Advisement for Continuing Students

Continuing students who are current or prospective economics majors in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences may request advising assistance from Dr. Jerry Kingston (BAC 657) or Alexia Shonteff (BAC 649) at ECNadvising@asu.edu.  Please note that e-mail requests for assistance should always contain your ASU ID number and that telephone messages should not be left as they cannot always be returned in a timely manner. 

Following is a list of topics which encompasses most aspects of undergraduate advising assistance. Please check the appropriate internet link before contacting Professor Kingston with a question about the following topics:

1. What is the difference between the BA and BS degree programs in economics within the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences?
   
   See the Introductory Section to this web site and http://www.asu.edu/provost/smis/ (scroll down to College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and select the appropriate economics degree program).

2.       How do I change my major to economics within the College  of Liberal Arts and Sciences? 

Please contact one of the academic advisors for an appointment to complete a change of major form. Students who currently are pursuing a degree outside of CLAS may change their major to CLAS ECN only if they are in academic good standing within their current degree program. For a definition of academic good standing, see http://universitycollege.asu.edu/advising/changing.php. 

4. What is a pre-requisite “override” and why might I need one?
   
   When students attempt to enroll in classes they may receive a message indicating that they are not eligible to take a class. In the typical case this would occur if they had not met all of the pre-requisites stated in the then-current Arizona State University General Catalog). However, students may have completed equivalent pre-requisite courses at institutions other than ASU that are not recognized by the registration system. In such a case, students should file a pre-requisite override request at ECNadvising@asu.edu which contains the following information: (a) the requested course; (b) the term in which the course is being taught; (c) the schedule line number of the requested course; (d) the student’s ASU ID number; (e) an explanation of where and when the equivalent course was completed (stated specifically for each missing pre-requisite); and (f) the student’s college, major, and e-mail address. When this information is provided, the students tranfer transcript wil be acessed to locate the prerequisit course.  Only courses with grade of C or higher will transfer to ASU.  Pre-requisite overrides also may be needed for omnibus course numbers (ECN 494) in which pre-requisites have been established. These experimental courses have not yet been assigned a regular ECN course number, together with a course description and pre-requisites, and placed in the undergraduate catalog. Students who wish to enroll in ECN 494 classes may be denied permission to enroll without a pre-requisite override being entered on the registration system.
   
   Pre-requisite overrides also may be needed if a higher-level course has been taken (at ASU or elsewhere) in place of the stated course pre-requisite. 
   
   Pre-requisite override policies and forms may be found at http://wpcarey.asu.edu/ecn/override.cfm.
5. What is a “capacity” override and how do I get one?
   
   Students are allowed to register for courses up to the stated capacity limit for those courses. Once a class is “closed” no further registration is possible without a capacity override. In some (not all classes), a few seats may have been set aside to be allocated to “deserving” students who may need the course to graduate at the end of the semester in which the course is offered. In contrast with pre-requisite overrides, capacity override requests are not acted upon until the week before classes begin. Requests for capacity overrides may be sent at any time to ECNadvising@asu.edu   and should contain a detailed rationale of why the student should be given a capacity override, as well as: (a) the student’s name; (b) the course for which the override is requested; (c) the schedule line number of the course requested; (d) an indication that all stated pre-requisites have been met; (e) ASU ID number; and (f) the student's college, major, and a return e-mail address. Please note that capacity overrides are NOT issued for any sections of ECN 111, ECN 112 or QBA 221. See http://wpcarey.asu.edu/ecn/override.cfm

4.  What is a “declaration of graduation” (commonly called a DOG) and when do I need to file one?

A DOG must be filed during the term in which the students complete the 87th hour of academic work (earned at ASU or accepted in transfer). This document states what degree program the student is pursuing (e.g., BA degree in ECN in CLAS) and it identifies the particular catalog under which the student will be graduating (i.e., the student’s “catalog year.” Because degree requirements change from one year to the next, the selection of the catalog year is very important. A student may obtain the Declaration of Graduation form on-line (at http://clas.asu.edu/students/forms/) and should make an appointment with Dr. Kingston to complete the form and obtain his signature. The completed form must be filed in the Undergraduate Programs Office of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences located in the Foundation Building on the ASU main campus.  Beginning in November of 2008, the DOG forms will no longer be needed.

4. What are the rules for selecting a “catalog year?”
   
   These rules are provided on pages 88-90 of the Arizona State University General Catalog 2005-2006 and are summarized below:
   
   “In determining graduation requirements, an undergraduate student may use only one edition of the General Catalog, but may elect to follow any subsequent catalog (one published after the student first enrolls at ASU). Students maintaining continuous enrollment at any public Arizona community college or university may graduate according to the requirements of the catalog in effect at the time of initial enrollment or according to the requirements of any single catalog in effect during subsequent terms of continuous enrollment. Students may maintain continuous enrollment whether attending a single public community college or university in Arizona or transferring among publish institutions in Arizona while pursuing their degrees. A semester in which a student earns course credit is counted towards continuous enrollment. Noncredit courses, audited courses, failed courses or courses from which the student withdraws do not count towards the determination of continuous enrollment for catalog purposes. Students who do not meet the minimum enrollment standard stipulated above during three consecutive semesters (fall/spring/fall or spring/fall/spring) and the intervening summer term at any public Arizona community college or university are no longer considered to be continuously enrolled. Note that even though students are not obligated to enroll and earn course credit during summer terms, summer enrollment may be used to maintain continuous enrollment status. These students must meet the requirements of the General Catalog in effect at the time that they are readmitted or of any single catalog in effect during the subsequent terms of continuous enrollment. Students admitted or readmitted during a summer term must meet the requirements of the General Catalog in effect for the following fall semester. For additional details, consult the Arizona State University General Catalog 2005-2006. The General Catalog may be purchased at the ASU Bookstore or is available on-line at http://www.asu.edu/aad/catalogs
   
   
5. What is a “bridge course” and where can I find an updated list of classes to meet this requirement?
   
   Bridge courses are only needed if you are using a catalog year prior to 200. For earlier catalogs, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences requires one “bridge” course to be taken as a part of the CLAS general studies requirement. These courses are interdisciplinary in nature and approach the study of a given body of subject matter from the perspective of several disciplines (hence the “bridge” between disciplines or the interdisciplinary approach). Bridge courses may be located at http://clas.asu.edu/students/degreerequirements/bridge.htm

4. What is DARS and how can I use it to track my progress towards my degree?
   
   DARS is an acronym for Degree Audit Reporting System. It is a computer-based program that applies all of a student’s ASU and transfer coursework to a specific ASU undergraduate degree program (as defined by a specific catalog year, see above) to determine what requirements have and have not yet been met. It is the primary tool used by academic advisors in assessing degree progress and requirements yet to be fulfilled. Students may run a DARS audit to determine the extent of degree progress they may have achieved in any particular degree program and any particular set of degree requirements as established by the student’s catalog year (see above). For example, if a student wished to evaluate his/her progress towards an BA degree in economics in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences for the 2003 catalog year, the required inputs into the DARS program would be LA ECN BS using a 20037 catalog year (the number 7 identifies the fall semester of the academic year; student’s entering in the spring of 2004 would use a 20037 catalog year).  Students may run a DARS report directly from http://my.asu.edu. You will need to enter your ASURITE ID and password to access this site. Please review the information above related to the selection of a “catalog year” to ensure that any DARS report that you request will contain the degree requirements specific to your catalog year.