Academic Advisement
School of Art and Design
Main Building
Room 432
Hours: Monday-Friday, 9AM-5PM

As academic advisors for art and design undergraduates, we are here to help you plan your schedule, define your educational objectives, and make sure that you are properly satisfying departmental requirements. You will meet with your advisor twice a year for your advisement appointment, but feel free to come and see us any time Monday through Friday from 9:00AM to 5:00PM if you have questions or just to say hello!

We also ask that you check your Pratt email regularly. This is our primary form of communication with you; we send important information about advisement and registration to your Pratt emails and expect you to be responsible for that information as well as important deadlines which are listed in the academic calendar. Please note: once you are a Pratt student, we will not respond to or use non-Pratt email.

Remember, we are here as part of the support system that is available to you at Pratt, and we welcome your questions and conversations. Ultimately, however, your academic career is in your hands.

The conditions leading to a student’s dismissal are stated in both the Graduate and Undergraduate bulletins in the ‘Registration’ portion under ‘Qualitative Standards’.

Every student who has been dismissed has the right to appeal this action. Students who receive a letter of dismissal from the Dean’s Office are also given a date by which a written appeal is to be turned in for review.

Suggestions on how to write an appeal:

• An appeal should never be hand written.
• Take care to ensure that it is grammatically correct.
• State the facts and circumstances leading to the dismissal in an honest and responsible manner.
• Give consideration to how you intend to avoid such circumstances in the future.

*You have the right to submit along with your letter, letters of support from teachers, administrators and health care professionals.

The School of Art and Design convenes the Committee on Academic Standing twice a year (at the end of the fall and spring semesters) to review appeals. The decisions of the committee will be relayed in a timely and effective manner.

Taking courses outside of Pratt in the US

You may take up to 6 credits of coursework outside of Pratt while you are matriculated at Pratt. (3 credits of studio electives and 3 credits of liberal arts electives). Prior to registering for the class, obtain the Permission to Transfer Credit form from the Registrar’s office, attach a description of the course(s) that you wish to take, and present them to the appropriate Dean for approval. Upon completion of the class, present an official transcript from the other school to the Registrar’s office at Pratt in order to receive transfer credit. More information on this policy can be found on page 251 of the 2008-2009 Undergraduate Bulletin.

**Reminder: the last 32 credits of your BFA must be completed at Pratt. For those permissions that fall within the last 32 credits, students must petition the Dean for a waiver of the residence requirement.

Taking courses outside of Pratt in other countries (non-Pratt programs)

Students who wish to take a semester off during their junior year for the purposes of studying abroad need to keep a few important facts in mind:

1. A student who wants to study abroad in either their fall or spring semester of junior year must complete and file with the Office of the Registrar a Leave of Absence form.
2. In order to transfer credit back to Pratt, a student must obtain a Permission to Transfer Credit form from the Office of the Registrar and secure the appropriate permissions and signatures.
3. The policy concerning ‘Transfer Credit after Matriculation’ applies to students wishing to do a semester abroad with a non-Pratt program. This policy can be found on page 251 of the 2008-2009 Undergraduate Bulletin.

Every undergraduate student in The School of Art and Design must complete 34 credits in LAS studies. A student must take 12 courses to reach this required number of credits over 8 semesters. Only those courses taught through The School of Liberal Arts and Sciences can be used to fulfill the required 34 credits.

Yoga (DAN 105/106) and Art History courses are NOT considered Liberal Arts and Sciences and cannot be used toward fulfilling the required 34 credits.

24 of your 34 credits are to be considered required courses, they breakdown as follows:

• 6 credits of English 101 and 103
• 6 credits of CH 300 and 400 (World Civ. I and II)
• 6 credits of Science: any two 3 credit science courses with a prefix of SCI, ENS, CHEM, PHYS or MATH (MATH 151 is offered only in the spring. MATH 150 is for architecture majors only.)
• 6 credits of Social Science and or Philosophy: any two 3 credit courses with a prefix of SS, PHIL and CST (please check for prereqs and restrictions concerning some CST courses.)

Your remaining 10 credits are to be considered electives, i.e. courses which you elect to take. Elective courses are any courses with the following prefixes:

• CH, SS, PHIL, CST, HUM, COM, MSCI, SCI, PHYS, CHEM, ENGL, ENS
• Only 3 credit courses will fulfill requirements. 2 credit courses in the areas of Science, Social Science, and Philosophy will only count as elective credit.

English 101 is the prerequisite course to all LAS courses and must be completed in the first semester with a grade of C or better. Failure to do so requires the course to be taken in the second semester. English 103 is a co-requisite course for LAS courses and must also be completed with a grade of C or better.

While your degree audit indicates which semester certain requirements should be taken, availability of seats doesn’t always permit for this. Once English 101 and 103 are completed, how you sequence your remaining requirements is up to you; however, every effort should be made to complete all requirements before moving on to 400 level elective courses.

Fulfilling your 34 Liberal Arts and Science credits can be accomplished only by taking the course work here at Pratt or by transferring in credit for course work done at another college or university upon acceptance to Pratt. There is one exception to this however: a student may take 1 course outside of Pratt while at Pratt and transfer the credit in. This is to be done with advisement from your academic advisor and approval from The School of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

* International students please note: Once you have completed your IEP requirements or have tested out, the above information applies to you as well. Please also note that ENG 100 and 102 are the equivalent to 101 and 103.

1. Check Your Holds

• Check your hold status by clicking on “Check my Hold Status” in the Course Planning category. (Note: you can be advised if you have a hold, but you cannot register for classes with a hold.)
• Click “Submit” to display your information
• If you have a hold, the screen will display it along with information on how to take care of it. All holds must be cleared for you to register; your advisor cannot override any holds.
• When you are finished, click “OK” to return to the Student Menu

2. Register for Approved Courses

• Click “Register From My Worksheet” in the Registration Category
• Verify your academic program and click “Submit.”
• Check the box next to the course you want to register for and click “Submit” to generate the section list.
• Check the box next to an available section and click “Submit.”
• Select “Register” from the drop-down box next to your preferred section and hit “Submit.”
• Review the status column for confirmation

3. Verify Your Schedule (very important!!)

• Under My Courses click on “Class Schedule.”
• Choose a desired term and click “OK.”
• Print out your schedule
• **If your schedule is blank, it means that your registration was unsuccessful. Follow the steps above again. If you are having trouble with registration, please go to the Registrar’s Office on the first floor of Thrift Hall or call them at 718-636-3663.

How to register for courses outside of your major

If you have the proper prerequisites to take a course outside of your major, and you cannot register yourself online due to course restrictions, be sure that the course has been approved by your advisor in your worksheet and go to the Registrar’s Office to be registered.

Closed classes

If you want to get into a closed class, you must obtain permission from the chair of the department in which the class is offered. Notes from faculty are not accepted. The chairperson will either register you directly for the class or he/she will approve the course in your online worksheet. You may then go to the Registrar to be registered.

How to drop a class

The drop/add period is the first two weeks of the semester. After the first two weeks of class, no more drop/adds will be processed.

• Click on “Register/Add/Drop Sections” in the Registration category
• Follow the onscreen instructions to drop a course and click “Submit.”
• When you are finished go to “My class schedule” and check to make sure that the course no longer appears in your schedule.

**Important: Dropping below 12 credits (full time) can affect your financial aid and housing. After the first day of classes, dropping below full time, even temporarily, will incur a forfeiture fee.

How to withdraw from a class

Course withdrawals are permitted up until the withdrawal deadline listed in the Academic Calendar. Follow the procedures above under “How to drop a class.” A WD will appear on your transcript, but this will not affect your GPA. If you do not officially withdraw from a registered course, you will receive an F for the course. If you have any questions about course withdrawal and its affect on your academic progress, please see your advisor.

Mike Farnham

Coordinator of Academic Advisement

Main Building, Room 432

718-636-3611

Tracy Howard

Administrative Assistant

Main Building, Room 432

718-636-3611

Jennifer Perry

Assistant Coordinator of Academic Advisement

718-636-3611

Gregory Singer

Academic Advisor

718-636-3611

Scott Zimmer

Academic Advisor

718-636-3611

Once you finish your foundation year, you are assigned an advisor based on your chosen major. Your advisor is listed on your degree audit as well as in your online worksheet. Advisors see students on a walk-in basis; there is no need to make an appointment. During advisement periods, an appointment day will be assigned to you. It appears both on your my.pratt.edu dashboard and your degree audit. You may come in at any time during your advisor’s office hours on that appointment date.

If you are an Industrial Design, Illustration or Advertising/Art Direction major, your advisor is:

Mike Farnham, Coordinator of Academic Advisement

718-636-3611

If you are a Digital Arts (Computer Graphics), Film, Film Animation, Graphic Design, Photo, or Art and Design Education major, your advisor is:

Jennifer Perry, Assistant Coordinator of Academic Advisement

718-636-3611

If you are an Art History or Fine Arts major with a concentration in one of the following disciplines: Drawing, Painting, Sculpture, Jewelry, Ceramics, or Printmaking, your advisor is:

Gregory Singer, Academic Advisor

718-636-3611

If you are a Fashion or Interior Design major, your advisor is:

Scott Zimmer, Academic Advisor

718-636-3611

Steps 1- 4 must be completed before you meet with your academic advisor on your appointment date.

1. Log in to Academic Tools and find the Student Menu

• Go to http://my.pratt.edu
• Log in with your user name and password. If you have problems logging in, contact the Helpdesk at 718-636-3765 or email them at helpdesk@pratt.edu.
• Click on the “Academic Tools” tab
• Click on the red “Academic Tools” text
• Select the blue “Students” bar. This will bring up the Student Menu.

2. Find and read your degree audit

• Click on “Degree Audit” in the Student Menu under “Course Planning.”
• Choose an Active program from the list presented or select a new program in the “What if I changed my program of study?” drop-down box.
• Select “Registered/Preregistered” in the “What work do you want to include?” drop-down box.

It is very important to become familiar with your degree audit since it is the document that you are graduated against here at Pratt. It displays the classes you’ve taken, the classes in which you are currently enrolled and the classes you will need to take to complete your BFA. Every time you see your advisor, he or she will review your audit with you in order to properly inform you of what you need to take and what to expect over the remaining semesters until graduation. The audit also displays the unique advisement date and registration date set for every individual student.

3. Find courses

• In order to find courses that are offered in an upcoming semester, click on “Search for Sections” in the Registration category of the Student Menu.
• Select a term from the drop-down menu, and then select one or more subjects. You may also narrow your search by course #, day and time, and location, but this is not required to do a search.
• When you have chosen your search criteria, click “Submit.” The screen will display a list of courses which match your search criteria. If you click on the course title, a full description will be displayed.

4. Make your worksheet

• Click on “Create/Add to Worksheet” from the Course Planning category of the student menu.
• Type in the prefix (e.g. SCI, COMD, FILM, etc.) and course number of the classes that you want to add to your worksheet (don’t enter sections here). You may add three courses at a time.
• Hit “Submit.” Note: Do not use the “Create/Add to Worksheet” function to search for courses that you want to take. The “Search for Sections” function is currently the only way to accurately find courses that are offered in an upcoming semester.
• When the list of courses comes up, click the box(es) next to the course(s) that you want and select the correct semester from the drop-down menu.
• Click “OK.” The course appears on your worksheet as “added by student.”
• Click “Create/Add to Worksheet” to continue adding courses to your worksheet.
• Courses are recorded in your worksheet for your advisor’s approval. If you been advised in person for a given semester, you may simply email your advisor to have additional courses approved online. You may then register yourself for the sections that you choose.

For all questions regarding problems with registration, go to the Registrar’s Office in the first floor of Thrift Hall.

You must contact your professor directly regarding your grade for a class. The professor is the only person who can submit a change of grade for you, if they deem it appropriate. See the Pratt Catalog under “Final Grades, Grade Disputes, and Grade Change Policies.”

NR means that there is no record on file of you being registered for, or dropping or withdrawing from, a particular section of a course. Often, it means that you have attended a different section of a course than the one that you registered for. You will need to see your advisor to fill out a drop/add slip, and you will need to obtain a letter from your faculty stating that you attended his or her course.

NG means that you were properly registered for a course, but the faculty member has not issued a grade.

An Incomplete in a class may be given by your faculty member if you have been in regular attendance, satisfied all but the final requirements for the course, and you have given satisfactory proof that the work was not completed due to illness or other circumstances beyond your control. You must complete the work by the date specified by your faculty, and no later than the end of the following semester, otherwise you will receive an F for the course.

Your advisement and registration appointments are listed on your degree audit and My Pratt dashboard a week before the advisement period begins each semester. You are to come in for advisement on the designated date. Be sure to check your Pratt email for specific times that your Advisor is available during advisement.

If you wish to take summer courses at Pratt, you will be advised during your advisement appointment in the spring semester. You are able to register for summer courses during registration for fall courses.

If you want to change your major within the School of Art and Design, you must obtain a Change of Major form from the Office of Academic Advisement and meet with the Chairperson of the department in which you would like to major. The signature of your current Chairperson is also required. Then, take the form to the Registrar’s Office for processing.

To establish full-time status as an undergraduate student, you must be enrolled in 12 or more semester credits. Students registered for Intensive English are considered registered in activities equivalent to 2 credits for each section.

If you do not have International student status and you wish to attend Pratt part- time, you must consult with your Financial Aid Advisor, your Academic Advisor and Residence Life if you have on-campus housing.

Some sections of courses are linked to other sections, so even though it appears that there is space in a section, if the website says that the class is closed, it is closed.

Courses which count for the studio elective requirement and are available to students in the School of Art and Design are as follows:
(Check restrictions; some courses require the permission of the department if they are not in your major course of study.)

• Communications Design (COMD)
• Digital Arts (DDA)
• Drawing (DRWG)
• Fine Arts Seminars (FAU)
• Film
• History of Art (HA)
• History of Design (HD)
• Printmaking (PRNT)
• Painting (PTG)
• Photography (PHOTO)
• Sculpture (SCJ) includes jewelry and ceramics
• Technics (TECH) includes a wide variety of disciplines
• Yoga (DAN)

Liberal arts and sciences courses are as follows (all count as LAS electives, some count as LAS requirements):

Fulfilling the Math/Sci requirements:

• Math and Science (MSCI)
• Science (SCI)
• Chemistry (CHEM)
• Environmental Science (ENS)
• Physics (PHYS)
• Note: Math 150 and MSCI 110P are for architecture majors only

Fulfilling the SS/Phil requirements:

• Social Science (SS)
• Philosophy (PHIL)
• Critical & Visual Studies (CST) check restrictions-some courses are only for Crit/Vis majors
• Cultural History (CH) except for CH 300 and CH 400 which are separate requirements

Fulfilling liberal arts electives, all the above courses apply plus:

• English (ENGL) except for ENGL 101 and 103
• Communications (COM)
• Humanities (HUM)

After going over your degree audit, and planning your courses in your online worksheet, you come to see your advisor for advisement. With your advisor, you will discuss your specific degree requirements and the courses that you need to take to meet those requirements.

Registration is a separate process which you do yourself online—you choose the sections (days and times) of the courses that you wish to take, and you register yourself for them.

If you want to get into a class that is closed, you must go to the department that offers the course and get the permission of the Chairperson. He or she will register you directly into the class if they so choose. Neither your advisor nor the faculty member can add you to a closed class.