Mar 19, 2024  
Undergraduate Record 2014-2015 
    
Undergraduate Record 2014-2015 [ARCHIVED RECORD]

College of Arts & Sciences: Facilities and Services


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Writing Center The Writing Center offers free individual tutoring sessions (up to 50 minutes) to students who wish to improve their academic prose. Tutors can help you focus a thesis, organize an argument, fashion a style appropriate to an assignment, and use correct punctuation and grammar. For more information, visit the Writing Center website at http://www.engl.virginia.edu/undergraduate/writing/center.

Disability Accommodation Upon the recommendation of the Learning Needs and Evaluation Center, the College of Arts and Sciences provides appropriate accommodations for students with diagnosed disabilities. Students diagnosed with a specific foreign language learning disability are referred to the policy outlined below.

Foreign Language Learning Disability Following a diagnosis from the Learning Needs and Evaluation Center and upon receipt of the coordinator’s recommendation, the student’s Dean may authorize the modification of the requirement and so notify the student in writing. Grades already earned in foreign language classes will continue to appear on the transcript. For the semester in which the requirement is modified, a failing grade will be converted to NC (no credit). Also, if a student is diagnosed with a foreign language learning disability, a failing grade received in the semester when the student was referred to the Learning Needs and Evaluation Center for testing, or the student with a prior diagnosis identified him/herself to the LNEC, will be converted to NC.

If the withdrawal deadline has not passed, the student may withdraw thus receiving a W in the course.

Therefore a student experiencing exceptional difficulty in a foreign language class should:

  1. Consult immediately with the appropriate language course coordinator. The name of the coordinator may be obtained from the foreign language department.
  2. Undergo testing
    1. Consult the Learning Needs and Evaluation Center (LNEC), located in the Elson Student Health Center, (434) 243-5180, and present either a prior diagnosis or discuss testing to be undertaken. The center will determine if a previous diagnosis was made according to acceptable standards and within three years of admission to the University or anytime thereafter. In the absence of an acceptable prior diagnosis, the LNEC staff will counsel the student regarding undergoing neuropsychological testing for the purposes of establishing a diagnosis. The LNEC will refer the student to approved testing agencies both within the University and the community. The student bears the cost of such testing.
    2. If a student has received a diagnosis of a learning disability deemed acceptable to the University’s LNEC and can document unsuccessful efforts to learn a foreign language at an accredited institution, the student may confer with his or her College Association Dean regarding modification of the foreign language requirement. A petition from the student will be reviewed by the College’s Disability Accommodations Committee.
  3. Request accommodation If testing confirms a learning disability that adversely affects the learning of a foreign language, the LNEC will suggest possible accommodations in the foreign language classroom (e.g., extended time in class tests, de-emphasized oral or aural components, extra tutorial assistance). The student then takes the accommodation request to both the instructor and the language coordinator. The instructor and the coordinator will inform the student of the accommodations the student will receive in the class. The coordinator will notify the student’s Association Dean of the accommodations in writing. Ideally, accommodations should be in place prior to the student’s enrolling in the course.
  4. Enroll with accommodations. The coordinator reviews the student’s progress after six weeks.
    1. If the student is able to succeed, the student continues to take courses with accommodations until the foreign language sequence is completed.
    2. If the department finds that accommodations prove unworkable despite the student’s maximum effort, the coordinator may recommend in writing to the student’s Association Dean that the foreign language requirement be modified. Note: Modification is to be recommended only after proper accommodation procedures have failed.
  5. Substitute courses upon modification, the student will be required to take the appropriate number of substitute courses to fulfill the foreign language requirement. As specified in the faculty legislation, these courses are to deal (in English) with the culture or literature of a non-English speaking people, or with the history or description of language. The substitute courses should form a cohesive cluster focused on one language area, either continuing the work begun in the language class or choosing a new area. The substitute courses should be drawn primarily from foreign literature in translation courses (course mnemonic ending with TR, e.g.; CHTR, FRTR, GETR, ITTR, JPTR, PETR, POTR, RUTR etc.); classics (CLAS); those classes from anthropology, history, religion, or other departments that deal exclusively with a specific non-English speaking country or culture; or linguistics (LNGS, with the exception of LNGS 2220 Black English, since the faculty legislation calls for non-English speaking culture or literature). The student is to seek his or her dean’s prior approval for each substitute course. Substitute courses may not be applied toward the first major or toward other area requirements except the second writing requirement. They must be taken for a grade.

Academic Advising Academic advising for College undergraduates is the responsibility of the Dean of the College, the assistant deans, and the faculty of the departments within the College. Detailed information about the academic policies and programs of the College, along with links to Departmental homepages is available at http://college.artsandsciences.virginia.edu/policies.

Each department and interdepartmental program has a faculty member who is charged with organizing undergraduate advising in its major. These persons are usually designated “directors of undergraduate studies” or “undergraduate chairs,” and are thoroughly informed about every course offered for undergraduates in that field. A list of the directors of undergraduate studies appears online at the website in the preceding paragraph. Mid-way through each semester, the departments and interdepartmental programs in the College issue a complete description of courses to be offered in the following semester. These are available separately in the departmental offices and on departmental homepages.

In order to provide every entering student with individual academic counseling, the College has developed the association system. The student body of the College is partitioned into numerous associations representing first-year residences,and status as student-athletes or transfer student. Each association has an Association Dean and several faculty associates. The faculty associates serve as academic advisors to first- and second-year students. The Association Deans assist in matching students with their faculty associates and have a general responsibility for the intellectual life of the association.

These academic advisory services are coordinated with the residence life system, in which selected upper-class students reside in the dormitory as resident assistants and help first-year students with their adjustment to the University. The Association Deans are the principal links between academic advising and the more general concerns of residence life.

Students pursuing teacher education and the combined programs with the Curry School of Education have two advisors, one from their College major, and one from the parallel Teacher Education Program in the Curry School. Although B.A. students are primarily responsible for the following rules and policies of the College, there are additional regulations regarding the Teacher Education Program (similar to the rules for any major). Students should therefore consult both advisors before making any decisions regarding academic programs or course selections.

Pre-Law Advising A law school advisory program is offered by University Career Services in Bryant Hall at Scott Stadium. Available to all University students considering the study of law, the pre-law advisor provides current students and recent alumni sound advice on the admission practices and procedures of law schools throughout the country. The pre-law advisor also completes dean’s certification forms for those students applying to law schools that require them.

Pre-Health Advising While there is no pre-medical minor or concentration at the University, a student planning to apply to medical, dental, or veterinary school should bear the following in mind when planning his/her undergraduate curriculum:

  1. Virtually all medical schools require one-year courses with laboratory in chemistry, biology, organic chemistry, and physics. Some schools also list requirements in English and math.
  2. Prospective students in health education should major in the subject that interests them most as graduate schools in the health sciences do not require specific undergraduate majors for admission. However, non-science majors should elect one or two advanced science courses during their third year, preferably in biology or chemistry, and science majors should elect advanced courses in the humanities and social sciences. Demonstrating a broad education in liberal arts to admissions committees is most important. Informational meetings for pre-health students are held each semester (particularly in the fall) by University Career Services in Bryant Hall at Scott Stadium.

Foreign Study Advising Both foreign languages and international studies are especially strong academic programs in the College. Many opportunities exist, some of them unique to this University, for studying abroad. Many students graduating from the College offer some credit from study abroad toward their degrees. Plans for foreign study should be made well in advance of the intended semester of foreign study, normally during the first semester of the second year. Students contemplating foreign study should consult an advisor in the Office of International Studies in Minor Hall. A cumulative grade point average of at least 2.5, after the student’s most recent enrollment in Charlottesville, is required to receive credits from studying abroad. Students considering foreign study should bear in mind that no more than 60 credits of transfer from other universities, foreign study, advanced placement, and dual enrollment may count toward the 120 credits required for graduation. Students participating in the University’s direct study programs, however, count these hours as having been completed in Charlottesville, i.e. they do not count as transfer credits subject to the 60 hour maximum.

Posthumous Degrees Upon recommendation of the department in which the student was majoring, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences may make a posthumous award of the degree the student was pursuing, if the student had earned at least 90 credits and was registered at the University within twelve months at the time of death. Eligibility for posthumous degrees extends to students enrolled in B.A. and B.S. programs.