academic advising

Although distribution requirements may be fulfilled at any time during your four years, you will have better access to courses that carry distribution credit in your first and second years. Additionally, because these requirements are designed so that you can explore the curriculum, it makes sense to take them early. Most students see one or two courses as less desirable—science (NSC-L) and arts and expression (AEX) are frequent here—and the best advice there is to take such courses sooner.

Part of the mission of a liberal arts institution is to encourage our students to explore a broad range of topics and disciplines. Think of distribution requirements not as a punishment, or as hoops through which to jump, but rather as an opportunity to take courses you never imagined you might be interested in. They are a way of learning more about areas of knowledge which interest you, and which you may want to major or minor in—seeing such courses as exploration is key. Not as requirements, but as opportunities.

Students may take any four courses in a semester, regardless of their unit value, without additional tuition charges. Five or six course that total no more than 4.75 units are also allowed at no additional charge. An overload consists of five or six courses totaling more than 4.75 units, or more than six courses. First-year students may not take a course overload. The minimum course load to be considered a full-time student is 3.5 units.

The graduation requirement at SLU is 33.5 units. Most classes are 1 unit, but some are more (e.g., FYP and some science courses) and there are some .5 unit courses available. If you take FYP and FYS and 3 one-unit courses each semester of your first year, then four courses per semester for the next three, you will still need to take either a half-unit or a full-unit course somewhere along the way. You may want to plan to take one of them but in any case your advisor can help you to decide how to fulfill the extra half-unit.

Academic Advising at St. Lawrence is accomplished through a variety of programs, each one designed to meet a specific need. These programs are coordinated and supervised by an Associate Dean who, as a senior member of the teaching faculty, knows the culture, structures, and people at the university. Along with the other staff working in Academic Advising Programs, the Dean strives always to respond to immediate student need—problem solving, advising, suggesting new directions. Through these programs, St.