Prepare for Orientation!
There's a lot to figure out as a transfer student. To make your transition as smooth as possible it helps to be organized. Here are some tips and links to information to help you pull everything together and get prepared for your new life at JMU.
First
Collect all your most recent college transcripts and score reports (e.g SAT, A.P.) and neatly file them in a folder that you can bring with you to Transfer Springboard.
You also should bring syllabi from courses that we still need to evaluate (if you received a Transfer Credit Information Sheet with your transfer credit evaluation this would have detailed which courses need to be evaluated by a specific academic department).
Second
Follow these links to get answers to frequently asked questions:
000 credit
Transferable courses which cannot be equated to a particular JMU course will be listed as "000" -- a generic course number for major or elective courses or "001" for a generic course which meets a General Education Requirement. See Course Equivalents for more information.
How Do I Change the Elective Credit to a "Real" Course?
• Non-general education credit: Contact the department where the course equivalent is taught
• General education credit: Contact General Education.
When attempting to change elective credit to a "real" course you will need to show a course description or syllabus.
Academic Advising
At Transfer Springboard you will meet with your academic adviser. Your adviser will be a representative from the department in which you intend to major, or in Career and Academic Planning if you are undeclared.
Come prepared to your advising meeting:
- Consider your academic interests and goals
- Bring transcripts from your previous college and/or university
- Review the online JMU Undergraduate catalog to learn more about academic requirements in your major and for your degree (you will receive a copy of your catalog at Orientation)
During your Transfer Springboard advising session, your adviser will:
- Review your transfer credit evaluation;
- Discuss with you those courses for which you will receive JMU credit. If you have taken courses that are not listed on your transcript, please bring a copy of the course descriptions with you;
- Discuss your academic and career goals; and
- Work with you to develop an academic plan with course recommendations including appropriate courses in general education and in your intended major.
Add/drop
During the first week of classes, students can adjust their schedules with their adviser's approval. If you don't get the courses you want during Transfer Springboard, you may be able to pick them up during add/drop, by asking the professor for an override or permission number, or by attending the first day of class and seeing if other students may have dropped the course.
You can drop a class without penalty up through the Monday after classes start. After that, you will receive a "W" on your transcript for the course. This is called withdrawing. Refer to the Registrar's web site to find out the last day you can withdraw from a class.
AP (Advanced Placement)
You receive AP credit based on your score on the AP exam. The minimum score you must receive on the exam to get college credit is determined by each individual academic area. See this web site for more information. You can also refer to your Undergraduate Catalog. You are responsible for having your AP scores sent to JMU.
Associate Degrees
With the exception of associates degrees in some General Studies programs and in accordance with the State Policy on Transfer, JMU will waive general education requirements and grant junior-level status to admitted students who have completed an Associate in Arts, an Associate in Science, or an Associates in Arts and Sciences degree at Richard Bland College or any Virginia Community College.
Bills
You can expect to receive your summer bill notification e-mail on April 16 or May 21, depending upon your enrollment date. The e-mail will include a Web link that will take you immediately to your account. Your electronic student account will provide detailed information of your student account charges, payments, anticipated financial aid and installment payment credits. If you have not received your bill notification by May 21, please contact the University Business Office immediately.
If your account is not paid by the due date, your account will be placed on hold and you will be assessed a late payment fee. Delinquent accounts can result in your class registration being canceled. Go to http://www.jmu.edu/ubo for details on your financial account.
Block course
Block courses are classes that meet for only half the semester during the first and second eight week sessions. Block classes are regular courses that meet for the same amount of class time as full-semester classes but each class session is twice as long. First and second eight week sessions are offered both in the fall and spring semesters.
Course equivalents at JMU
Transfer credits are evaluated on a course-by-course basis. Credit will be awarded for those courses in which the student has earned a grade of "C" or better and which are equivalent to courses offered at JMU. Courses carrying a grade of "C-" and below are not transferable. After the student has been approved for admission, the Office of the Registrar will evaluate the transcript(s) of each transfer student to show the credits accepted by the University.
Course evaluation
Transfer students will receive a transfer credit evaluation several weeks after receiving their offer of admission. In addition to a "student transfer evaluation" which identifies how JMU has evaluated every college course a student has taken, students will also receive a General Education program evaluation. Finally, you may receive a Transfer Credit Information Sheet with your transfer credit evaluation. This details which courses we cannot evaluate until we receive final grades, which courses need to be evaluated by a specific department and which courses do not have an equivalent at JMU, but count as elective credit. Check your Transfer One Book and the Registrar's web page for more information on the transfer credit evaluation process.
Credit/no-credit
The credit/no-credit option has been established to encourage students to explore academic areas with which they are unfamiliar. Such academic exploration allows students to fully integrate field-based learning activities into appropriate programs of study. The design of the credit/no-credit option allows students to participate in courses outside of their major and minor fields of concentration without jeopardizing their academic records. In some cases, the credit/no-credit option might also help to reduce academic pressures and competition for grades.
Students electing to take courses under this option should be selective in choosing the courses that they take as credit/no-credit. Graduate and professional schools and future employers might hold differing opinions of such a nontraditional grading system. For this reason, students should consult with their academic advisers for information concerning the inclusion of credit/no-credit course grades within their programs.
Transfer students may take courses on the credit/no-credit option only if they have completed 28 credit hours with at least 14 hours at JMU.
JMU allows students to register for kinesiology activity courses on a credit/no-credit basis at any time without regard to minimum hours completed or grade point average. Also, grades for student teaching are assigned on a credit/no-credit basis. Except for field-based courses (which may be defined by a department/school as credit/no-credit) the following courses may not be taken credit/no-credit:
- Courses used to meet General Education requirements
- Courses within a major program
- Courses within a minor program
- Courses listed by name and number in a major or minor program but offered outside the major and minor academic unit
- Courses being repeated that were previously taken for a letter grade
- Degree requirements
Students should also keep in mind the following factors when considering the credit/no-credit option:
- Students can take up to 15 credit hours on a credit/no-credit basis.
- The university limits the maximum number of credit/no-credit courses a student can take to four credit hours per semester or one course of more than four credit hours per semester.
- Student teaching is not counted as a part of these credit/no-credit totals.
- Students registering for classes should declare the course or courses that they plan to take on a credit/no-credit basis at the time of registration, and all changes to and from the credit/no-credit option must be completed by the end of the course adjustment period.
- The credit/no-credit option will only apply to final grades. All course work and quizzes will be graded as if the student were taking the course for credit.
- Students taking a course on a credit/no-credit basis will only be identified to the instructor after final grades have been submitted.
- Instructors will submit letter grades to the university registrar who will then change all grades of "A" through "C" to "CR" (credit) for those students enrolled under the credit/no-credit option. (The university makes exceptions to this process for field-based courses designated by the academic unit.) Students will receive credit hours, but they will not receive quality points for the work completed. Therefore, the grade of "CR" will not affect a student's cumulative grade point averages.
- A grade of "NC" (no-credit) will be recorded for all grades of "C-" and below and the student will not receive credit hours or quality points for the grade of "NC." The fact that the student took the course will remain on that student's transcript, but the grade assigned in that class will not affect that student's cumulative grade point average.
Disability Services
JMU is committed to ensuring that students with disabilities have an equal opportunity to fully access and participate in their educational experience at JMU.
The Office of Disability Services (ODS) is available to assist you in identifying your special needs, and providing and coordinating accommodations, support services and programs that will give you an equal opportunity and help you maximize your learning potential as you make the transition into, through, and out of the university. Click here to learn more.
If you require special accommodations during orientation, please notify us at orientation@jmu.edu or (540) 568-1787 at least two weeks prior to your orientation date.
e-campus
When you attend Transfer Springboard you will register for fall 2008 classes. Except for your initial registration period during Orientation, registration takes place each semester over a two-and-a-half week period during which students schedule the following semesters classes via the web. Course offerings and pertinent registration times and procedures can be found on the Registrar's web site. You may also search for open classes on e-campus. Registration may be overwhelming your first semester. We strongly encourage you to familiarize yourself with e-campus prior to Transfer Springboard.
Foreign Language
Credit will not be given for introductory (101-102 level) foreign language courses taken at another university or college if the student studied that language in high school for two or more years. Also, if the student took two or more years of foreign language in high school, he/she may not enroll and earn introductory level credit in the same language at JMU. The student will have the following choices:
- Enroll in 231 or above for credit.
- Enroll in 101 or 102 with no credit by auditing the course.
- Enroll in 109 (French and Spanish only) for credit with department permission.
- Begin a new foreign language.
Foreign Language Placement Exam
Are you planning on pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree, or majoring in international business or international affairs? If so, you may need to take foreign language courses. Here's how to determine if you need to take a foreign language placement exam:
You must take the JMU placement exam if the following three statements are true:
• You have had two or more years of language in high school or college
• You have not taken the SAT II in that language
• The following majors have a foreign language requirement. Are you entering one of the following majors?
- Art History
- English
- History
- International Affairs
- International Business
- Modern Foreign Languages
- Philosophy and Religion
- Political Science
- Theatre and Dance
Or you are pursuing a B.A. degree in one of the following majors:
- Art, General Fine Arts or Studio Art
- Communication Sciences and Disorders
- Geographic Science
- Geology
- Interdisciplinary Social Science
- Mathematics
- Media Arts and Design
- Psychology
- Sociology
- Technical and Scientific Communication
General Education
If you are not transferring from a Virginia Community College with an approved associate's degree, it is likely that you will have to complete some GenEd requirements at JMU. It's not just you-JMU requires this liberal arts foundation of every student. Click here to learn more.
Transfer students with an appropriate Virginia Community College Associate Degree will have fulfilled their General Education requirements. Students transferring from a Virginia Community College but will not be earning an appropriate Associate's Degree should review the Virginia Community College Guide for important information.
Grades/Grade point
Letter grades earned for transfer course work will not appear on the JMU transcript nor will they be included in the JMU cumulative grade point average. The grades will, however, be included in the grade point average used to determine graduation honors.
Graduation, how many credits
Students must:
- Meet all major, general education, and degree course requirements
- Earn at least 30 credits from JMU
- Earn at least 60 credits from a four-year institution
- Complete a minimum of 120 credit hours overall
See Graduation requirements for more information.
Graduation requirements
The total number of credit hours needed to graduate from JMU is a minimum of 120. All students are required to complete the general education program, unless you are exempt through having received an associate degree as a transfer student. All academic major, minor, pre-professional, and degree course requirements must be completed in order to earn a bachelor degree.
Graduation with honors
In order to be eligible for graduation with honors, students must attend James Madison University for at least two years and earn a minimum of 60 semester hours of credit with a 3.500 grade point average or above. If these requirements are met, grades received at ALL INSTITUTIONS, including JMU and institutions attended before or after entry to JMU, are used in determining the honors grade point average:
below 3.500: none
3.500-3.699: cum laude
3.700-3.899: magna cum laude
3.900 and above: summa cum laude
Note: The cumulative average appearing on grade reports and the James Madison University transcript is based only on work completed at JMU; class rank is determined by the grade point average earned at JMU.
Honor code
Do you know what constitutes cheating at JMU? It is time to learn. As a JMU student you are expected to know and abide by the Honor Code. Honor is taken seriously in every educational setting, and JMU is no exception. Cheating, copying, plagiarizing, improper citations, and buying papers written by someone else are just a few examples of Honor Code violations that have potential to jeopardize your status as a student. You could be suspended or expelled for violating the Honor Code. Visit the Honor Council web site for more information.
- Honor Council Mission Statement: The James Madison University Honor Council is committed to instilling, promoting, and upholding individual and collective academic integrity.
- After enrollment, each JMU student is automatically subject to the provisions of the Honor System. Each student is responsible for becoming familiar with the provisions of the Honor Code and the Honor System procedures. Ignorance of what constitutes an honor code violation cannot be used as a defense in an honor hearing.
- All students new to JMU are required to complete a mandatory tutorial on the honor system. Log on to jmu.edu/honor and click on the tutorial button to begin.
- All academic dishonesty is a violation of the honor code. Often students are surprised at what constitutes "cheating" at college. Cheating at college often has more serious consequences that it does in many high schools.
- It is the responsibility of each student to read and understand the provisions of the honor system. If there are questions, please contact the Honor Council office (568-6383 or 568-6275). More information about the Honor System may be found on the Honor System web site. The Honor Council offices are located at Chandler Hall Room 133.
- In a university community there can be no doubt that honor and the pursuit of knowledge are intertwined. True knowledge can be gained only through honorable means. It is because of this belief that an Honor System exists here at James Madison University, and an Honor Council enforces its provisions.
International Baccalaureate
JMU recognizes the International Baccalaureate diploma and individual IB courses by awarding credit on IB higher-level examinations in essentially the same manner in which credit is allowed for Advanced Placement courses. Typically, credit hours will be awarded for each higher-level examination on which a score of five, six, or seven has been earned. Please refer to the International Baccalaureate course equivalent charts for more information.
Major
Have you thought about what you expect of your JMU academic experience? How will it be different from what you experienced at your last institution? Here are a few thoughts to ponder.
- Depending on your major and how many credits transfer, it might take more than four semesters to complete your degree.
- Admission to JMU does not necessarily mean admission to certain majors. For example, programs in the College of Business, majors like Media Arts and Design, or disciplines in the fine arts have separate application processes, auditions or required portfolios. Check the fine print! Where? Here.
- Thinking of majoring in psychology or a career in education? While you can indicate an interest in some disciplines, you may not be able to start in these areas in your first semester at JMU. There's more information here.
- If you have 30 or more credit hours, it is a JMU policy that you declare a major upon enrollment.
- Do you have less than 30 credits and are considering being undeclared? If you choose Undeclared, your advisor will be in Academic Advising and Career Development and will assist you in the process of choosing a major. We still encourage you to visit this web site to begin the process of exploring.
Math placement
Don't worry; it's not just you. All incoming transfer students will take the exam. Your score will be sent to your adviser, who will help you to select the right math courses when you're on campus for Transfer Springboard in June or July.
Remember:
- You must complete the test one week prior to your orientation date.
Pre-Professional Programs
We encourage you to research and understand the expectations and requirements of pre-professional programs.
Quarter system
All transfer credits are awarded in semester hours. Check the following conversion table. To see how quarters convert to semesters:
1 QH = 0 SH
2 QH = 1 SH
3 QH = 2 SH
4 QH = 2 SH
5 QH = 3 SH
6 QH = 4 SH
7 QH = 4 SH
8 QH = 5 SH
9 QH = 6 SH
10 QH = 6 SH
11 QH = 7 SH
12 QH = 8 SH
While one quarter (3 QH) of a particular course will transfer to JMU as two semester hours, it may not fulfill a requirement for general education or major studies since most of the courses offered and requirements listed at JMU call for three semester hours of credit. Two quarters (6 QH) of a sequential course will meet a one-semester requirement.
Schedule
A normal class load is 15 credits each semester. You must take 12 credits to be considered a full-time student. Keep in mind that credits may also be earned through AP credit from high school and summer session. Building your first semester schedule is typically more challenging than any following semester due to various factors. Click here for add/drop information.
Teacher Education Programs
- To learn more about which teacher education program to select click here.
Transcripts
- Come prepared to your advising meeting by bringing copies of your transcripts from your previous college(s) and/or university(ies).
- Send your final transcript from your current college or university to: JMU Admissions Office (MSC 0101, Harrisonburg, VA 22807).
- Posting of transfer credits on the JMU transcript is provisional until the final transcript is received. It is the student's responsibility to request the official transcript from the former institution(s).
Transfer Springboard
We realize you've already started classes, but you haven't officially been oriented to JMU. Transfer Springboard is the official orientation program for all incoming transfer students and is designed to help you connect with other transfer students. Additionally, you will have the opportunity to meet your ANT (Assisting New Transfer student peer) and OPA (Orientation Program Assistant) who will assist you in transitioning to JMU.
There are four Orientation sessions to choose from: June 2, 3, 5, 6.
Undergraduate catalog
You'll receive your very own 2008-9 copy at Transfer Springboard Orientation in June, however in the meantime check out our online catalog.
Virginia Community College Guide
Applicants earning a appropriate Virginia Community College Associate Degree will have fulfilled their General Education requirements. Please refer to our Transfer Guide for Virginia Community College credits to JMU.