First-year Orientation Advising — Summer 2024

Learn more about your major:

This step has three components and may take some time to complete. You will use the information in this step during your academic advising session.

1. Learn how to plan your fall semester and check out some sample schedules.

 

2. Download your 2024-25 advising degree worksheets.

• The Undergraduate Catalog has further details about any major that you are considering.

3. Send all official scores and transcripts to the Office of the Registrar.

• If you have taken Advanced Placement/International Baccalaureate (AP/IB) test credit. Check out how that credit is accepted and identified on the Test Credit page of the Registrar.
• You may have earned Dual/Transfer Credit. It is important to know what college that credit is coming from and check out how that credit is accepted and identified on the Course Equivalencies page of the Registrar.

UAConnect is the student information system. You will use UAConnect during your advising session and Advance Registration periods each semester. It is important that you look around and become familiar with the different tiles and pages in UAConnect prior to your orientation session.

• Degree Audit tile — links University and Degree requirements for your selected major
• Manage Classes tile — enrollment and class search

The UAConnect Student Knowledge Center acts as a roadmap as you navigate the various features of UAConnect.

Helpful Links

• UAConnect Student Homepage Overview
• Enroll in a Class in UAConnect
• Drop or Swap a Class in UAConnect

It is essential that you take a few minutes to go over the following questions prior to attending your academic advising session. It would be helpful to discuss with a family member and write down your answers so that you can share with your advisor during your appointment. The answers to these questions will help your advisor provide a better advising experience.

1. What are you most looking forward to at the University of Arkansas?
2. What are you most nervous about as an incoming freshman?
3. Write down any questions you have for your advisor and/or things you think your advisor should know about you.
4. What major are you declaring?
5. How confident are you in your choice of major?
6. If you're exploring or not 100% confident (that's OK!), what other majors are you considering? If you need help picking majors take this free assessment!
7. Many of our students are interested in careers that require graduate or professional education after a Bachelor's education. We call these pre-professional tracks. They are not majors. Are you wanting to declare one of the following?
   • Pre-Athletic Training
   • Pre-Dental
   • Pre-Chiropractic
   • Pre-Medical
   • Pre-Pharmacy
   • Pre-Physical Therapy
   • Pre-Physician Assistant
   • Pre-Occupational Therapy
   • Pre-Optometry
   • Pre-Law
   • Other?
8. Are you in Honors or interested in Honors?
9. What scholarships have you been awarded? What are the renewal requirements (GPA, hours per semester/year, etc.)?
   
10. What extracurricular activities will you be involved in (ex. ROTC, Athletics, Band/Choir, Club Sports, Greek Life, etc.)?
11. Did you take and pass any AP/IB tests in high school, and what scores did you make?
12. Did you take and pass (with a C or better) any Dual Enrollment courses in high school?
13. What was your highest math score on the ACT/SAT?

During your college session, students and parents will attend informational sessions about our college majors and we will have students attend advising sessions on their own. The relationship with student/advisor is critical to academic success during the first two years of college. We understand and value family support during your academic journey and encourage you to share what you learned after your advising session with those family members.

• Have access to the advising worksheet and any transcripts or test scores
• Make sure to review step 4
• Have a list of questions written down to ask your advisor

We offer application workshops during the fall and spring semester for students who are planning on applying to our programs. Students will be invited to attend each semester. It is recommended students attend these sessions early in their academic career, to plan accordingly. (Communication Sciences & Disorders, Education, Nursing, etc.)

Each program has a specific application cycle. Most students will apply during their sophomore year; however, some students may apply earlier or later depending on their academic plans. (Communication Sciences & Disorders, Education, Nursing, etc.)

During new student orientation, our team meets with each student one on one. We do our best to pair our students with their assigned advisor. Sometimes students will meet with one of our other professional advisors due to the number of students in each orientation session. Rest assured, you will be advised with your best interests in mind.

We recommend students wait to make changes until they discuss their plans and schedules with an academic advisor. During your academic advising session, your advisor will discuss with you how to add, drop, or swap any classes for your schedule.

This is your preference. Our schedules have 15 minutes between classes which is plenty of time to traverse campus. We do recommend that you consider planning a balanced schedule, meaning, 2 or 3 classes a day. Try to avoid having all classes on the same day.

The College of Education and Health Professions requires you to see your advisor a minimum of once a semester. You will see an “advising hold" on your UA Connect notification each semester. This is the reminder to schedule your advising appointments. However, students are welcome to schedule advising appointments as often as they would like.

Recommendations on Computers

• Processor — Intel Core i5
• Memory — 8 GB
• Storage — 250 GB solid state
• Screen resolution — 1920 x 1080
• OS, Windows — Microsoft Windows 10
• OS, Mac —Mac OS 10.12 or higher*
• Webcam
• WiFi, for on-campus laptop use
• Accidental Damage Insurance Coverage —for laptop
• Software — available for free download for students
  • Office 365
  • Adobe Creative Cloud Suite
  • Symantec Antivirus

Note: The College of Education and Health Professions is Windows-centric for faculty and staff. Mac users may encounter compatibility issues.

Computer labs are available in Peabody Hall 125 and Graduate Education Building 342.

For COEHP lab hours of operation, locations, and lab specific equipment, call 479-575-6262 or email edhptech@uark.edu, with further details online.

It depends. Most major courses need to be taken at the university, however, there are times that some pre-requisites or core classes can be taken elsewhere. Discuss your plans with your academic advisor, first.

Pre-professional programs are intended to help students prepare for professional graduate coursework after the completion of their bachelor’s degree. As such, they are not majors in-and-of themselves, but may be paired with a variety of majors across each academic college. The best choice of a major is an area of study that interests you and that you will do well in

The Pre-Health Resources SharePoint is a useful resource for all students interested in pre-professional tracks.

Each of our majors in COEHP require an internship, clinical, or practicum experience. These are hands on experience in the field of study. Some programs will require you to find your internship site, while others will assign you. Usually, students will need to complete additional background paperwork, for clearance prior to starting these courses.

In the College of Education and Health Professions, an elective course is any course used to meet graduation requirements that are over and above what you need for core, or courses not used to fill major requirements.

You can review the list of undergraduate departments and courses in the Catalog of Studies to get an idea of what courses you may be able to take as general electives.

1. Use your advising worksheet and see what options you could take for your degree.
2. Visit your Degree Audit in UA Connect to see if one of the courses marked with a red X is available.
3. Search one of the alternate courses your advisor listed from your advising meeting.

Yes, you can apply through the New Student Center. Be sure to let your advisor know if you have recently applied for Honors so they can make the correct course recommendations for you.

Yes, you can apply after completing one semester at the University of Arkansas with a cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.5. We encourage students to join Honors as early as possible to provide for the most flexibility in scheduling your Honors courses and completing the Honors Thesis/Project, but you can join at any time if you have at least three semesters remaining until your graduation.