Academic
Services
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Academic
Services
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SOU CATALOG HOME : ACADEMIC SERVICES
The purpose of advising at SOU is to provide students with the information, training, and advice necessary to complete an academic program that meets their personal and career objectives. The University considers academic advising to be part of the teaching mission and regards it as a very important faculty responsibility.SOU faculty make every effort to provide quality advising, but it is ultimately the responsibility of the student to become informed about graduation requirements and to engage in realistic educational planning. This personal responsibility extends to reading and understanding the degree requirements in this catalog, consulting advisors, and charting progress towards graduation.
New Students: All new students should check with the Office of Admissions to arrange attendance at a new-student orientation meeting. Those students with declared majors should also meet with an advisor from their academic department. New students should read and understand the 9 Goals of the General Education Requirements that begin on page 31 of this catalog, as well as the Major Requirements section that begins on page 32. New students should also read and understand the departmental requirements for the major of their choosing.
Freshmen: Advising is provided by the instructor of the University Colloquium (Core class) during the freshman year. Students with declared majors also receive advising from their academic departments. Students develop a freshman-year plan during their first academic quarter. A sophomore-year plan is done during the third academic quarter of the freshman year.
Sophomores: Students with declared majors meet with advisors from their academic departments. Undeclared students are requested to see advisors in the Student Access Center. All sophomores develop a junior-year plan.
Juniors: Upon reaching junior standing (90 credits), students must have a declared major and a junior-year plan on file with their major department. Course registration is blocked if these two conditions are not met.
Seniors: Upon reaching senior standing (135 credits), students must have developed a senior-year plan with their department. Course registration is blocked without it. Seniors should remember to file for graduation with the Office of the Registrar two terms before their expected graduation date.
Undeclared students and those contemplating a change in majors can contact the advisors in the Student Access Center for guidance. Interdisciplinary students need to develop an academic plan with the department chair from the "department of emphasis" being used in their degree.
Southern Oregon University provides a number of services designed to improve the academic skills of students. The goal of the University is to provide each student with the best possible opportunity for successful completion of a degree program.The Academic Resource Services office provides computerized basic and advanced skill development for individuals or student groups, and coordinates placement testing and assessment for mathematics courses, foreign language courses, and the University Colloquium. Additional services include selected tutorial assistance, study-skills instruction, advising for students experiencing academic difficulty, and referral and coordination with other campus services.
Information Technology Services (ITS) includes campus Computing Services, Media Services, Telecommunications, technical support for Distributed and Distance Learning, and web support. ITS supports enterprise-wide voice, data, and video services for students, faculty, and staff. Information technology supports instruction, scholarly activities, administrative services, and web development throughout the campus.Students have access to the campus network and the Internet through nineteen laboratories distributed across campus. The largest computer lab on campus, and one of the largest facilities of its kind in the Pacific Northwest, the main Computing Services Computer Lab houses more than 200 microcomputers. Services operate on a Novell NetWare network that provides software services to both PC and Macintosh computers, as well as access to electronic mail and the Internet. Areas in the lab are used for classes, but a portion is always available for general walk-in use, seven days a week. All major categories of software (e.g., word processing, spreadsheets, databases, presentation graphics) as well as many curriculum-specific specialized programs are available to users. Output for the entire laboratory is done on high-speed laser printers. Scanners and color printers provide specialized input and output capabilities. Many campus information services are supported in part by the student Technology Resource Fee; use of the computing facilities is free to registered students, who are automatically granted an account for email and Internet access. Services are also available to members of the Alumni Association.
Media Services provides instructional support and equipment for classroom use. Other services include equipment installation and repair, videotape dubbing and foreign format transfers, audio setups, videotaping of lectures and special events, and instructional design and media graphics support for faculty. Students' equipment checkout may be arranged by faculty.
Telecommunications provides voice telephone, operator/directory assistance services, and voice mail services for the campus and residence hall students. It also facilitates high-speed connections to the local public network for voice and data, and connections to the Oregon University wide-area network. The Computing Services Center provides a significant and growing variety of computing capabilities for students, faculty, and staff. The facilities support instruction, research, and administrative functions.
The library provides resources for students' instructional, research, recreational, and general information needs.A well-trained and enthusiastic staff of librarians and paraprofessionals assists students with reference needs, electronic and web information resources, interlibrary borrowing, and materials checkout. Librarians aid SOU students in developing their information finding and evaluation skills and provide specialized instruction in library research in a wide range of classes. Subject specialist librarians provides indepth research and reference assistance in specific areas.
The library is open seventyeight hours a week each term and contains 290,000 volumes in the general collection and more than 2,000 journal, serial, and newspaper subscriptions. There is also a federal and state government publications collection with 272,000 items. Some 700,000 pieces of microforms provide additional materials ranging from popular magazines to historical materials of scholarly interest.
A growing collection of electronic information resources, both indexes and the text of journal articles, can be accessed inside and outside the library using a personal computer. Other electronic and multimedia resources include CDROMs, remote databases, and library web pages on a variety of subject areas. Special collections include the 7,300 volume Margery Bailey Collection of Shakespeare and Renaissance material; a local history collection covering the six counties of southern Oregon; a children's literature and K12 textbook collection; and an art print collection.
Students can use the library's online catalog to find information about SOU's collections, and to link to Orbis, a catalog of more than 5 million volumes held by fourteen libraries in Oregon and Washington. The library's Information Technology Center provides access to desktop computing software and electronic information with expert staff to assist with using these technologies for research, writing, and presentation.
Success at Southern/Student Support Services is a federally funded TRIO grant program whose purpose is to assist eligible students (low income or first generation or disabled) to persist in college and eventually graduate. The program provides a variety of services including college success classes, tutoring, academic advising, career and personal counseling, financial counseling and assistance in completing scholarship applications, academic and personal support groups and access to cultural activities.
Lower Division Courses
IDS 101, 102, 103 College Success Class
1 credit each
This sequence is available to students enrolled in the Success at Southern/Student Support Services program. Focuses on the attitudes, skills, and knowledge students need to be active and effective participants in their own education, and includes clarification of academic and career goals, study skills, collaborative skills, and assessment targeted at heightening students' understanding of themselves as learners.
Upper Division Courses
IDS 301, 302, 303 Career Exploration, Personal and Academic Development
1 credit each
This sequence is available to junior transfer students and students in Success at Southern/Student Support Services program. Focuses on successful completion of a degree, and on moving on into the work force or into postgraduate education. Course content includes an emphasis on employability and advanced academic skill, along with clarification of goals. Students are encouraged to connect with a mentor, and to continue or begin practicum, service learning, or internship experiences aligned with their goals.
IDS 410 Senior Seminar
1 credit
Available to students enrolled in the Success at Southern/Student Support Services program participants in the first quarter of their senior year (as determined by credits). Focuses on graduation readiness, and on applying for jobs and/or graduate school. As appropriate, students receive information about, and assistance with, application for financial aid for postgraduate education and developing advanced networking skills.