Polytechnic Advising

If you’ve become accustomed to meeting your advisor at the old usual place on campus, we’ve got some news.

We’ve MOVED!

In order to serve you from one location, all the advising staff is now located in the LAC 1180 suite, diagonally across from PSC’s Collegiate High School. If maps are your thing, here’s a handy-dandy visual reference:

Starting July 25th, you can walk into one place and be greeted by a friendly staffer (me), who will assist you in getting some face time with your advisor. No more treks out to the far reaches of the campus from the LTB if you’re an Education major or frustration that you’re at the LTB, but your advisor was in the LLC.

If you prefer to contact your advisor the old fashioned way, via phone or email, these have not changed.

We look forward to seeing you in our new offices!

…on the Polytechnic campus (YET), but right here, you’ll get what you need.  And if it’s a class we don’t offer, here’s the information you need to Cross Enroll at another school to meet your degree requirements.

For instance, let’s say you’re like me and don’t want to schelp over to Tampa four days a week to take a foreign language, especially with the price of gas nowadays.  There are some fine professors at our sister school on campus, and you can take a two day a week class without leaving campus.  If this option appeals to you, like it did to me, you’ll need to apply for a Cross Enrollment.

To complete a cross enrollment at Polk State College:

1. Visit www.facts.org
   
   

2.  Select ‘college students’ (purple button) from the bar along the top of the page.

3. In the quick links box on the right of the page, select the yellow “Transient Student Admission Application:

4.  A page will come up describing the procedures to take a class at another college and lists the participating Florida colleges and universities.  At the bottom of the page, select the ‘Continue’ button.

5. A pop up box asks you to log into your home institution.  As soon as you select “University of South Florida,” you will see a hyperlink that allows you to sign in with your Net ID.

6.  Once you select this, the USF WebAuth page comes up.  Sign in as normal.

7.  The next screen will ask you to select your school (Polytechnic) and Program, then will take you to the transient student application.

8.  Then complete the Transient Student Application.  You must list the course prefix, number and hours.  For example, Polk State’s Spanish I would be SPN 1130 and it is a 5-credit course.  Then select one of the boxes for use of the course.  Foreign language classes are major requirements.

9. Add your comments and click the red arrow to add your electronic signature, then click “Send.”

10.  After about 15 seconds, your completed form will appear. Print a copy of it.

11. You will receive an email from Facts.org detailing your next steps.  It provides a link to the FAQ’s for transient applications.

And that’s all there is to it!  If you’ve got questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment for general ones.  If your situation is more complex, please call or email your advisor for assistance!

We all love email, don’t we?  (Don’t answer so quickly!)  Your academic advisors love getting email, too, but sometimes, instead of saving time, emails result in more work.

It’s like the email you get from Aunt Bessie about bringing dessert for Thanksgiving dinner.   When you reply to her email with the news you’ll bring brownies, she sends you one back that she’s invited 30 people.  Now you’ll need to make A LOT more of those brownies, won’t you?  Your relatives don’t do this to you?  Darn, why is it just me?

Just like Aunt Bessie’s dinner guest count, giving your advisor important information upfront means that your request will be accomplished quickly, without sending emails back and forth.

First off, you’re not the only one with your name in the whole USF system.  Odds are great that there is at least one other current or former student with your name (unless you’re me-seriously.)  That’s why we have U numbers-so your transcript doesn’t have the other guy with the same name’s D in Botany messing up your 3.5 GPA.

Similarly, your advisors need that U number to complete your requests, so make it a habit of adding it to EVERY email you send while corresponding with an advisor or teacher.  Maybe write it on a post it note and stick it to the computer if you’re prone to forgetting.    Or, if you’re the forgetful sort, you can put it in a signature that goes into every email.

To do that:

1. Click on your email hyperlink in the upper right hand of your USF email screen.
2. Choose ‘Account Settings’.
3. Next to Gmail, click the ‘Settings’ hyperlink
4. Scroll down to Signature option,  deselect ‘No Signature,’ then add your U number and any other information that you’d like to share.
5. Scroll down to the bottom and click ‘Save Changes’.

Your advisor is happy because he or she doesn’t have to figure out which Jane Doe is emailing and you’re happy because you got a really fast reply to your request.

Now if that didn’t encourage you to make sure your U number is included in your emails, maybe this will?

We’re not finished, because some information is good, but more information is better.  When emailing, after enclosing your U number, please let your advisor know:

• What assistance they can provide
• What you’ve already done regarding your concern (spoke with the professor, tried to register for a class, etc)
• Any additional information they may need to complete your request (for instance, if you’re seeking credit taken at your previous out-0f-state school, let them know the equivalent USF course number and provide a catalog description from that school’s current catalog)

Now that all that information is in your message, feel free to click on the ‘send’ button.  Then it will go through cyberspace and show up in your advisor’s inbox.  Some advisors do like to have an automated message bounce back to you to let you know that it’s been received, but not all do.

However, unless you get a bounce back message or a ‘message not sent’ one from the USF mail server, it WAS delivered. Depending on the volume of requests your advisor has in their queue, it may be a couple of days before you get a response.  They’re not ignoring you, they really are that busy.  (I see the calendars and they’re scary, really scary!)