Freshman Year

With the advent of recent licensing initiatives, students interested in possible education careers are strongly encouraged to declare an education major as soon as they arrive on campus their freshman year. Once students are declared education majors, they will be assigned a faculty advisor for the most efficient program scheduling. Students who declare later than the second semester of the freshman year can typically count on spending additional time on campus beyond the traditional four years of college work.

Procedures

Students declare an education major by filling out a major declaration form. The form can be obtained and submitted at any of the following locations:

1. K-12 and secondary majors may declare a major at the Registrar's Office in Somsen 114.
2. Elementary Education and Early Childhood majors must declare their major at the Education Office.
3. Elementary Education and Early Childhood majors are assigned advisors at the Education Office in Gildemeister 152.

Advisor Assignment

The declaration of a major triggers the assignment of a faculty advisor within the major department. Students should be notified of their new faculty advisor shortly after declaring a new major.

Students pursuing K-12 and 5-12 (secondary) licenses are advised through their secondary or K-12 department. Example: students seeking high school English teaching licenses are advised in the English department.

Students pursuing Special Education teaching licensure are advised in the Special Education Department (which is separate from the Education Department)

Students seeking Early Childhood or Elementary Licenses are advised through the Education Department Office. The Education Department utilizes a Teamed Advising approach. A team of 4 faculty members is assigned to work with each "class" of entering students. Elementary Education majors will be assigned one of the advisors working with a particular "class". Students may request a change of advisor to any advisor within that faculty team if they so choose. While not always possible, the intent of the teamed approach is to create long-term consistency as faculty move up with their students until faculty "graduate" with their students. The latest team assignments are listed below.

CAL and USP

CAL students may fulfill the University Studies requirements by using the following courses (this includes courses in English, Communication Studies, Education and other departments from which required courses are drawn):

Basic Skills:

• English 111 (4 SH) College Reading and Writing
• CMST 191 (3 SH) Oral Communication
• HHP 204 Physical Development and Wellness

Arts and Sciences:
You may not use the following courses to fulfill this category [they are required in the major]:

• CMST 261 (Humanities)
• CMST 282 (Social Science)
• English 222 (Fine and Performing Arts)

You may use the following courses [they are not required in the major]:

• English 120

 Unity and Diversity: 
You may use the following courses to fulfill University Studies requirements and major requirements:

• CMST 375 (Critical Analysis)
• EDU 308 (Multicultural Perspective)
• English 220 (Multicultural Perspectives)
• English 211(Contemporary Citizenship)
• MassCom 100 (Democratic Institutions)

Flagged Courses:

• Writing Flag: English 414, 417, 447, CMST 371
• Oral Flag: English 303, 304, 305, 402, CMST 493
• Critical Analysis Flag: English 290