College of Science and Mathematics Advising Center
The College of Science and Mathematics Advising Center has trained and knowledgeable staff who empower all students in the CSM community to achieve their nique educational goals by providing timely and effective support in a professional, welcoming environment. Our center provides academic advising and related services to all students in the college.
Our areas of specialty include:
- Academic advising and schedule planning
- Interpretation of college and university policies and procedures
- Interpretation of articulation agreements, including major, support and general education requirements
- Academic intervention/probation/disqualification/readmission advising
- Change of major advising and administrative progress contracts
- Assistance with student-related procedures such as major/support substitutions, course withdrawal, graduation evaluation/concentration forms, etc.
- Referral to other campus support services such as tutoring, study sessions, financial aid, study abroad, counseling services, etc.
.Additionally, our office provides the following:
- Tracking academic and administrative progress of each student
- Special programming to facilitate student success
- Assists faculty and staff wtihin the college with various student -related issues.
Faculty Advisors
Students in the College of Science and Math are encouraged to seek academic/career advising from their department faculty. Each student is assigned to a faculty advisor in their department. However, students are usually at liberty to request a different faculty member from their major program, providing it is mutually agreeable between the student and the faculty advisor. Contact your major department or the CSM Advising Center to obtain the name/contact information of your faculty advisor.
Advising Resources
We encourage each student to take responsibility for their academic success. The first way to do this is to take time to learn about the academic and advising resources that Cal Poly has in place to assist you in your path to "finish on time".
Degree Progress Report (DPR)
The Degree Progress Report (DPR) is an interactive advising tool that will provide you with an up-to-date assessment of your academic progress to graduation. It will indicate if you have met specific University degree requirements such as:
- Units (minimum and upper division) required to earn your degree
- GPA requirements (excluding major gpa) required
- Residence unit requirement
- The United States Cultural Pluralism (USCP) requirement
- The Graduation Writing Requirement
It will also indicate what courses that you have completed or have yet to complete in the following areas:
- General Education coursework
- Major coursework
- Support coursework (if required)
- Concentration coursework
- Minor coursework (if declared)
- Course credits not used are courses that will count for elective credit or courses that have not yet been applied to any of the above categories*
You can access your DPR through your Student Center via your Cal Poly portal. "Single Click Access" channel. To learn more about the DPR including an access guide and FAQ's, visit: http://www.ess.calpoly.edu/records/Degree_Progress/degree_progress.html
To declare your concentration and/or minor:
*Note: The DPR will not reflect information that has not yet been provided to the Office of Academic Records-Evaluations unit. Once provided to them, allow at least a week for the information to be reflected in your Degree Progress Report.
To declare a concentration, send an email to evaluations@calpoly.edu with a Subject line of "CSM concentration." In the body of the email,
provide the following information: Name, Empl ID, Major, Catalog Year (i.e., 07-09, 09-11), the Concentration you wish to pursue, and any applicable Emphasis or Track for that concentration. (i.e. Kinesiology -Exercise and Health Promotion -clinical track). Make sure your concentration is available for the catalog you are following by going to http://www.catalog.calpoly.edu/ for the current catalog or to http://www.catalog.calpoly.edu/priorcatalogs.html for previous catalogs.
For a minor, obtain the form and appropriate signatures from your minor department before sending the form to the Office of Academic Records-Evaluations Unit.
Academic Portfolio
Another way to finish on time is to maintain an Academic Portfolio that includes important documents such as advising plans, petitions/forms and other information that is needed to maintain timely progress towards graduation. If you plan to attend SOAR, you will receive an academic portfolio that is designed to be utilized for this purpose. If you do not attend SOAR, please come to the Advising Center to learn about the contents that should be kept in an academic portfolio. Go to the Cal Poly Advising website for additional information about maintaining an academic portfolio.