Getting Help / Advising
- Advising
- Help Degree Requirements in SIS
- Help with Studying Abroad
- Help with Internships / Career Planning
- Help with College Non-CS Requirements
- Help with Getting into a Course
- Help with Declaring a Second Major / Double Major
- Help with a 5th Year Masters / UVAccelerate
Advising
Every BACS and BSCS major is assigned an advisor in the CS department. You can find their name when you log into SIS. This person is a good resource for CS matters but not for other things. Your CS advisor is a great person to talk to about CS and computing issues. Course selection, career plans, getting into research, etc.
Before course registration, an advisor hold is placed on your account. You must meet with your advisor who will release the hold. Normally, advisors contact their advisees to explain how they’ll do this.
What do I do if I don’t hear from my advisor? If you haven’t heard anything from your advisor after several attempts, please email cs-office@virginia.edu.
Help Degree Requirements in SIS
SIS is wrong? Missing a class from transfer, something in the wrong “bucket”, etc. please email cs-office@virginia.edu with your name, ID, and situation. It is each student’s responsibility to ensure that their academic record as recorded on the SIS is accurate.
Help with Studying Abroad
Start with the International Studies office - https://www.virginia.edu/academics/international. They see a lot of CS majors and know many things faculty don’t.
Need a course approved to be taken during study-abroad? Both BACS and BSCS should contact Prof. Charles Reiss @ creiss@virginia.edu for approval of courses for CS degree requirements. Except for BACS integration electives – for those, students should email bacsdirector@virginia.edu.
Help with Internships / Career Planning
For issues related to internships or finding a job that the faculty can’t answer, all computing students should visit the website or office of the Center for Engineering Career Development in Thornton Hall A-wing. They work with both SEAS and BACS students.
Help with College Non-CS Requirements
Any questions that’s NOT related to CS requirements, students should ask their association dean. (This is like a 2nd advisor for College students who handles issues not related to their major subject such as College foundation requirements, etc.)
Help with Getting into a Course
Enrollment in a course is ultimately up to the instructor, so reach out to them first. There are instances where an instructor cannot let you into a course (e.g. the course is already at fire code limit, there are limited resources for teaching the course, etc.). The department will not override a faculty member’s decision on letting a student into a course that is already full or if the student does not meet the prerequisites.
If a course must be taken in a specific semester in order for a student to graduate on time, email the instructor and the appropriate program director - bscsdirector@virginia.edu or bacsdirector@virginia.edu - with your situtation.
Help with Declaring a Second Major / Double Major
BACS
The College has restrictions on sharing courses between two majors and between a major and minor. The student should see the College website on declaring a minor or major to learn about these, or see their Association Dean.
BSCS
CpE
See the SEAS page on Declaring a Major or Minor.
Help with a 5th Year Masters / UVAccelerate
The CS contact for this is Prof. Felix Lin and the website is https://engineering.virginia.edu/future-grads/graduate-programs/uvaccelerate.