ADVISING FOR CURRENT STUDENTS

Hello current undergraduate Art majors! On this page, you will find resources to help you navigate our programs and complete your degree, including answers to some commonly asked questions.

Information for Master of Arts students can be found here: Homepage for MA Interaction Design and Interactive Art

 

Advising at Cal State East Bay happens in two parts: Major Advising and GE Advising. You need both.

 

Major advisors are full-time faculty members, who advise students with junior and senior standing on their major courses. They determine transfer credit articulation for major courses, and must sign off on major requirements the semester before you expect to graduate. Students with minors in Art may also meet with Art major advisors to confirm minor requirements.

Fine your major advisor here: Art Advisor Office Hours and Contact Info. If you are unavailable during your advisor’s office hours, ALL Art majors can also make an appointment with the Faculty Advising Fellow. Most faculty use Bay Advisor to schedule appointments. Instructions for using Bay Advisor can be found here. Please use Firefox or Chrome to access Bay Advisor.

 

GE advisors are professional staff members who help students with frosh- and sophomore-standing navigate GE/breadth requirements and foundations major requirements; they also help junior- and senior-standing students confirm upper division GE/breadth and university requirements.

Students in Video & Animation or in Graphic Design should contact Mo Her (email: mo.her@csueastbay.edu). Students in all other Art concentrations should contact Jerome Narvaez (email: jerome.narvaez@csueastbay.edu).

Students participating in programs such as EOP, Excel, GANAS, LINK, PIIA, Renaissance, Sankofa, or Veterans may contact these programs for additional support for non-major courses and university requirements.

 

  • When should I meet with an advisor?

You should plan to meet with an advisor at least once every academic year. Advisors are busiest during registration, so plan on meeting earlier in the semester if you are verifying transfer credits, applying for graduation, mapping out your program, or have other questions.

Below are worksheets that tell students which courses are required for each concentration, followed by roadmaps for the final years of BFA Graphic Design (roadmaps and other planning tools for more concentrations will be coming in the future – in the meantime, talk to a faculty advisor about when to take these courses and about choosing electives).

 

What are “BFA Critique” and “Forum”?

BFA Critique is a one-credit class where 12 students from different concentrations give and receive feedback on their in-progress work. BFA students take this course 3 times, usually in the final 3 semesters. Forum is a one-credit class where students listen to guest artists, designers, and other professionals talk about their practice. BFA students must take this course once.

  • How do I know if I have satisfied major requirements? Should I be worried that my Degree Audit Report (DAR) on MyCSUEB does not show all transfer courses correctly?

On MyCSUEB, your Degree Audit Report (DAR) provides a record of completed courses used to satisfy university and major requirements. Inside the MyCSUEB Student Center, access your DAR in the “Academics” tab by selecting the “Academic Requirements Report” drop down item. 

There are several reasons why the DAR may have delays, errors, or missing information, and generally this won’t affect your ability to enroll in classes. When you meet with an advisor, you can confirm transfer credits or approved electives. Please note that Art department faculty and the Registrar ultimately use a separate Major Check Sheet for your concentration to confirm completion of major requirements for graduation; any substitutions will be noted there and may not be updated on the DAR (if you have met with an advisor to start a Check sheet, they may place an in-progress version in Bay Advisor, under “Reports”; or you can email your advisor for a copy).

Use MyCSUEB to register for classes. This PDF demonstrates how to search, select, and enroll in classes using MyCSUEB. More details about registration holds or other procedures can be found here: How to Register for Classes.

 

  •  What is a registration appointment?

Each student is given a specific "registration appointment", which is the time when you should register for classes. Your appointment time can be found on MyCSUEB. You do not need to make an advising appointment at this time (advisors cannot register you; you must do this yourself). Art majors are strongly encouraged to check and clear advising holds, and to plan courses before their registration appointment and register as soon as it is their turn - Art courses fill up quickly.

 

  • How are courses offered in the Art department?

Most Art courses meet In-person at Hayward campus. Some courses are offered 100% Web online synchronous with one or two meetings per week using Zoom video conferencing, or Hybrid (which may use Zoom or meet on campus, plus some asynchronous tasks); only a very small number of courses are available 100% Web online asynchronous (no meetings). The Art department does not offer courses with Dual teaching (aka Web online sync-dual teaching). Learn more about university course modalities here. Students should consult the Schedule of Classes on MyCSUEB to see how their course meets.

 

  • How many classes should I take? How do I balance my workload?

Balancing your workload is tricky, and a personal decision. Although there is often external pressure to complete your degree on a specific timeline, you should take on a workload that fits your needs. Here are some factors to consider:

- 12 units is the minimum load for full-time (which may be a factor in Financial Aid awards).

- 18 units is the maximum load for full-time, unless you obtain permission to ‘overload’ in your final semester (up to 22 units); when you register for classes, you will not be allowed to have more than 18 units (including waitlists).

- It is okay to enroll part-time (below 12 units); many CSUEB students do.

- Most 3-credit courses required 6-9 hours of work per week. This tool is helpful to calculate actual work hours based on course assignments.

- Consider balancing types of courses, e.g. 2-3 studio/design classes (each typically 5 hours/week) and 1-2 art history or GE/breadth classes (each typically 2.5 hours/week, plus homework).

- BFA students are required to take 4 one-credit courses, usually one per semester during junior and senior years.

The university automatically deems students who have completed 90 units or more “Eligible to Apply for Graduation.” But many students, especially Art BFA students, reach eligibility from total units before they are actually ready to graduate.

 

You are ready to apply to graduate when ALL of the following are true:

  • You will have successfully completed at least 120 units by the end of next
  • You have satisfied all breadth requirements (all GE courses, all overlays, minimum upper division units and units in residence at CSUEB, minimum GPA), or you will have done so by the end of next
  • You are nearly done with all major requirements (and you have satisfied, or are currently satisfying, all required prerequisites for the remaining major courses you plan to take next semester).

 

When you are ready to apply for graduation, you must do two things:

1) Contact your Art major advisor to confirm that completion of major requirements; your major department must sign off on your Major check sheet in order for you to graduate (they may also recommend GE/CLASS advising for non-major requirements).

 

2) Log in to MyCSUEB with your NetID and password; on the Student tab select the “Apply for Graduation” link under the section labeled “Student Record Services” and follow the prompts to select the degree and term for your graduation. Note: After you apply for graduation, the $55 graduation filing fee will be applied to your student account. (If you are no longer a continuing/active student, you will need to file a paper application for graduation. If you have already applied to graduate, use MyCompass to postpone graduation instead.)

 

Please refer to Important Dates to view the deadlines to file for graduation each term.

 

  • If I finish classes in fall, do I have register for more classes and pay tuition next spring to participate in the commencement ceremony in May? Can I participate in the commencement ceremony in May if I won’t graduate until summer?


You should apply for graduation in the term before you expect to complete your coursework / requirements. This ensures that you receive your diploma at the right time. If you’ve completed all requirements, you do not need to enroll or pay tuition the following term, regardless of when your commencement program will be. Graduation is about receiving your diploma/credential; commencement is about celebrating your achievement. 

Graduation candidates for each academic year (fall-summer) will all be included in the Spring commencement program. For example, graduation candidates for Fall 2022, Spring 2023, and Summer 2023 will all be included in the 2023 commencement program. For more information about commencement celebrations, visit: https://www.csueastbay.edu/commencement.