Dear, advisees,
Welcome to the Dept of Computing Sciences! This page outlines how our advisor-advisee relationship works for the duration of your time with me as your advisor. Read everything on this page carefully and repeatedly until you understand every step, then bookmark it.
My role as your advisor is not to tell you what to do, but rather to ensure the choices you make keep you on the path to graduation. In summary, I advise you on what might be a better academic action plan, should I see a flaw in your academic choices.
As the advisee, it’s your duty to research thoroughly what is required to earn your degree. Because a mistake in this process is costly, in terms of time and money, it’s critical that you research diligently the requirements for your degree. Together, our joint effort ensures your success in graduating.
And, lastly, we’ll meet twice per year for advising: Once in the spring semester (circa late-March) for fall classes and once in the fall semester (circa late-October) for spring classes.
Before Advising
Outlined below are the steps you’ll need to carry out every semester before our official advising sessions. The advising period is a busy time every semester, and much more so in the spring. If you wait until the last minute, you’ll end up waiting days — or even weeks — for an advising appointment; if you wait until the semester starts, then it’ll be too late. A lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my.
1 — Understand the requirements for your degree
It is imperative that you understand the requirements for graduation. To fully understand the process, you’ll need to study carefully the courses required for the major, including co- and pre-requisites; the electives in the major, and minor, if applicable; and, the general education requirements, including electives.
2 — Perform your own degree audit
Log in to DegreeWorks or Self Service and retrieve your course audit. (See this example .) Carefully inspect every aspect of the audit, looking for errors and verifying the entries with what you need for gen ed, elective, and major requirements, as discussed in step 1. Also, ensure that your initial matriculation date, which appears on your audit as “Catalog year”, is correct.
Note: Because I have seen many university-generated errors in student audits, you need to keep the following in mind: Any course-related errors that pertain to The Dept of Computing Sciences should be brought to my attention during our advising session. All other errors, that is, those related to non-CS courses, must be brought to the attention of css, who is responsible for fixing non-departmental audit errors. Have any issues resolved in the semester in which you discover them.
Once everything is verified and correct, print a copy of your audit in preparation for the following steps.
3 — Identify the courses offered in the coming semester
Search for classes offered next semester. Every course you select for registration must fulfill a requirement for a gen ed, your major, your minor, or an elective. The gen ed portion is divided into First-Year Seminar, Foundations of Citizenship, Exploration and Breadth, Foundational Competencies, and University Requirements. The other categories relate to your major(s) and/or minor(s).
For current and archival cs and cse (and, optionally, retired hcid and mwdd) course offerings, use the following link:
Click here4 — Create at least two schedules
Identify multiple courses in your search in the event of an unanticipated problem that won’t allow you to register for your original choices. Create at least two schedules for the upcoming semester registration.
5 — Annotate your audit
The audit you printed in step 2 needs to be annotated with a cross-listing of the courses you choose to enroll in (from The University’s course search) with the courses you need to graduate (from your audit). Highlight the courses you’ve chosen, making — at the very least — a comment about the semester in which you plan to take the course.
6 — Share your audit to me
Make a copy of your neat and organized annotated audit. Keep the original. Bring the copy to me during office hours in Dana Hall 310, or slip it under the door. Do not email a copy; only hardcopies are accepted. If your audit is unclear, messy, illegible, or sloppy, I will ask you to redo it. I’ll acknowledge receipt of your audit via email.
After our initial advising session, I will share a Microsoft OneDrive folder with you and grant you edit access. Any electronic/digital documents we need to share with each other must be placed in this folder.
7 — Make an appointment with me
Prepare answers to the following questions about your choice of courses:
- How many credits is each course worth?
- Which category does each course fulfill?
- How many credits are left in the category your course choice fulfills?
- How many credits are you enrolling in for the next semester?
Once you’re prepared to answer all the aforementioned questions, make an appointment to meet with me two business days after providing me with your audit. Do not make an advising appointment if you’re not prepared to answer these questions. At the conclusion of our advising session, I will provide you with your registration pin.
Note: I don’t advise on matters related to financial aid , because I’m not a financial aid counselor. See the faqs section of this page for answers to common questions.
Spring 2026 Registration Schedule
Registration for full-time undergraduates begins in November 2025. See the registration instructions .
Date Total Credits Earned to Date --------------------------------------------------------- Monday, 3 November Priority Registration Tuesday, 4 November Priority Registration Wednesday, 5 November 87 and above Thursday, 6 November 68 – 86.75 Friday, 7 November 54 – 67.75 Monday, 10 November 34 – 53.75 Monday, 11 November 24 – 33.75 Wednesday, 12 November .25 – 23.75 Thursday, 13 November 0.0 Friday, 14 November Open Registration