With Ohio University’s complete transition from quarter-to-semesters less than a year away, advising has become the next topic of focus for students.
All OU students who will be at OU next year are now considered transition students and will be required to fill out a Transition Degree Completion Plan by the end of the school year.
Although Winter Quarter advising won’t begin until Monday and transition advising could be months away, the Q2S committee has asked academic departments to provide a list of transition advisers on their websites, said Linda Lockhart, manager of communication for the Q2S transition.
A student’s transition adviser may differ from his or her current adviser, she said.
“Transition advisers have been assigned to help students guide through the process,” Lockhart said.
The TDCP will list and compare students’ quarter and semester requirements needed to complete their degree, as well as credits and requirements earned and met under quarters, she said.
The TDCP has two parts that will be completed by both the student and adviser.
There is a separate form for each major that lists courses that need to be taken.
The second form is a universal cover sheet for undergraduate students that will be signed by the student and adviser.
OU’s departments and schools will review each student’s TDCP before the registrar uploads them to students’ online accounts.
“It is the agreement between the university and student that they will be able to complete their degree in the same amount of time without costing more,” Lockhart said.
Three-class sequences such as foreign language classes should be completed this year to receive full semester credits, said Jeff Giesey, co-director of the Q2S transition.
If students complete two quarters’ worth of these sequence classes, they will receive one semester’s worth of credit for them, he said. However, three quarters of sequence classes will earn the student two semesters’ worth of credit.
Students can discuss requirements like these with their transition advisers, he said.
“Advising this year, once it starts, will probably be more complete for students than ever experienced,”he said.
Students should begin to watch emails for messages from their departments to start up TDCP appointments, Lockhart said.
More information on department transition plans and the Q2S process can be found at ohio.edu/Q2S.
All students should complete their TDCP forms by May 1 so that there is time for them to be approved and added to each student’s records, Lockhart said.
“Everyone will already have laid out what they need to register for the fall, simplifying scheduling,” she said.
Giesey recommends students negotiate with their transition adviser as time goes on and make revisions to the plan as necessary.
The only way a student might graduate late is if he or she fails a course or doesn’t follow his or her agreed-upon TDCP, he said.
“The hope is that we’ll look back in a few years and not even realize there was a transition,” said Gary Neiman, co-director of the transition.
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