Monday, November 10, 2008

POWER SEARCHING - How to find classes


POWER SEARCHING


Power searching is possible from the OU online enrollment page at https://enroll.ou.edu/ On this page, If you look on the right hand of the tool bar on the top of the enrollment page, there is the phrase “Power Search.” Clicking this button / phrase will cause the power search dialogue box to open.

Power searching allows students to search all of the courses offered during one semester on one of OU campuses by various selection categories.

For instance, you may want to take another course with your favorite instructor, but don’t want to search through every course offering to find out what that professor is teaching. With power searching, you can just enter their name and all the courses they are teaching that semester at that campus will be listed for you.

Power searching is also an excellent way to determine whether or not a course meets a general ed requirement.

For instance, you may be anxious to fill your math requirement after taking your math placement test. You know that some math classes meet the math requirement, but you’ve also heard that courses offered through the department of economics, philosophy or psychology that also can meet the math requirement. Once you have chosen the correct semester and campus on the logon page go to the enrollment page and click the power search button. Power searching on the math category under the gen ed requirements will provide you with all the courses that meet the gen ed math requirement during a given semester on a selected campus.

Perhaps an advisor has told you that you need to fill your Upper Division “humanities” requirement. The humanities have been divided into three separate categories: “Western Culture,” “Non-western culture,” and “Artistic forms.” Again, you can search on any one of these three categories to find out which courses that meet the WC NWC & AF requirements are offered during a given semester.

Although you can search on the category of Science, power searching does not divide science courses into Biological and Physical (although it does divide them into with lab and without lab). Sciences in the following departments: BOT, HSS, MBIO &/or ZOO meet the Biological science requirement and sciences from ASTR, CHEM GEOG, GEOL, GPHY, METR &/or PHYS meet the physical science requirement. Unfortunately, when you power search, there is only a “Science” category and it is not broken down into the Arts & Sciences’ division of Biological / Physical.

Another way to check what requirements a course meets is on the enrollment page, once you have selected a department to search. On the right hand side of the page for each course is a “Codes” column. The letters written in green under the “codes” are indicative of a Gen Ed requirement being met (“AF” for “Artistic Forms”, “WC” for “Western Culture” and “NWC” for “Non Western Culture” “SS” means social science, “MTH” indicates Math and so on).

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Sociology Internship info.

Internships are only offered in the spring and summer. Dr. Clay is the instructor.

Internship Opportunity

Internships through the Greater Grads program often turn into full-time positions after graduation.

http://www.greatergrads.com/index.php?src=directory&view=jobpostings&submenu=internships&refno=120&srctype=jobpostings_detail

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

What will your diploma say?

DEGREE:
For someone who is not graduating with honors the diploma will say:
Bachelor of Arts

-with NO reference to their major. It is the transcript that retains the major information.

Special Degree Designations
Students who graduate with special degree designation such as those listed below are allowed to wear a special satin hood with their cap and gown during the Commencement ceremonies. The special degree designation will appear on a student's transcript and diploma. If a student qualifies for both the Distinction and Honors degree, the Honors degree takes precedence.

  • With Distinction - Students who graduate from the College of Arts and Sciences who do not qualify for an Honors degree may be graduated With Distinction if they have completed a minimum of 60 hours in OU residence. They must achieve at least a 3.60 Combined Retention GPA and a 3.60 in all OU course work.
  • With Special Distinction - Students who graduate from the College of Arts and Sciences who do not qualify for an Honors degree may be graduated With Special Distinction if they have completed a minimum of 60 hours in OU residence. They must achieve at least a 3.90 Combined Retention GPA and a 3.90 in all OU course work.
  • Honors (cum laude, magna cum laude, summa cum laude) - Please see the Honors College for information on how to graduate with these designations.

MATH Placement Tests

MATH:
Students take the Math placement test at the Assessment and Learning Center(Carnegie Bldg., Room 200). They have a pretty informative website:
http://www.ou.edu/univcoll/home/about_us/departments/assessment_and_learning.html

-Students may take the math assessment twice per enrollment period and the results are valid for one year.

Foreign Language Placement Tests

Foreign Language:
Another pretty informative website:
http://mllab.ou.edu/services/?services=placement

-Students do not have to take the placement test if they have had less than two years of formal language instruction or it has been more than five years since they have taken a course in the desired language. They can get permission to enroll in the beginning classes by going to the above website and READING the first paragraph.

-Students CAN move on to the next level even though they made a D.

-Once a student has taken a class at OU it counts, and they may move on to the next level. 10 years is the max. time before special procedures are required.

SENIORS - APPLY FOR GRADUATION

http://www.ou.edu/commencement/home/apply.html

You must APPLY to graduate

You should pick up your application for graduation from your college academic advising(College of Arts and Sciences - Ellison Hall) office early in your last semester.

Deliver the completed application for graduation to the Office of Academic Records (Buchanan Hall, Room 330, 1000 Asp, Norman, OK 73019) before the deadlines:

Graduation date

Application due date

December

October 1

May

March 1

August

July 1

Note: There is no graduation fee except for Advanced Program students who must pay a $25 fee. Doctoral candidates no longer pay a microfilming fee to the University.

Review the information on graduation in the OU General Catalog and Degree Navigator carefully. There are a variety of general education, residency, and grade point average requirements that you must fulfill in order to graduate. Remember that the responsibility for meeting graduation requirements lies with the student. Degrees and diplomas will be conferred upon only those students who have paid all tuition and fees.

The application it is good for a maximum of three consecutive academic terms should degree requirements not be met. If a student has not been cleared to graduate after three consecutive academic terms, a new application will need to be submitted.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

CSI: CRIME SCENE INTERN
By Courtney Paris/The Daily
Posted 12:07 p.m., July 2, 2008

According to the University’s Requirements for the Bachelor of Arts College of Arts and Sciences:

Before a student can do an internship they must have completed Sociology core classes 1113,3123,3523 and any Criminology Substantive Course (Part II)

To learn more log onto http://www.ou.edu/soc/ or e-mail William Clay at wcclay@ou.edu.


For 11 years William Clay has advised OU students as a sociology adviser and as an assistant professor.

For 11 years he has asked the same question, “What do you want to be?”

And for 11 years he has heard many of the same responses.

“An FBI agent, a profiler or a police detective.”

The criminology theme is a result of prime time television shows like “CSI”, “Law and Order” and “The Closer,” Clay said.

“This just tells me these kids are watching TV,” he said. “They don’t know what these jobs really entail, so we hook them up with an internship to show them.”

OU does not offer a degree in criminology, but a sociology degree with an emphasis in criminology. This curriculum emphasizes more on the theory of criminology and less on the specifics of certain jobs, Clay said.

“Here, we ask the questions,” he said. “We study why crime activity happens. We don’t have labs to teach them about blood splatter, we don’t show them how to use handcuffs.”

To help students get an idea of what they are looking to do with their degrees, the department has found different places around the state that offer student internships.

“We try to give students an idea of what they can do with their degree,” Clay said. “We place them in different organizations that can give them experience of the actual job they are looking to do.”

One of the internship programs students is through the OUPD. For years Clay has been advising students to Officer Steven Chandler for a semester long-internship that includes ride-alongs, office work, and other on-site duties.

“We spread them around from administration records, to dispatch to working side by side with detectives,” Chandler said. “We try to show them how an actual police office functions.”

Cory Bennett, a sociology major with an emphasis in criminology, started his internship with the OUPD on June 10 . Bennett said he went into the internship expecting to learn what working at a police station was like from day to day, and in the process has learned a lot more.

“I’ve learned that police officers go through a lot of training and practice to learn how to deal with citizens on a daily basis without violating their rights,” Bennett said. “My favorite thing is the ride-alongs — it lets you interact with the people and it’s funny how people react whenever a cop is around.”

He also said he has learned other technical things, like the proper way to handle firearms.

Chandler said he believes the internship does more than just learning the skills of the profession — it allows students to get a new perspective on what police officers actually do.

“They see a different side than what’s on TV,” Chandler said. “They actually get an appreciation for what law enforcement really is.”

Internships used to be a requirement for sociology majors, Clay said. Now they are offered as an option for students looking to fulfill their upper division electives, but even though an internship is no longer mandatory, Clay said it is worthwhile to students’ futures.

“With the experience they are getting and the networking they are partaking in, most of them end up getting jobs out of the deal,” Clay said. “These students were a lot more marketable. If you went around Oklahoma, you’d find our students.”

Sometimes the students find their expectations for the job did not match up with their experience in the internship, Clay said.

“Sometimes we get students that realize this isn’t what they want to do,” he said. “Even that has some benefits — they aren’t wasting time on something that they don’t really want.”

Internships through the Sociology Department are only offered in the spring semester and during the summer. The program requires students to accumulate 120 hours of experience at an internship location and then submit a written paper about their experience in order to earn three credit hours.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

HOW TO ADD and DROP A CLASS

How to Add and Drop Classes

After a student has completed an initial registration for a particular term, he or she will be permitted to add new courses with the approval of the instructor and dean of the college when required, or drop courses with the approval of the adviser and the dean of the college when required.

Different regulations will apply, depending on when add/drop occurs. Read the following instructions carefully to determine the rules that apply to your add or drop:

NOTE: The regulations listed below apply to courses that meet the full semester or summer session. Courses that do not meet the full term will have different deadlines.

Period I. Free add and drop: Students may add classes online at enroll.ou.edu during the first week of classes for Fall, Spring and Summer without approval of instructor. Students may add classes online during the second week of classes for the Fall and Spring semester with approval of instructors. Students may drop classes online at enroll.ou.edu without additional charges or grading penalties anytime up through the end of the second week of classes in Fall or Spring, or the first week of classes in Summer Session. No grades will be recorded for dropped courses.

Note on tuition charges for dropped courses: You will be required to pay tuition and fees for any course dropped after the second week of classes in Fall or Spring Semesters or after the first week of Summer Session, even if you add another course at the same time.

Period II. Third through sixth week of Fall and Spring; second or third week of Summer Session: Students may add classes only by permission of the instructor of the course and the Dean of the student’s College. Courses dropped during this time will be recorded with a grade of “W.” (University College requires their students to obtain approval of the Dean to drop a course after the second week of classes.)

If the course to be added or dropped has not yet begun, students can add/drop online at enroll.ou.edu. To add or drop courses already underway, students need to obtain an add/drop form from the OU Enrollment Services office in Buchanan Hall 230, get appropriate permissions and then return the form to Enrollment Services.

Period III. Seventh through tenth week of Fall and Spring or fourth and fifth of Summer Session: The same restrictions on added courses apply as for Period II, above. For dropped courses, instructors may assign a grade of “W” or “F.” (University College requires their students to obtain approval of the Dean to drop a course after the second week of classes.) To drop a course at this time, students need to obtain an add/drop form from the OU Enrollment Services office in Buchanan Hall 230, get appropriate permissions and grade assignments and then return the form to Enrollment Services.

Period IV. Eleventh week through end of classes in Fall and Spring, sixth week through end of classes for Summer Session. Permission of instructor and Dean is required for added classes. Students who wish to drop a course during this period must petition the Dean of their College. Instructors may assign a grade of “W” or “F.” To drop a course at this time, students need to obtain an add/drop form from the OU Enrollment Services office in Buchanan Hall 230, get appropriate permissions and grade assignments and then return the form to Enrollment Services.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Study Abroad

On Tuesday, September 16 and Wednesday, September 17 the office of Education Abroad will be holding a study abroad fair in the Cate Center Cafeteria Lounge from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm. Students are welcome to stop by at any point during the fair to meet all of the study abroad advisors and learn about overseas academic programs run through the office of Education Abroad. Information will be available on summer, semester and year-long programs.

www.ou.edu/ea

Monday, August 25, 2008

DO YOU NEED 3 UPPER DIVISION CREDITS FAST?
-Oklahoma Scholar-Leadership Enrichment Program

http://www.ou.edu/oslep/

First Day of Classes - Fall 2008

Advising ANSWERS a-la-mode

Graduate level classes are counted as upper division electives.

Sociology Dept. -You MUST get the instructors permission to enter a class if you are lacking prerequisites or if the class is closed. It is up to each individual instructor whether they will allow special permissions. To request an ESP you must email the professor and include your SID, the class number and section, along with the gory details of why you should be granted the ESP.


HOW TO ADD / DROP CLASSES:
http://www.ou.edu/enrollment/home/how_to/add_drop.html


DEGREE CHECK
The College of Arts and Sciences is having ALL DAY WALK-IN's (Degree Check) during the first week of classes.
After you have earned 90 hours, get a degree check from the College of Arts & Sciences .

Friday, August 22, 2008

How to find classes - POWER SEARCH

You can easily find classes that meet specific requirements without sifting through the entire catalog.
You can ask for a search that will only show, for example "Upper Division", "Non-Western Culture" classes that are taught on M, W, F that are open(not full).

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Upper Division Electives

An excellent resource for finding upper division free electives is through Liberal Studies. Go to 'Enroll' and for campus select "Liberal Studies". All of their classes are online and cover some very interesting Sociological topics such as "Homeland/Global Security and Justice". To enroll you will need to sign an add slip at to the College of Liberal Studies advising at McCarter Hall, 1610 Asp Ave. – south of the dorms across the street from the OU pool and Huffman Center.
If you are deployed or have other extenuating circumstances you may contact me (deb@ou.edu) to see about enrolling.
They also offer a few UPPER DIVISION HUMANITIES courses.

Monday, August 18, 2008

ON-LINE SCHEDULING OF ADVISING & E-VISING

To Schedule an appointment to be advised either during an appointment or via email please go here: http://ou-sociology.genbook.com

I hope this makes it easier for everyone to get advised.

E-visement: PRIMARILY FOR STRAIGHT FORWARD ADVISING. I'll take a look at where you are as far as completing your Sociology major requirements and General Education requirements. You will receive an up-to-date copy of your check sheet, advising form and I will lift your stop.