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The Transfer Student Handbook

Table of Contents

A Letter From the Director of the Academic Advising Center

Directory for Academic Advising Resources

Tips for Transfers: A Letter from the Associate Director of the Academic Advising Center

Planning for Orientation and Your First Term: Transfer Credit Evaluation

How to Use an Academic Advisor, or Popular Myths About Advising

LS&A Degree Requirements

English Composition

Race & Ethnicity Requirement

Quantitative Reasoning Requirement

The Language Requirement

Selecting a Concentration

Area Distribution

Frequently Asked Questions

On-line Academic Information

Using this Booklet

In this booklet we will relate some of the facts you will need to know as a transfer student. Our immediate purpose is to have the academic side of your Orientation period go smoothly. You can help accomplish this goal by taking the time to peruse this booklet. You should find information highly relevant to choices you will face and decisions you must make at Orientation and some months beyond.

In this booklet, among other things, we are going to sketch out the requirements for a degree from the College. As we do so, you will learn that the academic choices in LS&A are many. In fact, you will find that there are few specific requirements for an LS&A degree - be it a Bachelor of Arts (A.B.), a Bachelor of Science (B.S.), or a Bachelor in General Studies (B.G.S.) degree.

You should remember, however, as you read through and use the Course Guide that some of the courses may be closed when you register. Therefore you should plan a number of options.

When you attend Orientation, before enrolling for courses, you will meet with an academic advisor in the College and junior transfers may meet with a concentration advisor.

The College will also give you a copy of the current LS&A Bulletin (college catalog). This important book contains, among much else, all the specific concentration requirements and listings of all courses offered in the College.

Best wishes in the great adventure that lies ahead!

For the Student Data and Publications Office,

Robert D. Wallin, Director

A Letter From the Director of the LS&A Academic Advising Center>

Academic advisors in LS&A include more than thirty faculty and staff advisors in the LS&A Academic Advising Center and concentration advisors from the department or program you choose for a concentration (our term for a "major"). We recommend that you find one advisor, either general or concentration, with whom you feel comfortable and visit that person on a regular basis. Becoming acquainted with one advisor means that you have someone to turn to when you need advice, a recommendation, or personal assistance. Most students continue to see the advisor they conferred with during Orientation. You are free, however, to see anyone you choose.

As a new transfer student at Michigan, you will be facing many adjustments in the coming year. Academically, many of you will find that the expectations here are much greater than at your previous school. It would be wise for you to obtain early a sense of what level of performance is expected for each of your classes. Carefully read over the syllabus for each of your courses, discuss the contents of each course with the instructor, and compare notes on what is expected with fellow students. If you are electing courses that are part of a sequence, you may find that a course in your previous school did not cover the same material that is covered in a comparable course here. The courses are considered equivalent but you will need to make up the material that was not covered.

Outside the classroom you will be making adjustments as well. As a new student it will probably take you awhile to find your friends. Because of the many adjustments you face, we personally recommend that new transfers take a slightly lighter academic load in the first term in LS&A.

In order to make the most of your educational experience at Michigan you need to take the initiative. Seek out the professors, the classes, and the advisors that best meet your needs.

Best wishes for success and for exciting, productive years at Michigan.

Louis C. Rice, Ph.D.,
Interim Director
LS&A Academic Advising Center

Tips For Transfers

Even though you are experienced students, you will find that you now need "new" answers to old familiar questions. One of your first tasks will be to learn how things work in LS&A and on this campus; the policies, procedures, and deadlines you are used to from your previous campus are not the same here. (It's learning how to be "street smart" in this new setting.) To avoid pitfalls and to discover the best experiences, you should work closely with an academic advisor. That person will help you be certain that you understand all the possibilities available to you as well as any limitations defined by LS&A requirements and procedures.

Appointments with general advisors are made in 1255 Angell Hall. Appointments with pre-professional advisors in architecture, business, education, engineering, law, and medicine may also be made here. The office has a list of phone numbers for making concentration appointments.

RESOURCES

There are many sources of information and assistance available on campus through various offices and the specific departments. The Academic Advising Center and the departments offering the classes you are interested in and your instructors are obvious and primary sources of advice and information. But there are some other excellent resources that may not be as obvious to you.

Most residence halls have an academic advisor from our office who keeps regular advising hours in the building. This person is an excellent, convenient resource to consult. These advisors can also be reached easily and confidentially through the University's e-mail system

All residence halls have Resident Directors, Resident Advisors, and Multicultural Peer Advisors who, as experienced students, can direct you to appropriate sources of information, experience, and assistance. The residence halls also have libraries and library staff who can help you learn all about the many different research facilities available to you and how to use them. You will also find a variety of special programs and services in the halls - computer classes, study skills sessions, computer equipment, and much more.

Student Data and Publications operates both a phone- and computer-based information service to provide answers to policy and procedural questions as well as open and closed course information. Feel free to call this academic information office at POINT-10 (764-6810).

The Academic Advising Center has a staff of Peer Academic Advisors who are trained to answer quick questions about policies, degree requirements, deadlines, and campus resources. They are available on a walk-in basis.

You will find that many departments operate a variety of special services to support your studies and academic interests. For instance, the Math Department operates the Math Lab where students can seek individualized help with problems and concepts; the English Composition Board has its Writers' Workshop where you can get advice about the progress and quality of any writing project you are working on.

A NEW START

We take great pleasure in welcoming each year's group of transfer students. This is an exciting transition from one phase of your educational career to the next. Remember that the role of your academic advisor is to help you accomplish your goals here.

Best wishes in your newest academic undertaking.

Virginia J. Reese
Associate Director
The LS&A Academic Advising Center

Planning for Orientation and Your First Term

Transfer Credit

Transferring courses taken at another College or University: The maximum number of credits that can be transferred into LS&A is 60 semester credit hours (62 if you come with an associates degree from a community college that requires 62). If you have more than 60 credits from other schools, the courses may all transfer but the credit hour total on your LS&A transcript will appear as 60+.

LS&A students are required to complete 60 credits in residence, at least 30 of which must be among the final 60. You should carefully read the section Residence Policy in Chapter IV of the LS&A Bulletin.

Transfer credit criteria: The criterion for establishing which courses are transferable is that the course content is basically parallel to a UM class and is completed with a "C" or better. Your past school's transcript is evaluated by the Office of Undergraduate Admissions and is reflected on the Academic Report. Credit earned at other institutions is posted without honor points (i.e., without grades) and will not affect your UM Grade Point Average (GPA). (The only exceptions are UM-Flint and UM-Dearborn; in these two cases, credit is transferred together with honor points and credit is granted for courses passed with a D- or better. Credit from UM-Flint and UM-Dearborn is defined as out-of-residence.)

Translating your Academic Report: You will receive in the mail a transfer credit evaluation from the Office of Undergraduate Admissions.

Whenever possible, credit is assigned using a University of Michigan-Ann Arbor course number. When the transferred course cannot be matched with an existing UM-Ann Arbor course, it is assigned a three-digit departmental or interdepartmental number. In this case, the first digit will indicate level; the middle digit will be an "X" indicating that departmental credit has been granted; and the third digit indicates the number of courses taken at the same level from a given department. For example, an Academic Report for Fall 1996 could show:

Psychology 112	3 cr. 
English 2X1		3 cr. 
English 2X2		4 cr. 
Biology 1X1		4 cr.

If you have questions about your Academic Report, ask your academic advisor. If the question or discrepancy cannot be easily resolved, show relevant transcripts and/or course materials to the Admissions Office and ask for reevaluation. Credit is usually evaluated on the basis of catalogue descriptions which may not correspond with actual course content. As a last resort, contact the Academic Standards Board (1219 Angell Hall) and explain the problem.

Applying Transfer Credits to College Requirements

During Orientation your Academic Advisor will review your transfer credits with you and indicate how these credits can be used to meet College requirements. At that time the Advisor will fill in a Transfer Students Check List, giving one copy to you and placing the carbon in your student file for future reference. Below are some issues that you should note with regard to applying transfer credit.

English Composition: All students attending the College of LS&A must submit a writing portfolio; composition placement is determined by the assessment of the portfolio. Read p. 13 of this booklet, "English Composition." Composition transferred from your former school will be given English Composition Departmental credit and can be used toward the 120 required degree credits. It will not, however, exempt you from the composition requirement here.

Language: Students entering with fourth-term language credit from their previous schools have met the language requirement. They do not have to take a language placement exam unless they plan to take advanced-level work in that language. All students with less than the fourth term of a language must take a placement exam if they intend to continue in the same language. Frequently, the placement exam will recommend a placement that repeats or is lower than the transfer course. If this happens, you should have a careful discussion with your advisor about the appropriate level to elect. Repeating a course or starting at a level lower than that transferred will forfeit the transfer credit. On the other hand, electing a course above your predicted performance level can be risky. Note: If you decide to forfeit 4th term (232) transfer credit for the election of a lower level course, you also forfeit satisfaction of the language requirement by transfer credit. See p. 16 for further information about the language requirement.

Race & Ethnicity and Quantitative Reasoning: Read pages 14 and 15 about these College requirements. Transfer credit is never automatically applied to these requirements but is often appropriate. If you think you have met either of these requirements with transfer courses, ask your advisor how to apply for a waiver.

Mathematics and Science courses: The sequence of topics taught in mathematics and science courses varies between colleges, making it difficult to find the appropriate course in mid-sequence. The Biology department, for instance, tends to give departmental rather than specific credit for introductory courses. Students planning to take advanced-level Biology courses would then need to speak with a Biology advisor to determine if the transfer courses had prepared them sufficiently for the next level. Similar situations occur in other areas, especially Chemistry and Mathematics. Your advisor can help you track down this information.

Course load: Most transfer students are on a "tight schedule" and feel they need to graduate within a set number of terms. Nonetheless, you might consider taking a slightly reduced load your first term here. Change does take adjustment in both one's personal and academic life and adjustment takes time and energy. It is often wiser to start a little cautiously until you get the "feel" of the College and life in Ann Arbor. Often you can make up the credits in subsequent terms by electing just one or two "extra" credits per term.

Rules and Regs: Every College has a different way of handling such issues as dropping classes, non-graded courses, incomplete grades, etc. Never assume you know an answer until you have checked an authoritative source. The LS&A Bulletin, which you will receive during Orientation, contains the rules that will apply to you during your tenure here. You will be held responsible for those rules, so keep the Bulletin where you can use if for reference. (Some of these rules are explained on page 20.)

Your advisor is also a good resource and can be reached by e-mail, through walk-in hours in the residence halls and by appointment in the LS&A Advising Center, 1255 Angell Hall. There is also a "generic" e-mail advisor:

Ask.LS&A.Advisor@umich.edu.

Also check the Directory on pp. 5-6.

Transfer credit is defined as out-of-residence

Selecting a Concentration

If you have not yet chosen a concentration, you will need to begin thinking about your areas of interest so that you can choose your concentration in a timely manner. Probably the most helpful hint we can give you in selecting your concentration is to choose one which satisfies you. Success in a concentration depends on a combination of interests, skills, and aptitudes. If you choose a concentration only because of its job possibilities while failing to look at your own interests, skills, and aptitudes, you could be heading for trouble. Before you decide, learn all you can about the requirements demanded by your proposed concentration. If the concentration doesn't satisfy your interests and fit with your aptitudes, you may find it necessary to change.

Once you have formally declared a concentration you can change your mind without much difficulty. You simply discuss the new concentration with the appropriate advisor and file a new declaration form. If you change concentrations late in your academic career, you may add a term or two to the length of your degree. This is probably still preferable to continuing in an area that has ceased to interest you.

Our second bit of advice is to ask you not to be misled by today's job market in choosing your concentration. Many of you, understandably, desire economic security and mobility, but it is important to avoid using your College career only as a vehicle for gaining those ends. Using current job opportunities as a basis for choosing a career and determining a concentration may be ill-fated for two reasons. First, you may be dissatisfied with the career once you have entered it if you do not consider your personal needs, desires, interests, the type of person you want to be, and how that concentration or career suits you. Second, in a rapidly changing society, today's job market may change substantially in the next four years. You are better off choosing a concentration (and a career) that suits and reflects you as a person.

Finally, in selecting your concentration, we urge you to exhaust every informational resource at your disposal. These resources include the offices for the Academic Advising Center described on pages 5-6 above; the faculty who, even if they may not have the information you seek, can usually refer you to someone who does; and the Office of Career Planning and Placement (3200 Student Activities Building, 764-7460). Career Planning and Placement can assist you in making career decisions and conducting effective job searches. Seminars, career conferences, counseling sessions, and an extensive career library are among the resources available to help you in making and implementing career choices. Information is provided on preprofessional preparation, career fields, experiential opportunities, linking choice of concentration to career decision, and job search strategies.