Advising FAQ

FAQ

All new fully auditioned and accepted incoming undergraduate music majors, with the exception of Honors, WRC, SSS, Second Degree Seeking, and ACCESS students, are advised by Ms. Lindsay Smith at the University College Academic Advising Center, beginning with the Orientation experience.  Once a student has declared as a music major (to declare a student must have completed 30 earned semester hours, completed RC 1000, at least be registered for UCO 1200, and have a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or higher) they will be assigned a faculty advisor within the school of music.  Students will be sent a notification from the music office of who their assigned faculty advisor is shortly after they declare.  Students can also see who their assigned advisor is the top block of DegreeWorks.

If you are a University College, undeclared, currently enrolled student, please use your AppalNet to schedule an appointment with your University College advisor.  Detailed instructions can be found here:  How to Make a University College Advising Appointment.

If you are a currently enrolled and declared music major, your assigned faculty advisor will instruct you on the process for scheduling an advising appointment.

If you have 30 or more earned hours, earned credit for RC 1000 and UCO 1200 (can be in progress if you have met other criteria), a 2.0 cumulative GPA (unless you are a transfer student or a specific GPA is needed for your major) and are NOT completing Gen Ed Express (you would have a contract with the Office of Transfer Admissions & Engagement), then you can OFFICIALLY declare your major.

  • Select the Self-Service tab
  • Select the Student tab
  • Click on Student Records
  • Click on Declare Your Major

You will need to enter a phone number, your major and a minor if it is required for your major.

You can enter a second major, but keep in mind that you will need to complete that major or have it removed from your record at a later date.

You will be notified via email once your records have been processed.

After declaration, your records will be moved to your declared major department and college, and you will no longer have an assigned advisor in University College. You may be able to find your new advisor in your DegreeWorks audit.

Additional instructions can be found at the following link on the University College Advising Center's website:  How to Officially Declare Your Major

Music Industry Studies requires a General Business Minor.  A minor is not required of all other majors in the Hayes School of Music but students are welcome to consider adding a minor if they wish.  You can find a complete listing of majors and minors offered by Appalachian State, along with their respective programs of study, in the Undegraduate Bulletin.

Each semester, continuing students have the opportunity to register for future term courses prior to new students.  This is known as Early Registration, and typically occurs in early November for spring registration and early April for summer/fall registration.  The timeframe typically lasts 11 business days and the Office of the Registrar provides students with a day and time to register based on accumulated earned credits (institutional and transfer).  Your current credit hours are not included in this total, as they are not yet earned.  You may view you registration appointment time in AppalNet by clicking on the Check Your Registration Status page under the Student tab.  You may also view your registration time by visiting the Office of the Registrar's Early Registration Access page.

Holds are placed on a student's account to restrict access or use of an academic function (i.e., registration).  Holds are placed for a variety of reasons including unpaid balances, parking tickets, library fines, disciplinary action taken by the Office of the Dean of Students, etc. You are able to determine what hold(s) are placed on your account and which office to contact to resolve the hold by logging into AppalNet - clicking on Self-Service - Student - Student Records/ Student Account.

DegreeWorks is a comprehensive, easy-to-use, web-based academic advising and degree audit tool that helps students and their advisors successfully navigate curriculum requirements.  You can access DegreeWorks here: DegreeWorks Login.  Tutorials and additional resources are available here: DegreeWorks Tutorials & Resources.

Repeats


You may only earn credit hours ONCE per course, regardless of the number of times the course is taken.  (A few courses are repeatable for credit if the content changes.  These are indicated in the Undergraduate Bulletin course descriptions.)  If you repeat a course that you originally passed and fail that repeat, you will lose ALL credit for the course.  If you already have credit for a course at ASU, you cannot take the course again at another institution and transfer it to ASU.


Grade Forgiveness


The first four courses you repeat will AUTOMATICALLY be processed as grade forgiveness courses.  You will not have to complete a form to have your first grade excluded from your GPA calculation.  If you have already used some "repeats" as grade forgiveness, this does not mean you get four more!  You will only be allowed 4 total, so if you have already used 2, you will have only 2 more.  If you don't want to have a course repeat automatically processed as a grade exclusion, you must complete a form before the end of the Drop/Add period for the term (1st five days in fall/spring; 1st or 2nd day in summer).  You can find the Grade Forgiveness Exception Form [PDF] on the Office of the Registrar's Forms page.

Some course sections will offer a waitlist option to students who sign up for courses via AppalNet once the section is closed.  The purpose of waitlisting is to allow students the ability to easily monitor courses they need that are closed without having to frequently check back on AppalNet.  Waitlisting will not be available for every course and being on a waitlist for a section does not guarantee the student will get a seat in that course.  If you are seeking to register for a course but the course is closed, you can add yourself to the waitlist if offered.  When you add yourself to the waitlist, you are made aware of the capability to waitlist, waitlist capacity, and current rank.  If an additional seat is created or a student drops the course, the Office of the Registrar notifies the next student on the waitlist via Appalachian email to register for the course. The student then has 18 hours to register themselves into the course, otherwise they are dropped from the waitlist and must register again if they miss that timeframe.  Please visit the Office of the Registrar's Registration Waitlist page for FAQ's regarding waitlisting.

A course can be added after the Drop/Add period only for exceptional circumstances, and requires the written permission of the Instructor, Chairperson, and Associate Dean.

Students who audit a course must be regular in attendance.  A Request to Audit Form [PDF] is available from the Office of the Registrar.  It must be completed by the student, approved by the faculty member teaching the class, and submitted to the Office of the Registrar by no later than the last day to add the course in that term.

The Pass/Fail option may only be taken by a full-time undergraduate student one course per semester, up to six (6) times during their academic career at Appalachian.


Stipulations which limit this policy are:

  • Student must be classified as a sophomore, junior, or senior
  • Student must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0
  • Student must be enrolled full-time, defined as taking a minimum of twelve hours
  • Student will be allowed to choose this option a maximum of six times
  • Courses which comprise the student's major, minor, or core curriculum requirements cannot be taken on pass/fail (only free elective courses may be taken as pass/fail)
  • A student who elects the pass/fail option may remove the pass/fail option during the first nine (9) weeks of the fall/spring term
  • If a course was originally taken under the A-F grading system and is repeated, it must be repeated under the A-F system
  • A passing grade does not figure into the GPA, but a failing grade does

Yes, you can take classes online if they are offered. To search for all courses that are offered online, you can visit the Class Search webpage - select the term - select all subject categories - in Schedule Type select Web Based-Entirely (100). This will show all courses that are offered online during a particular semester.

If you are a current student, you can submit a request for an official/unofficial transcript through your AppalNet account.

  • Click on the Student tab, then on the Student Records link
  • Click on Transcript Request link
  • Read and follow the instructions to request your official transcript

For more detailed information visit the Office of the Registrar's Ordering a Transcript page.

The student handbook contains programs of study for the specific degree programs and a recommended course of study for each degree.  The program of study is a resource for the student to monitor his/her progress toward degree completion and to record grades attained in each course.  It is recommended that each student study the program of study to be aware of grade minimums, pre and co-requisites, as well as courses required of specific programs.  Additionally, the student handbook contains a wealth of pertinate information about academic policies, scheduling recitals, procuring an accompanist, performance ensembles, and student health and wellness.  Each incoming student to the Hayes School of Music is issued a hardcopy of the student handbook and current/past editions of the student handbook can be found on the Student Handbooks page of the Hayes School of Music website.