Thanks for visiting the newest addition to the Academic Advising's homepage! We have teamed up with the Registrar's Office to provide answers to some of the most commonly asked advising questions. From time to time, the questions will change but all questions will be archived and available to you.
The Registrar's Office is located on the 2nd floor of the Administration Building. Phone is 274-4121.
Augustana General Education Checklist - new one is under Registrar and General Information
What is the "wildcard"? How many 'wildcards' can I use? When do
I declare it?
What is popularly known as the "wildcard" option is actually the General
Education Exemption rule. This rule allows you to simply not meet one of the
general education requirements. You can choose one general education course
requirement to 'exempt yourself from" - except that it cannot be used for
the lab science requirement in Area 3.2, for the capstone requirement in Area
4.3, or for the graduation requirement for 2 religion courses. Actually you
never 'declare' your 'wildcard' choice. When the Registrar's Office staff conducts
your final, official degree audit and discovers that you have met all general
education requirements except one, then it assumed that you are 'wildcarding'
that one requirement.
How do I go about changing my major and/or my advisor?
Go to the Registrar's Office
website and click on online forms. The form to change your major/advisor
is there. If you know who you want your advisor to be, obtain that professor's
signature before returning the form to the Registrar's Office. If you don't
have an advisor in mind, the Registrar staff will assign one for you.
What's the difference between Pass/Fail grading and Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory
grading?
A grade of "D-" is a passing grade in a Pass/Fail system, however
a "D-" is not a satisfactory grade in a Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory
system. Augustana does NOT have a Pass/Fail system of grading available. We
do have a Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory option available in which letter grades
from "C-" to "A+" are considered satisfactory ("S")
grades and grades from "D+" to "F" are considered unsatisfactory
("U") grades.
What are "the rules" for S/U grading at Augustana?
1. You may choose to have S/U grading applied to 2 courses that are usually
letter graded. This is NOT 2 courses per term or 2 courses per year, but rather
2 courses on your entire Augustana transcript.
2. You must request S/U grading while you are taking the course, by no
later than the deadline published in each term's class schedule (the deadline
is always approximately 1 week after mid-term). After that deadline, requests
for S/U grading, OR to 'go back' to regular letter grading will NOT be approved.
3. If the course contributes to your major or minor, you will need the
signature from the appropriate Department Chair in order to have S/U grading
applied to that course.
4. You should NOT inform the instructor of the course that you are taking
the course for a grade of S/U. The instructor will calculate your course grade
in the same way all students' grades are calculated. The Registrar's Office
will then record an "S" if the letter grade is "C-" or higher
or record a "U" if the letter grade is "D+" or lower.
5. "S" and "U" grades have no impact on your GPA.
However, remember that if you earn a "U" you will receive NO credit
hours for having taken the course. If you need those credit hours to graduate,
then you will need to repeat the course or take another course. If you had not
declared S/U grading and earned a "D" in the course, then you would
at least have earned the credit hours even though the grade would negatively
impact your GPA.
Can I take a class at USF?
Yes, Augustana has an agreement with the University of Sioux Falls which allows
you take a course on their campus when the course necessary for your graduation
is unavailable at Augustana. To use this opportunity you will need to fill out
the course
permission form identifying the course(s) that you wish to take at USF and
the reason why you cannot take the equivalent course(s) at Augustana.
Can I take a course at the community college at home over the summer and
transfer the credits back to Augie?
In most cases, yes you can do this. The smart thing to do will be to pick up
a Course Permission form at the Registrar's Office or online and have it approved
before you actually take the course. You will need to attach a copy of
the course description (most are available on-line). Getting prior approval
is particularly important if you want the course to fill a general education
area. Also, if you want it fill a requirement for your major or minor, you'll
want to have approval from the department chair before you take it. Remember
that we will accept the transfer credit only if you earn a grade of "C-"
or higher. After you complete the course, you must ask the Registrar at that
school to send an official transcript to our Registrar's Office. We do not accept
transcripts that you deliver to us personally.
If I take a course(s) at another school will the grade affect my GPA at
Augie?
If you take a course at another school after you've already taken courses at
Augustana, then the grade you earn for that transfer credit IS included in your
Augustana GPA. This is also true of courses you take on study abroad programs.
Courses that you took before you started at Augustana are not included in your
GPA calculation.