Arts and Sciences Student Academic Services

 

 

Our Location 

The University of South Alabama Arts & Sciences Student A&S Student Academic Service Center is located on the first floor of the Communication Building in room 120. 

The Communication Building is located at 6021 USA Drive South, and is building #64 on the Campus Map. As you enter through the main doors, walk through the lobby and turn left into the hallway. The Student Academic Services office is the first door on the right, room 120.

 

Our Location

The University of South Alabama Arts & Sciences Student A&S Student Academic Service Center is located on the first floor of the Communication Building in room 120. 

The Communication Building is located at 6021 USA Drive South, and is building #64 on the Campus Map. As you enter through the main doors, walk through the lobby and turn left into the hallway. The Student Academic Services office is the first door on the right, room 120.

We recommend making an appointment before your advising session. You can make an advising appointment by either calling the A&S Student Academic Service Center office at (251) 460-7233, or by making an appointment online through our web portal. 

Advising appointments are easy to make with our online web portal, Navigate South. The first time you log on to Navigate South, you will be asked to enter some student information before you can make an appointment. Once you have logged on, you will be able to select the advisor and then the type of appointment appropriate for you. To make an appointment through Navigate South:

1. Log-in to PAWS through the application portal. 

2. Select "Student Services and Financial Aid"

3. Select "Student Records"

4. Select "Navigate South"

5. Once you are in Navigate South, select "Schedule an Advising Appointment" on the right side.

6. Select the Arts and Sciences A&S Student Academic Service Center. Then, select the reason for your appointment. This will allow you to see the available advisor(s) for that reason and make an appointment.

Advising in Arts and Sciences

All freshmen, and students in most majors at all levels in the College, must be advised before they can register for classes. If you try to register on PAWS and find you have an Advising Hold, this indicates that you must meet with your academic advisor first, who can then remove the hold.

Academic Advising & Transfer Services

If you are a freshman at USA, your advisor is a dedicated professional in the Academic Advising & Transfer Services.  Advisors have the expertise to get you started in the right courses at South, and are a great way to find academic support resources as well. (Note that a few freshmen are advised in their major department. These exceptions are Music, Drama, Fine Art, and Social Work majors.)

Advising in Your Department

If you have chosen a major and are not a freshman, your advisor is a faculty member who has been assigned to you by the Department in which their major is offered. This assigned advisor will meet with you by appointment to discuss degree/major requirements and assist in choosing courses that will be needed to complete your degree. Departmental advisors are typically assigned in the first two weeks of classes. You should meet with your advisor every semester to make sure that you are making the right choices and discuss any questions or problems that you may have experienced during the semester.

If you are not a freshman but have not chosen a major, please contact the A&S Student Academic Service Center. 

Advising for the Health Professions

If you are seriously considering earning a professional health profession degree after college, like an Medical Doctor, Pharmacy, Veterinarian, or Physician's Assistant degree, the University offers dedicated advisors to help you prepare for admission to these degree programs, regardless of your chosen major. To learn more or to make an appointment, visit the Pre-Health advising webpage. 

Degree Works is a degree audit tool which works with all students whose Catalog (Bulletin) year is 2012-13 or later. For most students, your catalog year is the Bulletin for the academic year you started at USA -- if you are unsure about your Catalog year, please talk to your academic advisor.  

Degree Works will allow you to easily see how the courses you have taken are making progress toward your degree. It will also allow you to calculate your possible future GPA under various scenarios, to plan your future courses, and to run "what if" scenarios to see how changing your major or minor would affect your academic progress. 

Using Degree Works is easy and it can be accessed through PAWS. The Registrar's Office provides a user's guide for Degree Works. 

Instructions on how to conduct a degree evaluation using PAWS are available here.  

PAWS is the Personal Access Web System for students and faculty at USA. PAWS allows you to register for classes, view your student account information, view your class schedule, conduct a degree evaluation, and do many other things. You will access PAWS with your Student ID and password. 

If you are considering taking courses at another college or university while still enrolled at USA, please check with the A&S Student Academic Service Center to insure the credits will transfer, and to get the appropriate Transient Credit Approval form.  Note that generally, courses in the major area of concentration cannot be taken elsewhere. 

The Transient Credit Approval form will indicate that you are a student in good standing at USA (have at least a 2.0 GPA), and it will list the course(s) you plan to take at the other institution as well as the equivalent USA course(s). Once processed, a copy of the Transient Credit Approval will be sent to you to submit with your application to the other institution and to the Registrar’s Office at USA. It is your responsibility to ensure the Transient Credit Approval form is received by the other institution.

Students should allow a minimum of 2 weeks for the A&S Student Academic Service Center to process the Transient Credit Approval request. 

After completing the course(s) at the other institution, you must request that institution to send an official transcript to USA or else the course(s) will not appear on your USA transcript.

Students must apply for graduation at the Registrar's Office approximately 7 to 8 months prior to completion of all degree requirements. Deadlines for applications are published in the Bulletin. A fee is due at the time of application. 

The A&S Student Academic Service Center does the official graduation check for Arts and Sciences majors after you apply for graduation. You will receive an e-mail from the A&S Student Academic Service Center asking you to come to the A&S Student Academic Service Center where an academic advisor will go over your graduation check sheet with you. This check sheet will also be mailed to your permanent address during the term prior to your last semester. It will list the remaining courses and hours needed to complete your degree. If you have questions about the remaining courses, contact your advisor.

See your assigned advisor on a regular basis to avoid surprises on your graduation check sheet.

The Lowdown is an important source of information for all USA students. It includes detailed information on many topics.

Academic Bankruptcy

Grade Replacement Policy and Form