The academic advising offices at Florida Gulf Coast University are busier than ever now because of course registration for spring 2015. It can be difficult for a student to get an appointment exactly when they want it if they are not prepared. To avoid frustration, make sure you know what to expect before you walk in the door or make that phone call.
Book your appointment early. During registration, advising offices can be booked up to four weeks in advance due to high demand to see an adviser. Most offices do not take same-day appointments. Ask if there are designated walk-in appointment times if you are in a rush.
You can use DegreeWorks on Gulfline to see which classes you still need to graduate. Unless you are on academic probation or warning, it is not required for you to meet with an adviser before registering.
If an adviser is not available before your registration date, look up what you need on DegreeWorks then make the appointment for after you have registered to go over everything and make sure you’re on the right track.
Student athletes and honors students register first. This means the appointments for the beginning of registration will be reserved for athletes and seniors. Students register by credits completed, not how many years they have attended Florida Gulf Coast University. This semester’s credits do not count toward this because they are considered “in progress.”
Most colleges have a transition workshop for freshmen to transition out of First Year Advising and into their college. Make sure you have completed the steps to transition.
Make sure that your account doesn’t have any holds that will prevent you from registering. You can check your holds on Gulfline.
If you are looking to change your major to one that is outside of your current college, you must see an adviser in the new college to do that. For example, a communication major would have to make an appointment with a college of education adviser to switch his major to education.
Many upper level courses are restricted to students with 60-plus credits completed. For example, a freshman cannot register for University Colloquium. If a student tries to register for a class they don’t have enough credits for, they will receive a class restriction error.
A pre-requisite error occurs when a student tries to register for a class that he or she has not completed all the pre-requisites for. To check a class’s pre-requisites, when you search for the class in the Course Schedule Search, click on the CRN. A pop-up box with the course description will appear. At the bottom of the box will be a link that says “Course Information.” This will tell you more details, including the pre-requisites.
Many advising offices have a frequently asked questions section on their website. Read through it before you call to ask a question that may already be answered.
There is no need to panic during registration. As long as you are prepared and don’t expect to walk into an advising office and get an appointment for that day, everything will work out fine.