Academic Advising
Advising Handbook - Index
The purpose of this handbook is to provide centralized advising information. Most links will take you to existing Western Illinois University web pages. Other links will take you to a PDF file.
Links will be updated and added regularly. Please e-mail additions, corrections, and suggestions to Julie O’Brien at JA-O-Brien@wiu.edu.
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Academic Advising Standards and Guidelines
- Academic dishonesty appeal
- Grade appeal
- Oral English proficiency appeal
- Right of academic appeal
- Withdrawal from courses appeal
- Also see documentation needed for CAGAS appeals
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The Registrar's Office classifies students in one of the following academic states based on the cumulative and semester grade point average (GPA): good standing, academic warning, academic probation, academic suspension, academic dismissal. Students who have received two suspensions for poor scholarship are not eligible to return to WIU except during the summer sessions. If they are able to bring their cumulative GPA to a 2.0 in the summer term, they may apply to CAGAS for reinstatement.
- Academic dismissal (scroll down to the last paragraph under "Reinstatement following Suspension")
- Academic probation
- Academic suspension
- Academic warning
- Flow charts of academic standing (PDF documents)
- Freshmen: Fewer than 30 hours
- Sophomore: 30-59 hours
- Junior: 60-89 hours
- Senior: 90 hours to completion of degree requirements
Adding/Dropping classes - calendar available on MVS (ACAL). Students can access the calendar using STARS.
Advanced Placement (AP) Credit
- To take the CEEB Advanced Placement Exam, a student must have taken an AP class in high school from a certified teacher.
- Completion of a high school AP class without the needed exam score will not result in any college credit.
Advisor Syllabus (PDF)
CAGAS (Council on Admission, Graduation and Academic Standards)
- CAGAS is responsible for recommending and evaluating policies concerning admission, retention, graduation, and academic standards and for establishing some of the procedures to carry out such policies. It also serves as an appellate body regarding such policies and procedures. Appeals for exceptions to policies, for example, adding a class after the deadline, must be handled through CAGAS. Several forms are available on the homepage
Meetings and Deadlines for CAGAS
- When classes are not in session, CAGAS holds a special meeting during the week prior to the Spring semester and the Fall semester, as well as one meeting each in May, June, July, and August.
COAA (Council of Academic Advisors) - Council of Academic Advisors meets biweekly to discuss issues in the advising community.
Community College Commitment (CCC) - Students entering the university after receiving an A.A. or A.S. (not an A.A.S.) degree receive the Community College Commitment. No matter what classes they actually took for their degree, they are considered to have completed the WIU General Education requirements (11 sh each for NSM, SS and HUM). However, a specific college may impose additional or course-specific General Education requirements.
Computer Labs - Campus locations
- Numbering of courses
- Prerequisites/Corequisites
- Repeatable Courses
- Office of Public Safety 298-1949
- Student Development and Success Center 298-1884
- University Counseling Center 298-2453
Dealing with Difficult and/or Dangerous Students
Directories (student, faculty, staff, departments)
- Academic departments (chair, campus address, campus phone, web address)
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Lost and found offices (contact one or more of the following)
- Office of Public Safety 298-1949
- Registrar 298-1891
- Union Service Center 298-1941
Disability Resource Center (DRC) - Procedures for serving students with disabilities can be found via the Disability Resource Center located in the Student Development and Success Center in Memorial Hall.
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Audit guidelines
- Classes may be changed to or from Audit during the program change period, the first 10 days of the semester
- A previously audited course may not be repeated for credit
- Audited classes are recorded on the transcript as "X" with 0 hours of credit
- The only requirement for an audit is regular class attendance. If the instructor determines that a student has not attended enough classes to warrant receiving an Audit designation (X), the instructor may place an Unsatisfactory Audit (UX) symbol on the grade sheet which will also show on the transcript
- Tuition for an Audit course is assessed the same as credit courses
- Most financial aid will not pay for Audit credit hours.
- Pass/Fail (scroll down to Pass/Fail System)
- Repeating Courses (scroll down to Repeating Failed Courses or Repeating Passed Courses)
Exit Interviews - Students withdrawing from the University should complete a Student Withdrawal Request or contact the Registrar's Office (110 Sherman Hall, 298-1891) and the Student Development and Success Center (125 Memorial Hall, 298-1884).
FERPA - Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act - The new Student Information Release Authorization form must be completed and signed before a notary before it can be returned to the Registrar's Office. Parents may not sign the form for their son/daughter student . This form can be completed and notarized by any notary and then mailed to the Registrar's Office.
- https://www.wiu.edu/registrar/ferpa/index.php
- FAQs (PDF) https://www.wiu.edu/registrar/forms/FERPA%20FAQ.pdf
First Year Experience and Retention Initiatives
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Guidelines
- Students may not use any one course to satisfy two General Education distribution requirements.
- Students may not count more than two courses from the discipline in which they major toward satisfaction of the General Education requirements
- No courses under the Pass/Fail option may apply to the General Education requirements.
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Agreements
- Students entering the university after receiving an A.A. or A.S. (not an A.A.S.) degree receive the Community College Commitment. No matter what classes they actually took for their degree, they are considered to have completed the WIU General Education requirements (11 sh each for NSM, SS and HUM). However, a specific college may impose additional or course-specific General Education requirements.
- Illinois Articulation Initiative (IAI) - Students with the IAI have completed the University General Education requirements (10 sh NSM, 9 sh SS, 9 sh HUM)
Good Student Discount - Enrollment and grade point average verifications provided by Registrar's Office (110 Sherman Hall, 298-1891)
- Grade Change - When an error has been made in computing or reporting a student’s course grade, the reported grade may be changed. The request for a change should be reported to the Registrar within three weeks after the next term begins. The student initiates the procedure for the change by contacting the course instructor. The instructor completes a Grade Change Request. The Request must be acknowledged by the department chair. Upon receipt of a valid Grade Change Request, the Registrar will change the student’s permanent record. Notification of the change will be emailed to the student and the student’s academic advisor.
- Grade Change Request - If the instructor makes an error in determining the student's final grade, the reported grade may be changed. Grade changes for other reasons would normally be initiated under the incomplete grade, grade appeal, or academic integrity policies. For changes under this policy, the Grade Change Request should be initiated by the instructor and reported to the Registrar's Office within three weeks after the next term begins. The department chairperson must acknowledge the request, indicating that he or she has reviewed and approved the grade change. Upon receipt of a valid Change of Grade change Request, the Registrar's Office will change the permanent record, and will email a notification of the change to the student and the student's academic advisor. The Registrar's Office will return without action any Grade Change Request that does not meet the specifications for justification and required department chair acknowledgement.
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Grades and Class Attendance - Evaluation of a student's achievement is the responsibility of the instructor. It is assumed that during the progress of the course every instructor will have applied adequate, valid measures which will result in an objective, reasonably reliable grade assignment and that these measures will have been made known to the student at the beginning of the term.
Reasonable measures should be taken by the instructor, within the framework of the class structure, to evaluate the students and to make the results available to the students upon inquiry. Instructors should attempt to consult with students who are doing unsatisfactory work. An Incomplete for a course may be given only when the student, due to circumstances beyond his/her control, has been unable to complete the course requirements within the official limits of the term. The mere failure to complete an assignment or to take the final examination, unless illness or other emergency is the cause, does not justify the recording of the Incomplete. The circumstances involved must be documented to the instructor's satisfaction. If an instructor neglects to record a grade for a student by the deadline, an Incomplete will be recorded. It will be the responsibility of the instructor to initiate a Grade Change Request. Students are expected to attend all classes in which they are enrolled. Instructors should exercise good judgment in considering excuses for absences, but it is the student’s responsibility to confer with the instructor and to agree to any reasonable arrangements to compensate for his/her non-attendance. When a student does not appear in class for several sessions, the instructor may contact the Office of Student Development and Success Center so that attempts may be made to locate the student.
*NOTE: Students will not receive a grade or credit for any course for which the registration was not completed in a timely manner in accordance with university procedures. Students who have any obligation to the university (such as unpaid fines, tuition, fees, residence hall charges, missing admission documents, etc.) will not be allowed to register for classes until all obligations are met and should not expect retroactive enrollment for the period of time during which they were not eligible to register. A student who is not registered for a course must have instructor permission to attend class up until the last published day to register for the class (usually tenth day). Attendance past the last published day to register without being officially enrolled for the class is not permitted without permission of both the instructor and the chair/director.*
- Grade Point Average (GPA) - The average of a student's honor points divided by hours attempted. It is calculated at the end of each semester, as well as overall.
- Hours Attempted - Number of semester hours a student is enrolled in each semester.
GradTrac - Western Illinois University guarantees new freshmen that if they meet GradTrac requirements they will graduate in four years or their remaining tuition will be free.
ILACADA - ILACADA fosters and inspires quality leadership through academic advising for the educational development of students and the professional development of advisors. As an allied member of NACADA, ILACADA promotes the overall awareness of academic advising as a profession.
- Students called to military active duty should contact the Registrar's Office (298-1891).
- In an emergency, the parents or commanding officer can make this contact.
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The three options available to students are:
- withdraw from all classes
- receive incompletes for all classes
- receive the grade earned in each class before orders were received
NACADA - Recognizing that effective academic advising is at the core of student success, NACADA aspires to be the premier global association for the development and dissemination of innovative theory, research, and practice of academic advising in higher education.
- English: students who place into English 100 must register for that class first.
- Math: The math placement at WIU is determined by the math ACT or SAT score and the math courses passed with a grade of 'C' or better in high school (see How to Determine Placement In borderline cases, when there is sufficient evidence that additional math was taken after the standardized tests, students are given the opportunity to improve their original math placement by taking the online placement exam ALEKS.
STARS - (Student/Alumni Records System) provides WIU students, alumni and employees with online access to their university records.
Student Activities / Student Engagement
Transcripts - Online at https://www.wiu.edu/Registrar/transcripts.php
Tutoring and Learning Resources
University Advising - Program for students entering the University who have not declared a major. Students may remain in the University Advising program until they have completed 45 semester hours. The First Year Advising Center is responsible for advising these students.
University Housing and Dining Services (UHDS)
- Admissions requires that first time visiting students submit an application, pay the fee, and provide documentation of good standing at previous school
- May enroll in no more than 18 semester hours
- Is not eligible for financial aid
- May attend for 1 semester
- Need special permission from the Registrar's Office to attend WIU for a second semester
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