Here are a few reminders about the more complex requirements and some other important details and deadlines as we enter the spring semester:
Majors/Minors: Remember that the degree audit doesn’t review majors. If you are taking the courses that your advisor approved in the fall, you’ll be all set, but if you’ve made any changes, you should get them approved. February 11 is the deadline for declaring a new major or minor.
300-level requirement: you need a total of at least four units, at least two of which must be in your major (a few majors require more). There is no requirement that you take 300- level courses outside your major (although it’s fine if you do that).
18-unit rule: you need at least 18 units outside of any single department (not necessarily outside your major, since many majors are interdepartmental or can include courses from different departments). AP and transfer credits count as if they were offered by the corresponding Wellesley department.
Partial-unit rule: you may accumulate up to a total of two units from the .25 units that are added to some lab and language courses. You are most likely to be affected by these rules if you have taken lots of courses in the sciences, so please be careful in adding up these units. If you have more than two units made up from 1.25-unit courses, then you will need more than 32 units to complete your degree. For example, if you have taken nine 1.25-unit courses, you will need 32.25 units to complete your degree. This can be very confusing, so please consult the dean if you’re in doubt.
Multicultural Requirement: No matter how many appropriate courses you have taken, remember that you need to have a course approved in order to complete this requirement. You can find the approval form here. Once I have had a chance to approve your proposal and the registrar’s office has processed the approval, your Academic Progress Report will be updated to indicate that you have completed the requirement. Allow a little lag time, but if you have any concerns, let me know. Please submit the proposal form soon. After all, it will bring you one step closer to completing your degree.
Changes in your courses: I hope that when you registered in the fall, you kept in mind any requirements you still need to fulfill. If you are making any changes in your program, do be sure that the new set of courses will still complete these requirements.
Physical Education: Many of you still need some PE credits, so you should attend to this important requirement as soon as possible. Don’t be alarmed if your PE credit from the fall hasn’t appeared yet on your degree audit. It should be there soon. If you have any questions about PE credit, address them to Brian Kuscher (bkuscher@wellesley.edu) in PERA.
MIT courses: See the Registrar’s webpage for detailed information about taking MIT courses in the spring.
Credit/non credit: to earn credit in a course taken credit/non credit, you must earn a grade of C or higher. There are times when it is more important to get credit for a course than to get a good grade, and a D will give you credit, while an NCR will not. Remember that D is for diploma/degree/done—and don’t take it credit/non. Please consider this carefully, especially if you are taking a course this spring that you absolutely need in order to graduate.
Transfer credit: In order to avoid a rush at the end of the semester, the registrar’s office has set February 18 as the deadline for submitting the paperwork to transfer credit for courses taken prior to this spring. If you are expecting outside credit that has not yet been transferred to your Wellesley record, please find out now what is missing (transcript or transfer-of-credit forms) and take care of this as soon as possible. Similarly, if you are counting on AP or IB credit, you should arrange to get it onto your record by this deadline. If for some reason you can’t get this worked out by the 18th, please let me know so that I can try to facilitate an extension.
Minimum course requirement: Even though you may need fewer than 3 units to reach 32 units, keep in mind that all students except non-resident Davis Scholars are required to take a full course load—that is, at least 3 units.
Registrar’s Office webpage for seniors: The registrar has listed deadlines and other important information for seniors. I suggest you check this now and again periodically throughout the spring.
Marching at Commencement: For various reasons, there are bound to be some members of the Class who do not finish their degrees this spring. If you have completed your eight Wellesley semesters but have not quite completed your degree, you will be able to participate fully in the Commencement exercises as long as you are within two degree requirements of finishing and are otherwise in good academic standing—that is, as long as you have passed all your courses with semester and cumulative averages of C or better. If you have completed seven semesters in good standing, you may also march and then finish afterwards either back at Wellesley or elsewhere. If you do not quite meet these requirements but still hope to participate, you can petition the Academic Review Board to be allowed to march.
You should have submitted the Degree Completion Questionnaire back in October to let the Registrar’s office know whether or not you are planning to participate in Commencement. If you did not submit this form or have changed your plans, please be in touch with the Registrar’s office right away.
And speaking of Commencement, remember that you will need to order your regalia relatively soon if you haven’t already. Please visit the Build A Grad site to place an order between February 1 and March 16. If you ordered your regalia during the first ordering cycle, you will be able to pick it up in the bookstore beginning March 1; if you place an order in this upcoming cycle, you will be able to pick the regalia up in the bookstore starting April 25. Alternatively, for a $15 fee, you can arrange to have the regalia sent to you at a different address.