General and Classics and Letters departmental-specific reminders can be found on this page. If a student has an issue that is unique or not found here, please visit the Student FAQs page or contact the department advisor.
Student Responsibility
Students are primarily responsible for remaining on track for graduation and keeping up with their degree obligations. Staying up to date with enrollment and major requirements can be done with the help of the major advisor. For example, knowing what courses count and do not count for general education and major categories or how many upper-division hours are needed to graduate is essential for clarity on meeting state, college, and departmental requirements. For example, specific courses may not credit in the way students assume, so routinely checking in with an advisor is beneficial.
Student Email
Students should check their OU email regularly to receive valuable information, changes (such as course cancellation or room change), and updates about the department. Once a student's major has been updated from pre-degree (University College) to the College of Arts & Sciences, students are added to the Classics & Letter's email group. If a student has not received notice that they are added, please contact the departmental advisor to get placed on the email list.
Advisor Availability
The Classics and Letters academic advisor is best reached through email. Email is the most efficient communication method given it leads to the quickest response. Throughout the semester, common questions may arise about course information or the general college experience. A good time to reach out to an advisor through email versus scheduling an appointment includes questions about:
There will be times throughout the semester when advisor email replies are slower than others due to the advisor's workload. These blocks of time occur most during peak semester advising (within one month or so before semester enrollment opens) and during graduation clearance (near the end of the semester). This impacts how soon an advisor can answer student requests and emails. An email reply may be delayed throughout the semester, sometimes up to one week. As a result, it is beneficial to take care of student responsibilities or manage schedule needs well ahead of deadlines.
Summer Hours
Students can take up to 18 hours in the summer term if the courses are structured as 6 hours per block. However, it is important to remember no more than 6 hours should overlap across any of the summer sessions. For example, if a student wishes to take 9 credit hours then 6 hours can be taken in June and 3 hours in July, but all 9 cannot be taken in June. A student may also take a full summer block course and 3 hrs in June and/or 3 hours in July. If more information regarding summer hours is still needed, please contact the student advisor.
General Education Courses
Courses that count toward gen ed credits must be approved as a gen ed course by the university. The quickest way to determine if a course is approved, visit Class Navigator and filter by "GenEd Type." Sometimes a transfer course may not equate to credit for a gen ed, because it has not been approved. Therefore, if a student has a transfer course that may count as a specific general education credit, please contact the departmental advisor for information on petitioning for gen ed approval.
Language Placement
To enroll in a beginning modern language course then students must either take a placement test or sign a waiver stating that they have not had a language or not enough of a language for a placement test to be necessary. The placement test will determine what level a student should begin at. For more information about language placement view the language placement requirements on the Department of Modern Language, Literatures, and Linguistics website or access the placement exemption form for the background waiver.
Note: To enroll in the beginning course for Latin or Greek, a language placement is not needed.
Prerequisite Courses
Students are responsible for making sure a foundation or baseline course they are taking is in the sequence that is needed for another course. These prerequisites are noted in course descriptions on Class Nav or when enrolling in Banner/ONE. Some departments, especially MATH, have strict regulations on what courses are needed to do well in higher level courses. This required sequence is not based on course number. In other words, Math 1473 is not an acceptable prerequisite for College Algebra (Math 1503) just because it assigned a lower course number. Students can make sure that the course they are enrolled in is an acceptable prerequisite by checking Class Navigator and checking course descriptions.
Course Permission
Sometimes course permission can be granted to enroll in a class if a student has taken enough coursework to understand the material or if a student's status (Freshman and Sophomore) does not match the course level (3000-4000). To gain permission to enroll in a course when a student does not meet a prerequisite, students must contact the course instructor to receive permission for an override and then forward the approved email response to the corresponding departmental advisor. To find departmental advisors outside of the College of Arts & Sciences visit the college website associated with the course. To view the College of Arts & Sciences advisor information visit the CAS website and click "Students", "Student Success and Advising Center", and "Academic Advising."
Course Credit for a Minor or Double Majors/Dual Degrees
Students who are majoring in two subjects cannot get credit for the same course in both majors other than as a gen ed or if it used as a major support course. For example, if a student is counting a course as a fulfillment for a History major requirement but is also majoring in Letters then the course can either count in History or Letters as a major course but not both. In the same sense, if a study is majoring in Letters but is minoring in Political Science, a course fulfilling a Letters major requirement can not be used to fulfill a Political Science minor course.
Honors and Pre-Professional (Pre-Law, Pre-Med, etc) Advising
A student's major advisor does not advise for Honors or Pre-Professional information. A student must visit the Honors website for Honors information and forms or schedule with a Pre-Professional advisor for more information about pre-professional requirements.
Letter's Language Requirement
Letter's majors must take two languages to fulfill their degree requirements. However, if a student has taken 3 or 4 years of a high school language, then they only will need to take an ancient language (3-4 courses in Latin or Greek) to fulfill their gen-ed and departmental language requirements. Students studying Latin or Greek in high school and who do not wish to take a beginning course in either subject will need to speak to the department advisor for language placement options.
3510 Courses
The Classics and Letters department offers a variety of unique and variable courses under the 3510 course number (LTRS 3510 or CLC 3510). If students wish to take two 3510 courses in the same semester, the OU enrollment system will block the student from enrolling in a course with the same course number. Although two 3510 courses may differ in title, the system recognizes them as the same. Therefore, students wanting to enroll in more than one 3510 course in the same semester will need an override from the advisor.
Degree Navigator
Students can visit Degree Navigator to view their progression toward degree completion. However, given the uniqueness and flexibility of the Classics and Letters majors, Degree Navigator will not always appear up-to-date. Many courses are added by the advisor manually so some courses will not populate automatically in a category. If a student has any questions about what courses count in their degree, please contact the advisor. For Degree Navigator instructions, visit the DN Tutorial (pdf).
Independent Study
Students enrolling in any Independent study course within the department (including Honors Research) must have permission from the instructor the student is working with before an enrollment override can be issued. Honors Research information and paperwork can be found on the Honors College website. Students in an independent study course must update their hours of enrollment after the override is issued. For example, the default enrollment hours for an independent study course is 1 hour. If a student needs the course to be credited 2 or 3, they must be manually altered. For instructions on how to update course hours, visit the changing course credit hours (pdf).
Graduating Seniors
Seniors must check in with the assigned departmental advisor two semesters before as well as the semester they are meant to graduate This includes students pursuing dual degrees or double majors as well as those that have only met with a different advisor within the department. The departmental advisor is assigned to clear graduates (to make sure all degree obligations are fulfilled), so an appointment is needed to ensure all graduation requirements have been met.
Transfer Students
Students transferring into the Classics and Letters Department must meet with the advisor before the academic hold is lifted from their OU account. Transfer students may not be able to schedule an appointment with the advisor directly through iAdvise due to availability restrictions. Therefore, transfer students will need to contact the advisor through email to schedule their first advising appointment. The estimated time for the initial transfer advisement is 1 hour so students should plan accordingly.
