Advising for Fall Registration Begins

Advising and registration for the Summer and Fall 2008 semesters begins Monday, April 7 and will continue through Thursday, April 17. A complete undergraduate course listing is available on pages 3 and 4 of this issue of the Orange and Blue.
The registrar's office is encouraging all students to make an appointment with your adviser
during the time appointed for your classification. During your appointment your adviser will either register you for Fall 2008 classes on C-N Connect or your adviser will approve and sign your registration form.
Once you have registered for Fall 2008 classes, the registrar emphasizes that you have incurred tuition charges for the Fall 2008 semester. You will be responsible for charges for your Fall 2008 course registration fees unless you cancel your classes with the Registrar's Office by August 19, 2008.
As students plan fall schedules, you may notice the new Liberal Arts courses. Beginning with the 2008-2009 academic year, extensive changes have been approved for the general education requirements. In fact, even the name will change from 'general education' to 'Liberal Arts Core.' Along with this change in name, the General Education Council will also implement new required courses for all the students under the 2008-2009 and future catalogs. Previous catalogs are not affected by this change.
"One of the most significant changes is the creation of a new Introduction to Liberal Arts course," noted Dr. Tori Knight, Dean of General Education and the chair of the General Education Council. She described this course as an opportunity to "introduce students to the Liberal Arts education that they will receive at C-N." In addition to this course, there will also be a new required course in basic computer skills. The streamlined Core curriculum will offer fewer class options to those under the new catalog.
Knight says students should view the college catalog from the year they first began attending Carson-Newman as the 'contract' between themselves and the college. In order to graduate, each student must meet the requirements within his or her catalog. If, during a following scholastic year, a new catalog comes along that includes a set of requirements that the student prefers, he or she can switch catalogs. The catch, however, is that all of the requirements within the new catalog must now be met. This can mean needing to take additional classes to meet requirements that students had already met under their previous catalog. It is therefore important to consider the impact a change in catalogs could have upon scheduling carefully.
Dr. Knight does not recommend changing catalogs at upcoming advising meetings. "I am not recommending anyone change catalogs until publication of the catalog," she commented. "They should then plot out their degree path - what courses they would have to take to graduate and see if it would benefit them to change catalogs. This is something that they should do with their advisor." According to the Registrar's Office, the college will not be publishing the new 2008-2009 catalog until sometime over the summer.
Dr. Knight says that she is "very pleased with the changes to the general education program at C-N. All schools go through periodic review of their curriculum. As the faculty did that, it became obvious that students at C-N needed a common set of courses that most would take. Changing our current GenEd to the new one streamlines and students have a more cohesive and similar educational experience while here. The faculty has the best interest of the students at heart and that is reflected in the changes made to the curriculum.