Hello Geology Majors,
I hope your Fall 2024 semester continues to go well and that you are still reasonably healthy as the semester rolls along. If you haven't been feeling as well lately, please take care of yourself since I know that many people have been ill recently.
This week marks the three quarter point of the Fall 2024 semester. After this week, there are only three full weeks and the Thanksgiving holiday shortened week of classes left before the week of final exams, and one of the three remaining full weeks is "dead week." Thus, there won't be much left of the Fall 2024 semester after this week, and the remaining part of the semester will go very quickly.
Friday of this week (November 15th) is the deadline to withdraw from one or more full-semester length courses for the Fall 2024 semester. Making the decision to withdraw from a course can be a difficulty one, but I would recommend withdrawing from a course if already know that you will achieve a failing grade. If you are thinking about withdrawing, I would strongly recommend that you talk about where you stand in the course with your instructor outside of class time (i.e., during office hours or an appointment). Withdrawing from a course at this point of the Fall 2024 will result in a grade of W being assigned to the course, and W grades do not impact your semester or cumulative GPA (i.e., the course and grade isn't factored into your GPA calculation).
Withdrawing from a course can impact your eligibility for scholarships and financial aid, but these impacts would be the same if you keep a course and earn a failing grade. If you are planning to withdraw from a course and have concerns about your continued eligibility for scholarships or financial aid, you need to discuss the impacts of withdrawing with a staff member or specialists at Husker Hub.
If you have questions about withdrawing from a course, please don't hesitate to contact me. The Office of the University Registrar explains how to withdraw or drop a course using the Enrollment Scheduler and MyRed at https://registrar.unl.edu/student/registration/tutorials/#drop.
Adjusted Drop-ins
On Monday, November 18th, I have a meeting scheduled from 10 am to 11 am, so my normal 10 am to 12 noon drop-in advising session will be shortened to 11 am to 12 noon. I apologize for any inconvenience that this causes, but my drop-in sessions on Friday, November 15th and Friday, November 22nd will be normal.
Emails
As some of you have noticed, my response times to emails has decreased significantly due to falling behind while at a conference and due to the amount of emails I am receiving. While I don't want you or anyone to not contact me if you have questions or concerns, you may get your questions answered more quickly by scheduling a meeting with me or visiting me for a Zoom drop-in. I promise I will get to your email and send you a response, but I cannot give you a specific timeline for how long it will be before you receive that response. I know that this isn't ideal, and I appreciate your patience.
Priority Registration for Spring 2025
Priority Registration is the period during each fall and spring semester when students can enroll in classes for the next spring and fall semester. So, Priority Registration for Spring 2025 semester courses will take place during the Fall 2024 semester, and the registration period ends TODAY (Tuesday, November 12th). Priority Registration for the Spring 2025 semester also includes enrollment in classes for the Pre-Session in January (January 2nd to January 17th).
Everyone is randomly assigned a priority registration date and time based on the number of credit hours they have completed and their membership in any special groups. Here is a breakdown of how priority registration dates and times are randomly assigned:
- Seniors and Graduate Students (89 credit hours completed or more): NOW anytime
- Juniors (53 to 88 credit hours completed): NOW anytime
- Sophomores (27 to 52 credit hours completed): NOW anytime
- Freshmen (0 to 26 credit hours completed): NOW through the end of the day today (Tuesday, November 12th)
Your assigned date and time is listed in MyRed if you click on "My Notifications" with the "Message Center" on the left side. This date and time marks the first date and time that you can successful register for classes after building your Spring 2025 semester in MyRed and the Enrollment Scheduler. The schedule of classes for the Spring 2025 semester and the priority registration dates and times was published on Monday, October 7th. So, you can start building your spring semester schedule now and even load the courses into your shopping cart.
Open registration for the Spring 2025 semester starts tomorrow, Wednesday, November 13th, and this will be the first opportunity for visiting students and any first semester students to enroll in classes. If you wait until open registration to start the process of enrolling classes for the Spring 2025 semester, there is a chance that you won't get the classes that you want for the spring semester.
Holds
If you have a hold on your registration for the Spring 2025 semester, there is a chance that you won't be able to use your priority registration date and time. Thus, I would encourage you to check for holds and to work on getting the holds lifted before your priority registration date and time. You can check for holds by clicking on "Holds" with the "Message Center" on the left side of MyRed.
Holds due to unpaid bills for less than $200 won't impact your ability to enroll in classes, but unpaid bills for more than $200 will prevent you from enrolling in classes. Holds due to being on Academic Warning or due to the need for graduation planning will require a meeting with me before the hold can be lifted, and for students on Academic Warning, we might not to meet more than once. Holds from the Office of Admissions can vary in their impact as some will be for the Spring 2025 semester and some will be for the Fall 2025 semester. If you any questions about a hold listed on your MyRed record, please let me know.
Newsletter Feedback
If you ever have questions or feedback about anything in the weekly newsletter, please let me know by shooting me an email. Sometimes, it is difficult for me to know if these emails are actually being read and/or found useful.
Best wishes, Doug
Fall 2024 Advising Schedule
I will taking in-person, Zoom, and phone meetings in 45-minute blocks from 8:30 am to 12:15 pm and 1:15 pm to 5:00 pm every weekday when I am not taking Zoom drop-in advising meetings. I will also be taking Zoom drop-in advising meetings on Mondays and Fridays at 10:00 am to 12:00 noon. Zoom drop-in meetings are being coordinated by the College of Arts and Sciences with a schedule and a link to the Zoom room available at https://cas.unl.edu/drop-in-advising-schedule.
You can schedule a meeting with me by using the Student Success Hub via this link, by calling the College of Arts and Sciences Academic and Career Advising Center at 402-472-4190, by calling me at 402-472-4319, or by emailing me at dpellatz@unl.edu. You can find instructions for how to access and schedule meetings in the Student Success Hub system here.
CAS Student Spotlight
Do you want to be featured by the college? Share your story by filling out this quick web form and show others why Geology is for you. Showcase all the opportunities and experiences you are gaining with your Geology major.