Advisement

Questions about Advisement? Contact your coordinators and read on for more detailed information about the advisement process:

Department Chair:
Ashley Gerst
Email: gersta@wpunj.edu

Graduate Director :
Steve Rittler
Email: rittlers@wpunj.edu

 

Academic Advisement - Undergraduate Students in the Art Department:

Advisement for art majors starts in the department of Art in their first semester. Students are given curriculum sheets for their respective majors, so they can follow the order of classes they need to take. The student is assigned an advisor, which can be contacted throughout the semester. Each semester has two designated Advisement Days, which consists of two days in a row, from 9 am to 8 pm, when all advisors, as well as the advisement coordinator and chair, are available for advisement. The Advisement Days take place usually a week to two weeks before registration begins each semester. Students are informed through several emails, class announcements and leaflets posted in both art buildings, when Advisement Days will take place and where the sign-up sheets to see the advisors are posted. Students sign up for a specific time to see their advisor and they come in with a printed copy of their audit and an idea of the classes they need to take. After receiving advisement the student fills out a receipt form with the classes that will be registered for. Both the student and the advisor sign the form and the pin # for registration is given to the student. A copy of the receipt is kept by the student, and the other copy goes into the student’s file in the Art Department office.

As soon as the student becomes a junior, the advisor informs them that an appointment must be made with the advisement coordinator for an audit to see that all requirements are being met, and what is still required to graduate in a timely manner. When the appointment is made, the student meets with the advisement coordinator, who goes over the audit step by step. If degree adjustments have to be made, the advisement coordinator informs the advisor of what needs to be done. Throughout this process the student is copied in all emails, so they are aware of process. When the student becomes a senior, advisor tells them to apply for graduation, and once they receive the email from the registrar telling them what requirements they still need to fulfill, they make a second appointment with the advisement coordinator, who does another audit and confirms the information received from the registrar.

Transfer Student Advisement:

The Transfer Evaluation process takes place primarily online. The student’s transcript is posted by the Admissions office, the transfer evaluator in the department is notified via email, and the evaluator then enters the TIF area in Banner and does the evaluation. All BA students can receive a maximum of 18 credits in art through the transfer process. BFA students can receive a maximum of 49 credits in art through the transfer process. Once the evaluation takes place, the credited classes appear on the student’s WPU transcript/audit. Transfer student can then meet with the department of Art advisement coordinator during the coordinator’s office hours for advisement, or student can come in during the days assigned for in-person registration for transfer students. Once student is in the system, an advisor within the department is assigned by either the chair or the advisement coordinator.

Academic Advisement - Graduate (MFA) Students in the Art Department:

For graduate advisement the Graduate Director emails students to facilitate individual meetings for advisement and course selections during registration periods. Graduate students can only register for a course via permission of the graduate director. The graduate director submits permits for each course the graduate student wishes to take.

Meetings take place from late March to late April. Control sheets provide the structure for the students to follow and are included on this page. In some cases, in-person meetings are not necessary — course selection and academic planning can happen via email conversation.