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Student Advising

Two students looking at notebook and laptop talking.

 

All students majoring in the School of Computing must be advised once each year, in the Spring.

IMPORTANT: If you do not get advised during the designated advising period you will NOT be able to register for classes during the normal registration period. As a result, you may not be able to get into all the classes you had planned which may affect your long-term schedule.

▼   First Time Advising
SoC students are encouraged to declare their major as soon as they are ‘math ready.’ For CS students, this would be when they are Calculus ready (MA 125). IS and IT students should be ready to enroll in MA 120. HI students must be MA 112 ready . Students may pick up a form to change their major from the Chair's suite, Shelby Hall room 2303, or download and print the page.
▼   Majors Checklist

NOTE: Checklist are for informational purposes only to assist with course planning and advising. They are not official university documents. Official graduation requirements are identified and posted in the University Bulletin. Any deviations are unintentional, however, the bulletin contains the official program requirements.

Download Your Major's Checklist

Computer Science (PDF)

Information Systems (PDF)

Information Technology (PDF)

Health Informatics (PDF)

▼   Prepare for Advising

Prepare Before Meeting Your Advisor

  1. Study the requirements for graduation based on your Undergraduate and Graduate Bulletin.
  2. Draft a long range plan of courses through to graduation to discuss with your advisor. Use this blank Long Range Planning Sheet to create your Long Range Plan.
  3. For students who began their course of study in Fall 2013 and later, use Degree Works to print a degree evaluation. There is a Degree Works guide posted here. Students who began prior to Fall 2013 should use PAWS to print a degree evaluation. Once this degree evaluation has been generated,  each student should review the text associated with areas NOT MET and in the Excess Courses areas to understand which courses are required within the area. Furthermore, prerequisites for required courses should be checked to insure that courses are planned to be taken in the correct order.

    To generate a degree evaluation on PAWS!:
    1. Sign on to PAWS!.
    2. Choose 'Student Services and Financial Aid'.
    3. Choose 'Student Records'.
    4. Choose 'Degree Evaluation'.
    5. Select the current Term.
    6. At the top of the degree audit, click Process New to prepare a new assessment of your current curriculum.
    7. If you are interested in changing your current major and wish to see how your credits will apply to a different major, click on the Worksheets tab on left side of page and then choose What if, fill in the Degree, Catalog Year and Major. Choose Minor and/or Concentration if applicable to your degree. Finally, click Process What-If to generate the new degree audit.
  4. Completing your trial schedule with the courses appropriate to your long range plan making sure you meet the course prerequisites.
  5. Making an advising appointment during the advising period for this semester. You need to know the name of your Primary Advisor to make an advising appointment.

    To find your Primary Advisor on PAWS!: 
    1. Sign on to PAWS!.
    2. Choose 'Student Services and Financial Aid'.
    3. Choose 'Student Records'.
    4. Choose 'General Student Information'.
    5. Select the current Term.
    6. Note the name of your 'Primary Advisor'.
  6. Sign up for an advising session with your advisor

 What To Bring To The Meeting

  1. Your completed trial schedule.
  2. Your long range plan for graduation.
  3. Your degree evaluation with any questions about your NOT MET requirements and course prerequisites.
▼   Sign Up For Advising

Follow the link in the table below for your Primary Advisor's name to sign up for an advising session with that Primary Advisor. If you have been assigned to a new Primary Advisor for the current semester, you must register a new account on that advisor's online advising system. Each appointment scheduling system linked below is different and accounts do not carry over from one system to another.

Primary Advisor Undergraduate Majors Sign Up
Dr. Michael Black Information Technology (ITE) Sign up for advising session
Dr. Ryan Benton Computer Science (CSC) rbenton@southalabama.edu
Dr. Matt Campbell Health Informatics (HI)  Sign up for advising session
Ms. Angela Clark Information Technology (ITE) amclark@southalabama.edu
Dr. George Clark Information Systems (ISC) georgewclark@southalabama.edu
Mr. Andy Cobb  Information Systems (ISC) dacobb@southalabama.edu 
Dr. Clay Davidson Computer Science (CSC) ccdavidson@southalabama.edu
Mr. Rick Green Information Technology (ITE) Sign up for advising session
Dr. Hannah Kibby  Information Technology (ITE)  kibby@southalabama.edu
Mr. Jeff Holifield Information Technology (ITE) jholifield@southalabama.edu
Dr. Jingshan Huang Computer Science (CSC) huang@southalabama.edu
Dr. Tom Johnsten Computer Science (CSC) tjohnsten@southalabama.edu
Dr. Jeff Landry Information Systems (ISC) jlandry@southalabama.edu
Mr. Paul Overstreet Information Technology (ITE) Sign up for advising session 
Ms. Ocllo Robinson Information Technology (ITE) orobinson@southalabama.edu
Dr. Aviv Segev Computer Science (CSC) segev@southalabama.edu
Dr. Jordan Shropshire Information Systems (ISC) jshropshire@southalabama.edu
Ms. Melissa Smith Information Systems (ISC) mesmith@southalabama.edu
Ms. Krista Stacey Computer Science (CSC) Sign up for advising session
Dr. Maureen Van Devender Information Technology (ITE) mvandevender@southalabama.edu
Primary Advisor Graduate Majors Sign Up
Dr. Ryan Benton Computer Science (CSC) rbenton@southalabama.edu
Dr. David Bourrie Information Systems (ISC) dbourrie@southalabama.edu
Dr. Michael Black  Cybersecurity (CS) mblack@southalabama.edu
Dr. Debra Chapman Information Systems (ISC) dchapman@southalabama.edu