Use this guide to become familiar with the terms and language used during registration advising.
Students who have REQUIRED advising are assigned a 6-digit ALT PIN number by the Registrar's Office at the mid-point of each semester. ALT stands for Alternate; PIN stands for Personal Identification Number. This PIN number is different from your Banner ID. Students with required advising must enter their PIN number in AppalNet in order to access the registration system.
In order to get your PIN number, you must meet with your assigned academic advisor. If your major has required secondary advising, you must ALSO meet with your academic department before you can receive your PIN number. Once you have completed required advising, you can find your PIN number in the Notes section at the bottom of your DegreeWorks.
You can see if you have required advising by going to the Prepare for Registration screen in AppalNet Student Self-Service (Student tab -- Registration -- Prepare for Registration). This is also where you can see if you have any registration holds that will prevent you from registering until you get them resolved. Be sure to scroll down to see all the information on this page.
New students will need to register for Orientation and complete PREP before they are sent their ALT PIN.
The Transfer Admissions & Engagement office handles the evaluation of your exam credits. Visit their website (linked here) for instructions on submitting AP, IB, Cambridge A/AS, CLEP, and other exam credits.
AppalNet is a landing page for students to have convenient access to campus information and services (e.g., your MountaineerMail Gmail, Advising Appointments, DegreeWorks, etc.). Students can access and update much of their personal student information by logging into AppalNet Self Service. Appalachian’s Web Registration System (WRS) for class registration can also be accessed through AppalNet Self Service.
These are abbreviations for the degrees offered at Appalachian. They represent the Bachelor of Arts (BA), Bachelor of Science (BS), Bachelor of Music (BM), Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA), Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA), Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice (BSCJ), Bachelor in Social Work (BSW), and Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN). There are different requirements for each degree. In addition to major requirements, the Bachelor of Arts degree requires a minor in another subject area and a foreign language through the intermediate level. With the exception of the Bachelor of Science degree in English, Secondary Education and the BSBA in International Business, the Bachelor of Science degrees have no foreign language requirement. Instead of a minor, the BS degree typically requires the completion of a career-oriented concentration.
Utilize the Interactive Campus Map on this website. This is a great tool for planning classes and estimating the distance between buildings.
You may have told your University College advisor what your intended major is. This is not the same as declaring your major. (If you are not ready to declare, but want to change your intended major, email your advisor, and they can have that changed.)
To "officially declare" your major, you must:
1. Have earned 30 hours
2. Have a 2.0 GPA or higher as required by the major (or be a first-semester transfer student)
3. Have earned credit for or are currently taking "First-Year Seminar" (UCO 1200 for most students; HON 1515 for Honors students; or WRC 1103 for students in Watauga Residential College)
4. Have earned credit for "Writing Across the Curriculum RC 1000 (or equivalent)
*Please Note*
First-Year students with dual-enrollment credit, Transfer students, and Early College students must make sure that Admissions has received a final official copy of ALL transcripts before they can declare.
Some major programs may require a higher GPA or additional declaration requirements before a student can declare that major.
DegreeWorks is a web-based tool designed to help students monitor their academic progress towards degree completion. It can be accessed through the student's AppalNet account. Students can view courses they have completed and see what requirements still need to be completed before they can graduate. DegreeWorks also allows students and their advisors to plan courses to be taken in future terms to meet those requirements.
DUO is a two-factor security authentication system. Two-factor authentication adds a second layer of security to your online accounts. Verifying your identity using a second factor (like your phone, token, bypass code, or other mobile device) prevents anyone but you from logging in, even if they know your password.
The basis of an Appalachian education is the General Education Program. Through its interdisciplinary approach to teaching and learning, students learn to adapt to new environments, integrate knowledge from diverse sources and continue learning throughout their lives. The General Education Program draws on nationally identified best educational practices, as well as what employers say they want from today's graduates.
The General Education Program has four goals:
Thinking critically and creatively
Communicating effectively
Making local to global connections
Understanding responsibilities of community membership.
A prerequisite is a requirement that must be completed before taking a course. Some examples of requirements include:
a certain grade in a previous class
a certain score on a placement test
Similarly, a co-requisite is a course that must be taken at the same time as another class. To find out whether a course has a pre- or co-requisite, you can look it up on the Undergraduate Bulletin or on DegreeWorks.
A student is placed on Academic Probation when their cumulative GPA drops below 2.0. A student has two semesters of Academic Probation before they move into Academic Suspension. For more information please refer to the "Academic Regulations" section of your catalog year in the Undergraduate Bulletin. You can also get more information on this from your academic advisor.
All first-year students must meet with their University College advisor before starting their first semester and until they have earned 30 credit hours. This required advising meeting will be where they receive their PINs, which will allow them to access the registration system.
After a student officially declares their major, they will then need to contact their major department to inquire about how advising is done in that department. For example, a student has officially declared their major in Graphic Design (this is different from an intended major). That means their major is a program in the Art department within the College of Fine and Applied Arts.
Many departments require advising for all students. Students who have not declared by the time they have 60 earned hours will have an advising PIN placed on their account that will deny them access to registration until they have seen an advisor to declare or discuss why they have not yet declared. Undeclared students who are on academic probation will also have required advising. (Incoming transfer students who do not declare their majors right away will also have required advising, regardless of how many hours they transfer to Appalachian.)
Students who intend to major in Chemistry, Fermentation Sciences, or Physics are required by their major department to see an academic advisor in that department before early registration for the next semester. These students must also meet with their University College advisor separately before early registration.
A semester hour (s.h.) indicates the number of credits you earn for a particular course and the approximate number of hours you spend in that class each week. We recommend that you take 15-16 semester hours of appropriate coursework each term in order to graduate in four years. Full-time status is 12 hours, and the maximum is 18 hours. As a general rule, you should plan to spend two hours of study time outside class for every hour in class. If you take 16 hours and you follow this general rule, you should spend 48 total hours per week on your academic work.
The Student Learning Center offers academic resources that will complement and enhance classroom experiences by helping students become acquainted with their studies and learn how to learn effectively.
The Office of International Programs (OIP) is responsible for spearheading the internationalization efforts at Appalachian. Through the curriculum, co-curricular and extracurricular activities, relationships with scholars and students from around the world, education abroad programs, grants, and scholarships for collaborative research abroad, and numerous cross-cultural programs, Appalachian creates opportunities for students to understand the world and be active participants in it.
A student is placed on Academic Probation after utilizing their two semesters of Academic Probation (semesters where the student's GPA is below 2.0). If a student reaches Academic Probation, they will be asked to step away from Appalachian State. For more information, please refer to the "Academic Regulations" section of your catalog year in the Undergraduate Bulletin. You can also get more information on this from your academic advisor.
The Undergraduate Bulletin is an online reference that is your user’s manual for college, helping you understand university requirements, course descriptions, and policies. Click on the Undergraduate Bulletin that corresponds with your catalog year. In most cases, your catalog year is the academic year in which you started at Appalachian.
University College Academic Advising is responsible for the transition and academic advising for undeclared, degree-seeking undergraduate students at Appalachian State University. This office introduces students to the University’s academic and co-curricular opportunities. They advise and collaborate with students as they navigate the curriculum and develop their educational plans.