Hello Math and Data Science Majors and Math minors,
I hope you are doing well and that you are close to being settled into the spring semester. This week, I want to talk about the deadline to apply for graduation in May since it is early within the spring semester, and I want to explain what a late course change is and what needs to happen to make it possible. I also want to welcome Math minors to our newsletter this week, and this is a preview for Math minors of the kind of information is sent to Math and Data Science majors each week.
Application for Graduation Deadline
Every student in their final semester must apply to graduate in order to officially complete their degree, to receive their diploma, and to have the opportunity to participate in the commencement ceremony. The deadline to apply for graduation is much earlier in the semester than most students expect, and the Spring 2024 deadline to apply for graduation is this Friday, February 2, 2024 at 11:59 pm CST. This deadline seems so early due to the spring semester starting later as a result of the Spring 2024 Pre-Session.
Applying for graduation is required since students must have their coursework checked to confirm that they have satisfied the requirements of their degree. Additionally, the University of Nebraska - Lincoln has a more complex final check process to ensure that students are finished by the commencement ceremony as we are one of only a few schools that hand out diplomas during commencement. The best way to identify that students need to go through this graduation clearing process is to have them apply for graduation. The instructions for completing the application for graduation through MyRed are found here.
Late Course Changes
The deadline to enroll in a full semester length course for the Spring 2024 semester was yesterday, Monday, January 29, 2024. Thus, any course changes that involve enrolling in a full semester length course for the spring semester will require special permission going forward. Academic advisors and administrators call these changes late course adds or late course changes, and these changes include something as seeming simple as changing sections of a course (i.e., moving from MATH 106 Section 150 to MATH 106 Section 250). The process for enrolling in a course late or making a late course change that involves enrolling in a course is done in three steps.
First, you are required to have instructor or department permission to enroll in a course late. Many departments allow instructors to provide permission to enroll in a course late, so you need to start by contacting the instructor for permission to do so. There are a few departments, like Mathematics, where the department normally provides permission rather than the instructor directly providing permission, and while there are reasons for this, those reasons vary from department to department. Since most departments do not publish who provides permission to enroll in courses late, the department's academic advisor is a great contact to start with before contacting the instructor. Most instructors and departments are going to need a better understanding of why you want to make the change and how you plan to get caught up in the course.
If you receive instructor or department permission to enroll in a course late, the second step is getting permission from your College to enroll in a course late. In the College of Arts and Sciences, the Director of Academic Advising and the Advising Center provide permission on behalf of the College to enroll in classes late. An academic advisor can help with getting college permission for late enrollment, so it can be helpful to copy your advisor on the email to the instructor/department seeking permission to enroll in a course late. If the instructor responds with an email approving the late enrollment, you or the academic advisor can forward the message on to the College official responsible for making the decision concerning whether the College will provide permission. The College will not normally be too strict with late course enrollment during the second week of classes, but the College will want to see a clear plan for getting caught up in a course if you are enrolling in the third week or later.
If the instructor/department and the College provide permission to enroll in a course late, the final step is requesting to have the Office of the University Registrar make the late course enrollment official. Normally, the College official providing permission for the late course enrollment will contact the Registrar's Office directly requesting the late enrollment be completed, and both the student and the instructor will be copied on this message. The Office of the University Registrar will then respond to confirm that the change has been made in MyRed. In this situation, it is important to remember that course changes in MyRed are not live syncing with Canvas. It will still take several hours to overnight for Canvas to sync with MyRed unless the course instructor has already specifically added you to their Canvas course.
The process of getting permission for late course enrollments and late course changes that involve enrolling in a course used to be completed using a physical Schedule Adjustment Form that would be signed and submitted to the Office of the University Registrar or the Husker Hub. Since the start of the pandemic, the process of getting these permissions has been completed through emails, but it can still be important to speak to the course instructors in-person before or after class or by appointment in their office about enrolling late. The physical Schedule Adjustment Forms still exist, but they are rarely used at this point.
Math Minors
Thank you for reading this message within the weekly Math and Data Science newsletter published by the College of Arts and Science's Math Department. This newsletter contains information about opportunities and events that we believe are important to students majoring in Mathematics and Data Science. We also believe that there are numerous opportunities available students majoring in Mathematics and Data Science within the College of Arts and Sciences, and your Math course instructors and I would be happy to talk to you about them. With the current Math minor requirements, you would only need 4 to 6 more Math courses to complete a Math major.
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
Spring 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 Wednesdays at 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm 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.
Math Department Events
The Math Department has many upcoming events that might be of interest to you along with a weekly (or almost weekly) colloquium series. A listing of all upcoming Math Department events can be found at https://events.unl.edu/math/upcoming/.
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 Mathematics is for you. Showcase all the opportunities and experiences you are gaining with your Mathematics major.