you have passed the WST, you can come by the HS office and request permission to enroll in HS 100W - bring documentation of the above requirements.
• If you have completed 60 units or more and you have passed or are taking 100W, you can also take HS 135 and it will satisfy SJSU Area S (and also a major course if you get into the HS major).   
• If you have completed your lower division GE and you are still not at 60 units, consider adding a minor and pursuing the minor courses to get you closer to UD status. 
• You are welcome to stop by the Health Science office (MH 407) and pick up an Advising Sheet or talk with the Peer Advisors about planning for HS, but many classes will not be available to you unless you are a major.  

Grades, SOTES, and change of major applicants

Last spring the University transitioned from paper based course evaluations to online evaluations and this fall, the online SOTES will continue.   The reason this is important information for an advising blog is because the release of Fall 2013 grades will be dependent on whether or not students complete SOTES on all fall classes by the December 9th deadline.  

Students who DO complete all course evaluations will be able to access grades on December 21st and students who do NOT complete all course evaluations will not be able to access grades until January 11.

This concern is particularly impactful to the folks who will be applying to the Health Science Major because fall 2013 grades are required for an accurate cumulative GPA.    

SOTES are available now through my.sjsu accounts and will remain available until December 9th.   Why Wait?

Spring 2014 Course Enrollment Questions, Problems, Status Updates

There are a number of questions that folks have about our spring enrollment process and when codes will be distributed.  Here is a summary of what is happening - at this time.   If you are not familiar with the HS course numbering or want to review our curriculum - please see the online catalog for more information.

With all courses and with all permission codes that are issued by the department:  It is important that you use the code to enroll in the course within 24 hours so your code is not given to another student.  If you do not use a code in a timely manner and your code is given to another student, you run the risk of not getting a seat in a course that you may need.  

Prep Courses

These courses are available for all SJSU students and are required for all HS majors. Some prep courses are required for HS minors.  

Anyone can enroll, frosh/soph priority, courses are available for GE credit

HS 1

HS 15

HS 67

HS 74:  Anyone can enroll in this course.  Can be taken concurrently with HS 104.  HS 1 is recommended as a pre-requisite.  

HS 102:  Anyone can enroll in this course, but currently, enrollment is restricted to students who are in UD standing. If you want to enroll in this course and you have completed less than 60 units, please email the Health Science Department with your number 1 and number 2 section choices. HS 1 is recommended before enrolling in HS 102.   You can co-enroll in HS 15, 67, and 74. 

Core Major Courses

Unless otherwise indicated, these courses are for HS majors and minors only  

HS 104:  Enrollment codes will be sent out by Monday 11/18/13 to students who completed the enrollment survey and have successfully met the required prerequisite courses (1, 15, 67).  

HS 158:  Enrollment codes will be sent out by Monday 11/18/13 to students who completed the enrollment survey,  have successfully met the required prerequisite courses (1, 15, 67), and who have passed 104.  If you indicated on the survey that you want to co-enroll in HS 104 and 158, you will be given a code for HS 104. You can contact an advisor to discuss your course options to avoid taking these two courses together.  

HS 161:  Currently, this course is being restricted to department consent, but we are working with the university to lift this restriction and allow open enrollment. If you want to enroll in this course - and be notified when this restriction is lifted, please email the department.    ** Restrictions have been lifted - enroll! **

HS 165:  Students who have applied for spring 2014 graduation will be sent add codes from the department during the week of 11/18/13.   No need to email or contact anyone.  **Codes have been sent to eligible students**

HS 166 A/B:  Codes will be issued for fieldwork at the fieldwork expo - more information will be coming, but please save the first friday of December for this event. **Codes will now be issued by the department directly - to students who are graduating in spring 2014**

HS 159:  HS 159A was not scheduled correctly and we are not going to be able to offer this new course in Spring 2014.   If you are graduating by Fall 2014, you have successfully met the required pre-requisites, and you completed the enrollment survey, you will be issued a code to one of the HS 159 sections as soon as we have codes to issue.   Please be patient while we wait for permission codes to be sent to us.   If you are not graduating in 2014 you are not going to be given priority for this course.  **Codes have been sent to eligible students**

HS 103, 162, 167:  These courses should be open for enrollment without instructor or department consent. 

HS 135:  This course is open to all as an upper division GE. 

Concentration Courses that have enrollment issues right now

HS 171:  This course is restricted by department consent.  The HS department is issuing codes to students who are Administration Concentration majors and have successfully passed HS 162.  Enrollment is limited to 30 students and priority will be given to those students who will be graduating in Spring or Fall 2014.  **Department restriction for this course has been lifted*

**Update** If you did not receive a code to HS 171, you can substitute this course with any of the new Administration courses available this spring (HS 173 or HS 175) or the new Health Policy course - HS 103.   If you have already applied for graduation, we will need to complete a substitution form.  

** If you have experienced an enrollment challenge with another HS course, please let me know, so I can post the problem and work on a solution. ** (Thanks! ~anji~) 

SJSU Studies courses

University Standing
A student is in lower division standing when 59 or fewer units have been completed in all college coursework.  A student is in upper division standing when 60 or more units have been completed.   http://info.sjsu.edu/web-dbgen/narr/schedules/rec-558.html

SJSU studies courses
Areas R, S, V, and Z are the upper division general education requirements for all SJSU students and require students be in upper division standing in order to enroll. SJSU Studies explained in the Catalog

Area Z - 100W

• This course requires the passing of the WST and a minimum of 60 completed units in order to enroll through my.sjsu without further support or petitioning.   If a student wants to enroll in 100W while still in Lower Division standing (and has passed the WST), there is a petition to complete and deliver to the undergraduate studies office for consideration.  If approved, this form will be submitted to the registrar on the first day of the semester.   Once your petition has been received by the registrar's office you should be able to enroll in 100W with an add code from the instructor.  This work happens during the first week of the semester and Sophomores petitioning to take 100W have the lowest priority for enrollment.  With that said, many petitioning Sophomores are successful in finding a section that is open.  

Area R, S, V

• Areas R, S, and V all require a pre (or) co-requisite of 100W to enroll.  
• Area S - for HS majors - is satisfied through our curriculum and core major course (HS 135)
• Areas R and V need to be taken in a department other than HS  

Announcing the Fall 2013 Group Advising Sessions for Health Science

Please fill out this quick survey if you're planning on coming. 

Fall Advising Questions

Preparing for the Health Science Major

The Health Science Major is currently impacted, which means that students are admitted to the major by application only.  The admission process is based on GPA and it is quite competitive.  You can read the general process on the HS webpage - Health Science: Interested in the major

Students who are undeclared or wish to change to Health Science are encouraged to complete the Health Science Major Interest Form online and you will be notified when the next application cycle begins.

While you are still deliberating the Health Science Major I recommend that you review the different concentrations that are offered in the major, peruse the course requirements, and drop by the KIOSK outside the Health Science Office to pick up the advising forms for the concentration you are interested in.   You can also find a list of approved electives, available in the KIOSK.  While you are there - make the time to chat with a Peer Advisor about the major.   They make great informational interviews because they understand the course progression and the major from a student perspective!

To read about the different concentrations online you may want to check out the Health Science and Recreation website and you can find the detailed descriptions of course requirements and course descriptions in the SJSU Catalog.  

All of the above recommendations will help you learn more about the major, and when you still have questions, be on the look out for a group advising session.  The dates for fall group advising will be made available soon - so check back.

Health Science Peer Advising Schedule Fall 2013

How can you get your advising questions answered?

If you have questions about your academic plan, graduation, or just general undergraduate advising, you are likely to answer your questions with a little extra effort on your part. Some of the resources I would recommend include:

•  The SJSU Advising Hub is a great place to start. The Advising Hub has a lengthly list of published FAQ, links to forms, general information, transfer student information, and forms. 
•  The Department Advising forms that are available in the KIOSK outside the Health Science Department in MacQuarrie Hall Room 407. The KIOSK contains a number of helpful advising forms for the Department and the University. Be sure to pick up the advising form that is specific to your selected concentration in Health Science. 
•  Drop in for advising with the Health Science Peer Advisors. The peer advisors are all an excellent resource for live advising. They know our HS curriculum, they have experienced our courses first hand, and they want to help! You can find the Peer Advisors outside the HS office Monday through Thursdays generally between the hours of 11 and 4. Please consult the flyer for exact hours of availability. Attend a group advising session. 
•  The University offers group advising sessions for various advising related tasks. The registrar's office is hosting graduation advising workshops for all students with more than 90 units. Visit the registrar's webpage for the dates of these workshops. 
•  The Health Science Department Advising Team will be hosting some group sessions to be planned later this month - there will be another post soon announcing these dates! 

 If all of the above resources have not helped you answer your question, email me (anji.buckner@sjsu.edu) - because you have a great question and I would like to answer it here!

Understanding Catalog Rights

Q:  What are Catalog Rights?

A:  All SJSU students have Catalog Rights which simply means that you are entitled to pursue the major curriculum published in the Catalog at the time of your start of continuous enrollment in the CSU system or California Community Colleges.   When courses are no longer offered, the department will offer alternative courses to substitute.  Students may choose to follow the current curriculum if desired.

SJSU Catalog Rights

SJSU Glossary of Terms: Continuous Enrollment

Advising FAQ: What do I need to do to apply for graduation?

Frequently Asked Advising Question for the week of 9/16/13

Q:   What do I need to do to apply for graduation? 

A: You can apply for graduation once you have completed at least 90 units and it is recommended that you apply as soon as you reach 90 units.   To apply for graduation you need to complete the following steps:

1.  Download the graduation application from SJSU webpage
2.  Read the graduation application checklist
3.  Review your Academic Requirements summary on my.sjsu and make notes of any remaining GE courses that you still need to complete.
4.  Complete your Major Form by meeting with a peer advisor, attending a group advising session, or meeting with a faculty advisor.
5.  Complete the graduation application and submit the application and the Major Form to the HS office (MH 407) for a Faculty Advisor to review.
6.  If the Faculty Advisor has questions you will be sent an email prior to the paperwork being completed.
7.  If the application and major form are in order, your paperwork will be signed and processed by the department.   You will receive a confirmation email from the department with an electronic copy of your completed and signed forms.

The deadline to apply for a Spring graduation is November 1 (of the previous year) and May 1 for a Fall graduation.

Welcome to the Health Science Advising Blog

This new blog will be an online forum to discussing and sharing common advising questions and procedures.   Each week I will post a frequently asked question and/or an advising tutorial to help support students who are currently HS majors and those who are interested in our major.    If you have questions, please send them to me directly and I will respond either directly or I will highlight your question as a featured question of the week.  

Thanks for visiting - and please let me know how the department advising services can best support your advising needs.

Warmly,

Anji Buckner
Health Science Faculty Advisor