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The University of Tennessee

University of Tennessee Department of Classics

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Undergraduate Advising

See Also: Advisor/Advisee List

General Information

English majors are advised by the English Department faculty. In order to get the most benefit from the advising session, students are strongly urged to prepare for the meeting by reviewing their progress in meeting college and major requirements. During the meeting, advisor and advisee discuss courses, requirements, the design of the major curriculum, and post-graduation plans. For each English major, the departmental office keeps a file that may be consulted by students or their advisors any time during working hours.

The English Department is committed to making a student's experience as an English major personalized and rewarding. Students should not hesitate to contact their advisors; Dr. Mark Luprecht, Director of Undergraduate Studies (mluprech@utk.edu); Advising Specialist Kristin Goddard (krobert9@utk.edu); or Undergraduate Secretary Pam Whaley (311 McClung, 974-6925), if the department can be of any help.

Declaring English as a Major

Students who intend to become English majors should come to 311 McClung and fill out a declaration of major form. At this time the student can declare a concentration and be assigned an advisor. English majors are assigned advisors based on the concentration they select when declaring their major, and every attempt is made to assign an advisor whose specialty is in or related to this concentration. Students may change concentration at any time.

Students who think they are English majors should check to make sure they have formally declared their intent. Students can check their major status by looking at the most recent copy of their academic history or by checking their name in the University directory. If a student is listed as "Arts and Sciences Undeclared," "University Undecided," "Pre-Elementary Education," or Pre-Secondary Education," then he or she is not an English major on the records of the College of Arts and Sciences or the English Department. Elementary and secondary education students must major in the discipline of their specialty.

It is important that students declare their major when eligible. Students can then be advised within the English Department and get help should any problems arise concerning college, major, and concentration requirements. Equally important, the English Department will be able to access and print out a student's academic history when he or she has an advising appointment or contacts the Undergraduate Office with a question or problem. With the records access policy that the university has recently instituted, the English Department no longer has access to the academic histories of students who are not majors.

Advising Sessions

Students are required to see their advisor once per academic year. If a student has not reached 30 hours or is on Academic Review, he or she must see his or her advisor each semester. Most students use this visit to review their DARS reports, plan for the upcoming semesters, and obtain their signed registration cards so that they can register on Circle Park Online. Students also have the opportunity to discuss their future academic or professional plans with their English faculty advisors.

Scheduling Advising Appointments

Students are responsible for contacting their advisors to make an advising appointment. Office hours are the best time for contacting an advisor.

Preparation for Advising Sessions

Preparation is one of the keys to a successful advising session. Before each advising session, a student should prepare the following: (1) a list of all the College and department requirements that he or she has fulfilled and the ones the student has yet to meet (use the English Department Concentration checksheet to keep track of department requirements); (2) a list of the courses the student hopes to take the following semester; (3) a DARS report, if the student has reached junior standing; and (4) specific questions concerning requirements or anything else. Students are also encouraged to talk with their advisors about career goals.

Students may print their own DARS reports on DARSweb

Questions and Problems

English Department advisors will do everything they can to help students with questions concerning college and major requirements. At the same time, students must recognize that the ultimate responsibility for keeping on top of things is theirs. Students should familiarize themselves with the following:

Each of these contains important information concerning university and college policies, requirements, and curricula.

Please also see the Frequently Asked Questions section of this page (below) for answers to questions that often come up in advising sessions.

Petitions

If a student and his or her advisor feel that he or she should petition to have a non-specified course count as fulfilling a particular requirement (to have an unnumbered transfer course count as fulfilling a college Humanities requirement, for example), they may do so through the department. 

Students should bring a petition form to their advisor, and he or she will fill it out and submit it through the Undergraduate Office. The policy of the College of Arts and Sciences Advising Office is to notify students only if their petition is turned down. Students are advised to call 974-4483 or stop by Alumni Memorial Building, Room 1 to ensure that their petition has been accepted.

For further information regarding petitions, see the Arts and Sciences Advising Services' Petition Guidelines Web page. The Advising Services site also has a copy of the Petition Form (in Adobe PDF format).

Applying for Graduation

Review the University Registrar’s Steps to Graduation list, which includes applying to graduate at least one semester prior to expected graduation date and checking one’s DARS report and status of petitions with his or her advisor.

Registering for Classes

As most students have already discovered, upper-level English classes fill quickly. This is especially true for writing courses and for courses that satisfy specific college and department requirements. Though we try to offer all of the courses in our undergraduate curriculum on a regular schedule, it may also happen that individual courses are not offered in specific semesters.

Because of this, students should plan ahead in order to ensure that they get a chance to take the courses they want. Students should also remember that the longer they wait to pre-register for the following semester's courses, the less chance they will have of getting the courses they want and need.

English Course Descriptions

During the pre-registration period, the English Department posts descriptions of its upcoming courses on the third floor of McClung; copies of these course descriptions are available in 311 McClung and online (see below). A complete list of courses and instructors is generally posted a couple of weeks before the start of the semester.

Career

English majors should not hesitate to consult their advisors (or to speak with any of their teachers) concerning career interests and possibilities. If students find themselves drawn to specific career paths (education, law school, graduate school, careers in business or industry), we can often assign advisors with particular interests in that area or recommend members of the Department for consultation. The Undergraduate Office may also have supporting material that would help students plan their course of study with particular careers in mind. 

Extensive career information is also available through Career Services, 100 Dunford Hall. Among other resources, the Career Services site has a useful list of Career Links for English majors and a document that addresses the question "What can I do with an English Degree?" (in Adobe PDF format).

Frequently Asked Questions

May I double-count courses toward my College and major requirements?

Students may count the two 200-level English courses required for prerequisites to the English major toward their College of Arts and Sciences Humanities Distribution Requirements.

If a student uses an upper-level course to satisfy a Major Requirement, he or she may not use it to satisfy an Upper Level Distribution Requirement. Likewise, if an English course is used to satisfy the Upper Level Distribution, it may not be used to satisfy a Major requirement.

Does English 389 meet the department's pre-1800 requirement?

English 389 (Literature of the English Bible) may not be used to meet the pre-1800 requirement.

Can special topics courses be used to meet department requirements?

The English Department regularly offers a number of special topics courses: 398 (Junior-Senior Honors Seminar), 482 (Major Authors), 483 (Special Topics in Literature), 484 (Special Topics in Writing), 486 (Special Topics in Criticism), 489 (Special Topics in Film), and 499 (Senior Seminar). When appropriate, topics covered in these courses may be petitioned to fulfill specific requirements in the major.

For further information regarding petitions, see "Petitions" (above), as well as the Arts and Sciences Advising Services' Petition Guidelines page.