Welcome to Academic Advising Tutorial-- LAGEN Majors or LA Majors with other options

1. Welcome to Academic Advising Tutorial--LAGEN Majors or LA Majors with other options Middlesex County College Academic Advising Center Chambers Hall 109 732.906.2596 advising@middlesexcc.edu

2. Overview • Many students will choose LAGEN.AA when they are unsure of their future course of action. In fact, many students incorrectly believe this is not a declared major.

3. Basic Requirements I • ENG 121 and ENG 122 (“C” or better) • SPE 121 • HIS 121 and 122 • Six credits of GE social science electives • Six credits in sequence of the same modern language

4. Basic Requirements II • Three GE humanities credits • One semester of GE Math, one semester of GE Science, and one semester of either a GE Math or a GE Science—LABUS.AA, however, requires two GE Math and one GE Science. • Diversity course • CSC 105 or CSC 106 (this course has a prerequisite of MAT 014 and working knowledge of Microsoft Office.) • Twelve credits of courses with special designations (for LAGEN majors) • LA majors with an option other than General will need four courses within that option. • Divisional elective • One 1 credit PED or one 3 credit HED course

5. Modern Language Requirement • If your advisee has studied a modern language in high school, it is advantageous for that student to take a diagnostic test through the auspices of the Testing Center. This placement will better ensure that the course at MCC will transfer to a bachelor-degree granting institution. • The student also has the choice to take an elementary sequence in a language which he/she has not yet studied.

6. Diversity Course • All Liberal Arts Students (General and other Options) must complete one diversity course. • Please remember that Diversity Electives are different from Divisional Electives. • When you see DIV in the College Catalog, the term refers to Diversity, not Divisional. • Unlike the Liberal Arts major before 2008, diversity courses can no longer secure two graduation requirements .

7. Divisional Elective • A Divisional Elective is a course that can be taken from a curriculum with any of the following designations: AFS DAN POL SPE POS THE MAT ART EDU HED MUS PSY ASL PHY CJU ENG HIS PED SOC BIO SCI COM FRE ITA PHI SPE CHM COR GER LNC SPA SSD MAD • Please remember that the Liberal Arts—Business Option does not have a Divisional Elective.

8. Courses With Special Designations for LAGEN Majors • Students with the LAGEN option must take a minimum of twelve credits from courses with the following designations: AFS FRE LNC PSY ART GER MUS SOC COM HED PED SPA DAN HIS PHI SPE ENG ITA POS THE

9. Liberal Arts Majors-Other than LAGEN.AA • Students can matriculate in a number of Liberal Arts options other than LAGEN. • These other majors require four courses in their declared option. _____________________________________________ African-American Studies Business Cinema Communication Dance Early Childhood Education

10. Liberal Arts Majors-Other than LAGEN.AA (continued) Education Physical Education English Political Science Genocide and Holocaust Psychology History Social Rehabilitation Journalism Social Sciences Music Sociology Modern Languages Theatre Philosophy Visual Arts Writing

11. Choosing Science Courses • If your advisee wants to take a four-credit lab science, he/she must have a lab science in high school with at least a “C” grade. Please review the Advisors’ Manual to learn how to read Colleague’s XTRI screen to determine if a student had a high school lab science with at least a “C” grade. Finding the exact High School lab science grades • The four-credit SCI 155 has a prerequisite of MAT 013 and does not need the high school lab with “C” or better.

12. What to Do if an Advisee did not have a High School Lab Science with at least a “C.” • Your advisee can take BIO 010 or CHM 010 as a prerequisite to a four credit lab science. OR • If your advisee does not have a high school lab science with a “C” or better, MAT 013 is the proper prerequisite for SCI 155—no high school lab science is required. That course would then become the prerequisite for a second science course, BIO 105 or 106. OR • If your advisee has completed between 18-20 credits with a GPA of 3.0 or higher, the student can take BIO 105 and then BIO 106 without any Colleague evidence of a high school lab science. These parameters were established by the Department of Natural Sciences. OR • Your advisee can take a three credit science and use that as a prerequisite for BIO 105 or BIO 106.

13. Mathematics Coursesfor LA Majors • Advisees generally choose from one of the following sequences—MAT 101 and 102; MAT 123 and 124; MAT 129 and 131. • MAT 101 has a prerequisite of MAT 013. MAT 123 has a prerequisite of MAT 014. MAT 129 has a prerequisite of MAT 014 with a grade of “B” or better. If an advisee receives a “C” or C+” in MAT 014 and is interested in the MAT 129-131 sequence, the advisee should register for MAT 129A (two semester version of Precalculus). • Advisees should check with the Department of Counseling and Career Services about the math sequence best suited for their transfer purposes. LABUS majors are most often required to complete MAT 129-131 for transfer purposes.

14. Learning EVAL • EVAL is Colleague’s method of determining which courses a student has finished or still needs to complete toward graduation. The Advisors’ Manual has the best guide to understanding how to utilize this valuable screen within Colleague.