Faculty Advising Toolkit

The Academic Advising Office is here to support Faculty Advisors as they work with students. The Advising Roles at Wheaton College can help with understanding how the Academic Advising Office and Faculty Advisors work together for student success. The staff Academic Advisors are always available to faculty as a resource, in addition to the items linked in the toolkit below. You can reach the staff Academic Advisors by emailing academic.advising@wheaton.edu.

Documents from Academic Advising

• Advising checklist for first-year students
• Advising for Seniors - checklist
• How to look up advisees and their registration PINs
• CATC Gen Eds & Checklists
• Major Academic Plans based on catalog year (starting in 2020-21)
• AP and International Baccalaureate equivalency charts

Video Tutorials

DEGREEWORKS

In Summer 2022, we implemented new and updated versions of Banner Self-Service and Degree Works. You will see these both in Gateway as "NEW." For the time being, we are keeping the older versions, but we expect to phase them out as Ellucian, the parent company, stops supporting older versions. Students are onboarded with these new Banner programs. Below are some tutorials for faculty to help you see what changed and how to use the new version of Degree Works.

AAO has tutorial videos for students on how to register, waitlist, and use Degree Works on their how-to video tutorials page. You may find this helpful as you work with students.

Adding notes to Degree Works helps our academic advisors to support you in your faculty advising role.

• How to put notes in Degree Works

In Fall 2023, Course Program of Study (CPOS) began applying to Degree Work record. The new version of Degree Works helps identify courses that do not meet criteria toward a program of study.

TES

In Fall 2025, AAO started using the Transfer Evaluation Software (TES) to request equivalencies for transfer evaluations. Rather than having an email from AAO with course descriptions, faculty now login to TES to view the recommended course equivalencies. Faculty can approve the course AAO has chosen, choose a different course for equivalency, or even review the entire catalog housed within the TES software to consider the course in context. As an added benefit, this software allows you to see all articulations that have made throughout the last 5 years, so when students approach faculty to ask for transfer availability for specific courses, faculty advisors can see what has been accepted credit for that course in the past and make a recommendation.

• To view a tutorial vide on TES (13 minutes) that explains the basic navigation and functionality, click here: https://wheaton.box.com/s/p1z8cjh2h93o91duz67kw4ho2564371i

As a faculty advisor, you may be the first point of contact for a student with a disability who would like to inquire about how to get accommodations or support. You may also find that you are interacting with an advisee who needs to connect with LAS for more general academic support. Here is helpful information to guide you as you connect with your advisees.

• General academic support

• LAS offers one-on-one general academic support meetings for students who may need additional support with time management, study strategies, or academic accountability.
• Peer Coaching Program: Encourage students to schedule an appointment with a peer coach for general academic support and encouragement throughout their journey at Wheaton College.

• Disability services

• Accommodations and adjustments for students with temporary or permanent documented disabilities are critical to allow equal access for all students and support their flourishing. Note that a big difference between high school and college is that, in college, it is the student’s responsibility to disclose their disability-status in order to access accommodations. Additionally, many students are diagnosed for the first time during their college years and may be navigating the accommodations process for the first time.
• Some major disability categories to be aware of:
• Mental health conditions
• Learning disabilities
• ADHD
• Chronic health conditions
• Deaf/Hard of hearing
• Mobility impairment
• Blind/Low vision
• Dietary restrictions/allergies
• Traumatic brain injuries (concussions)

• How to refer a student to LAS

• If they mention a history of or need for accommodations, please direct them to fill out this accommodations request form to initiate that process.
• General academic support: direct them to the LAS appt link to schedule either a peer coaching session or general academic support session.
• If you are not sure if they’ll reach out and you want to connect them to us, you can email us at las@wheaton.edu and cc the student for us to follow up.

• Accommodations that have advising implications

  • MCL Language Substitution Accommodation
  • If a student has been approved for an MCL Language Substitution, they will be required to take GP-tagged courses as a substitute for their language courses. These courses cannot double-count as major or minor requirements. You will be copied on an email with the approval letter for a student if it is one of your advisees.
  • Course underload
  • A student may have disability-related reasons why they need to underload (under 12 credits) for a semester or more. These approvals go through LAS for approval of the accommodation to underload and then the student needs to fill out an academic petition to underload and submit to the Registrar with your signature.
  • Even if they do not underload, a student with a disability may need to take only 12 credits a semester and be strategic about which courses they take when. For example, a student with a learning disability in written expression ought not register for three courses simultaneously that are writing-heavy.
  • Course incompletes
  • Students may, at times, require an incomplete due to circumstances outside of their control, including disability-related reasons. The Incomplete Form provides an optional verification from a College Official. College officials are most often either LAS or Student Care Services (SCS). While professors have the agency to approve an Incomplete without that verification, they may ask a student to provide that verification if they feel unsure about whether an Incomplete should be approved or not.

The Registrar's Office functions as the record keeper for the College. Student records are owned and maintained by the Registrar's Office. You or your students can visit their website or email them at Registrar@wheaton.edu.

You can view the forms used by the Registrar's Office in the forms section on this page. Some other helpful links found on their page include:

• A calendar that includes Academic Deadlines for students
• Current and Archived College Catalogs
• Course Schedules
• Hours and Contact information

On the Processes page are the instructions for:

• Grade Changes
• Grade Entry
• Mid-Term Grade Entry
• Incomplete Grades
• Attendance for Census

Here are some of the most common academic policies faculty advisors reference. You can find these policies in the college catalog under Academic Information or under Academic Requirements/General Education.

Student Course load

All degree-seeking students are required to register for the fall and spring semesters with a minimum of 12 credit hours. A student must be registered for at least 12 hours to be considered a full-time student.

No more than five quad courses (3 in one half of the semester; 2 in the other half) may be taken without permission from their advisor and the Registrar. Linear quad courses do not count towards this limit.

A student may enroll in an 18-hour schedule without special permission. Students with a minimum of 3.0 cumulative GPA and a term GPA of 3.0 during the last semester of full-time enrollment may request to take over 18 hours with permission from their advisor and the Registrar.

A student may be allowed to enroll in fewer than 12 hours (part-time status) when he/she:

• is experiencing financial hardship that would be lessened by enrolling in fewer than 12 hours, as determined and documented by Student Financial Services. Students should contact the Registrar’s office to initiate an exception.
• has a documented disability, health condition, or injury that prevents the student from enrolling in 12 hours, as determined and confirmed by the Learning and Accessibility Services office. Students should contact the Learning and Accessibility Services office to request an accommodation.
• has already completed 90 hours towards their degree. No additional action is required by the student in this case.

While requests for an exception to the stated criteria may be submitted by a student, such exceptions are rarely approved and only for unusual and extenuating circumstances.

After a course’s add/drop deadline and before the withdrawal deadline, any student may drop any course, and these dropped courses will be recorded as W (withdrawal). However, students should be aware that dropping below 12 hours may impact their eligibility for financial aid, participation in athletics, and progress towards graduation. Academic probation may result for students who start the semester FT and do not complete 12 credits, or for students who start the semester PT and do not complete ¾ of their initial credits. We recommend that faculty advisors encourage students to discuss part-time status and: financial aid ramifications with Student Financial Services; athletics eligibility with the Registrar's Office; and degree progress or questions with the Academic Advising Office.

Final Semester Student-Athletes and Part-time Enrollment

NCAA rules allow for student-athletes to be part-time in their final semester only if the institution can certify that they are taking all courses they need to graduate in that term. Student-athletes are strongly encouraged to take these courses at Wheaton to ensure certification for graduation.

See the student handbook for information on the intercollegiate athletics appeal process, summary of NCAA regulations (Division III) and other policies.

Double major versus Dual Degree

A double major is when a student is working on two majors with the same degree type (ex: BA in Philosophy and BA in English). A dual degree is when a student is working on majors with different degree types (ex: BA in English and BS in Physics). Students who pursue dual degrees need to complete all the requirements for each degree plus a minimum of 154 hours. Note: students who do a BM or BME with a BA or BS need to complete the entire general education requirements, not the requirements for the Conservatory only.

Pass/Fail Privilege

Juniors and seniors may enroll in elective courses on a pass/fail grading basis. Such work may not include courses in one's major, minor, general education, certificate, or teacher certification requirements. Only 4 hours in any one term may be taken pass/fail (excluding those courses taught on a pass/fail basis only) and the total number of elective pass/fail courses may not exceed 16 hours. In order to receive a pass "P" grade, a student must receive a regular grade of C- or better. Therefore, the possible grades for a pass/fail course are P, D, or F.

A pass/fail request form may be filed at the Registrar’s Office prior to the end of the 12th week for a semester course or the 5th week of a quad course. (See Registrar’s Calendar for specific dates.) Once the 12th week (or 5th week) is past, the pass/fail option cannot be changed back to a regular letter grade option.

Incomplete Policy

The catalog states that “an incomplete grade (INC) may be assigned only for deficiencies as a result of illness or situations beyond the control of the student and not because of neglect on the part of the student.”

Graduation Requirements

The following requirements must be met for graduation:

• To earn a bachelor's degree, students must satisfy all the requirements for their program of study, which includes all the Christ at the Core general education requirements, one or more majors (which may have concentrations or emphases), and any minors, certificates, fellowship programs, or endorsements declared by the student. A minimum of 124 successfully completed semester hours are required for a bachelor’s degree. The credit requirements for some undergraduate programs of study exceed 124 hours.
• Students must satisfactorily meet all Christ at the Core general education requirements. Petitions requesting waivers of these requirements will be denied. For Bachelor of Music and Bachelor of Music Education degrees, please see the Conservatory of Music section of the catalog for specific Christ at the Core and major requirements.
• A cumulative grade point average of 2.00 must be maintained. A 2.00 average is also required for a major with a maximum of four hours of D grades allowed toward a major (maximum of eight hours of D grades in major courses for the B.M. and the B.M.E. degrees).
• A total of 36 semester hours must be earned in upper division courses—those numbered 300 and above.
• At least 48 semester hours must be satisfactorily completed from Wheaton College. Irrespective of the total number of hours taken from Wheaton College, at least 30 of the last 60 and at least 12 of the last 21 hours earned toward the degree must be taken from Wheaton. Study abroad programs taken through the Wheaton Global Programs and Studies (GPS) Office may count as residency hours for the 12 of the last 21 rule.
• Students must complete a minimum of 15 semester hours plus the capstone course from at least one major at Wheaton College, except in the case of major programs that require study abroad in an accepted non-Wheaton College program; these students must complete a minimum of 12 semester hours plus the capstone course from at least one major at Wheaton College.
• The 124 hours required for graduation may contain no more than 56 hours with the same course prefix. Courses tagged with a Christ at the Core thematic tag do not count towards the 56-hour limit. The limit on courses with the same prefix does not apply after 124 hours. For transfer students, the limit on courses with the same prefix is determined at the time of transfer.
• See the Curriculum Overlap policy for more information on the number of hours of common coursework that students can count between majors, minors, certificates, fellowship programs, and general education requirements.
• Graduate level courses can apply to a bachelor’s degree but cannot also apply to a graduate degree.
• Some departments require that students in their major take comprehensive examinations as a part of their graduation requirements. Other assessment measurements may be required by individual departments or the college administration.
• An Application for Degree must be filed with the the Academic Advising Office two semesters prior to graduation.
• Completion of the Bachelor’s degree must be within ten years of initial enrollment.

What is Course Program of Study (CPOS)?

What are the financial aid policies relating to Course Program of Study? (CPOS)

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a federal law that has policies and procedures for disclosing information contained in student records and to protect the privacy of these records. More details are available on the Registrar’s Office website.

Student educational records are any records directly related to a student that are maintained by an institution (with some exceptions). These records are covered by FERPA. A student needs to provide written approval for the release of their non-directory information to all third parties including to their parents. The Registrar’s Office manages the process for students to request the release of their educational records to a third party. If a parent or other third party requests information about a student from you, please let the student know that you received the request and refer the student to the Registrar’s Office for further assistance.