Author: ccswpadmin

Admissions

The Admissions Office is responsible for recruiting new students through various activities such as high school visits, campus visits, virtual and on-campus events, college fairs, portfolio days, international recruitment fairs, direct mail, email, social media, and telephone campaigns. In addition to the full-time staff, a team of Admissions Student Ambassadors assists with tele-counseling, campus tours, and various Admissions events.

Department Chairs and faculty play an important role in the student recruitment process. Chairs and faculty may be asked to participate in a variety of activities including, but not limited to: Portfolio days, open houses and department-specific events, high school visits, college fairs, portfolio reviews, the review of transfer student work for the placement of transfer credit in upper-level studios, incoming student events, and phone calls/virtual meetings with prospective students, applicants and accepted students on a case-by-case basis.

In addition to the activities above, Chairs may be asked to participate in annual department liaison meetings or reporting of department highlights, art educators breakfasts, workshops for prospective students, and other events that showcase their program to prospective students and parents.

Center for Tutoring and Writing

The Center for Tutoring and Writing (CTW) provides academic support for all students. It is staffed by full-time higher education professionals, as well as departmental tutors who are juniors or seniors in their major. CTW services include one-on-one tutorial assistance tailored to each individual’s learning style and academic needs, writing support services, and academic coaching on topics like time and project management.

CTW services are free to all students and offer the possibility to boost classroom performance, develop better learning strategies, and hone study, writing, and time management skills. Workshops highlighting these types of topics are conducted throughout each semester.  Writing assistance is also available for any type of assignment, including research papers, essays, artist’s statements, and resumes. International students can receive assistance specific to their needs as English Language learners.  Many services are available to students both in person in the CTL office, but also remotely through Zoom meetings.

Students come to the CTW on a voluntary basis but should be encouraged by faculty to utilize this resource. If a student is struggling in the classroom for any one of a multitude of reasons including, missing assignments, poor academic performance, faculty can contact the CTW with questions as well as refer the student directly. Faculty may use the form available on the College’s learning management system or email or phone to discuss. CTW personnel work closely with faculty, Academic Advising and Registration staff, and other Student Affairs offices to build a network of support for students challenged by their workload. Communication between these various parties aids significantly in students’ success.

In addition, faculty allowing a student to make up a test can work with the CTW to provide time for that student to come and take the test in the CTW.

Goals

CCS strives to engage students in an active learning environment that challenges them to grow as artists and designers while providing the support network for them to succeed. The programs and services offered through various student support offices and programs are intended to help students develop into successful and civically engaged artists and designers. Student success and persistence to graduation are the overarching goals for these offices.

Course Repetitions

A student may repeat a course in which credit has been earned in order to improve their grade. When a course is repeated, the higher grade will be used in the calculation of the cumulative grade point average. Any course, or its equivalent transfer course, may be applied only once toward fulfillment of any and all degree requirements, including elective credit. Work from previous attempts at the course cannot be reused in future attempts without written approval from the faculty member teaching the repeated course.

Academic Advising and Registration Office Forms

A list of helpful Academic Advising and Registration forms available on the College’s Campus Offices page follows:

  • Academic Alert Form – This online form was designed to proactively help students who may need additional support with their academic progress. An instructor may submit an Academic Alert Referral for any student in order to address an academic concern.
  • Registration Permission – An online form that requires the signature of the Department Chair or Program Manager, granting a student permission to register for a course that is filled or that has some other restriction.
  • Drop Request – An online form that the student must complete in order to begin the process of dropping (withdrawing) a course. The student’s Academic Advisor must sign the form for drops. If the student is changing section numbers no Advisor’s signature is needed.
  • Curriculum Change – An online form completed by a Department Chair advising Registration to alter a student’s curriculum in some way. Contact the Academic Advising and Registration Office to obtain the appropriate form.
  • Change of Major – A form with which a student may transfer from one program to another. The student must present their portfolio to the proposed new Department Chair for acceptance. The new Department Chair will sign and date the form, which indicates acceptance of the student into the major and confirms the assignment of studio credit.
  • Declaration of Minor – A form with which an undergraduate student may declare a minor.
  • Complete Withdrawal Form – If a student intends a complete withdrawal from CCS for the semester they must meet with an Advisor in the Academic Advising and Registration Office and then a Financial Aid officer for an exit interview. The Academic Advising and Registration Office processes the Complete Withdrawal form and distributes it to all concerned departments.

Class Rosters

Class rosters are available in Self-Service and are emailed by the Academic Advising and Registration Office (AARO) to the Program Managers at the beginning of the semester for distribution to their faculty. Rosters provide the following information: student ID number, student name, telephone number (local phone number will be printed, if available; otherwise the permanent phone number will be printed), Veterans Administration status, major, class (indicated as CLS, this indicates whether the student is a freshman, sophomore, etc.), credits earned for this class, add/drop date

To be in compliance with the U.S. Department of Education regulations, faculty must record attendance during each class period and Academic Affairs must monitor attendance records every day for the first fourteen days of the semester. This requirement applies to all classes, on campus, online, internships, and independent study.

Regular class attendance is essential for learning and academic success. Students are expected to attend all class meetings, on time and for the full duration, and be prepared to work on that day’s assignment. Faculty are responsible for establishing an attendance policy for each of their classes and for outlining that policy on the course syllabus. Students are responsible for knowing the attendance policy for their class and adhering to those requirements. Exceptions to an instructor’s attendance policy should be discussed with that instructor.

CCS students using veterans’ benefits will have attendance monitored throughout the semester for reporting purposes to the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA).

The first week of each semester is an add/drop period during which students may drop courses for which they previously registered or register for new courses with no penalty. After the add/drop period instructors must access their attendance roster online. Instructors are required to maintain attendance records electronically, which must be submitted at the end of the semester along with final grades. The roster includes all students registered in your class(es) through the end of the add/drop period.

If there is a person in class who is NOT on the class roster, it means the student is NOT REGISTERED for the class. It is imperative that faculty members immediately send the student to the Academic Advising and Registration office. Students are not permitted to be in class unless they have officially registered for that class.

Faculty will begin to receive a weekly “drop notice” via email to inform them of any student who has officially withdrawn from their class(es). If there is a student listed on your roster who is not attending class, faculty members must contact the Academic Advising and Registration Office, and they will inquire why they have not been attending.

In addition, faculty members may notice a “V” next to the names of some students on the class roster. This means the students receive benefits from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The VA requires attendance rosters, and it is the instructor’s responsibility to monitor this. The Academic Advising and Registration Office must report non-attendance of these students to the VA within 30 days of the last date of attendance. Instructors must report any “V” student who has missed three (3) weeks of class as soon as they miss the third week.

Academic Advising

CCS believes that academic advising is an essential part of the educational process. The advising program is intended to make advising consistent across all departments and to assure that the academic needs and progress of each student are carefully supervised so that each may achieve their full educational and professional potential.

The Academic Advising and Registration Office coordinates all advising activities. Trained advisors advise students, conduct academic evaluations, and assist students through the registration process.

Special Projects Classes

Faculty members may offer special projects (tutorials in regularly established courses, independent studies, and experimental courses) not listed in the catalog. Special project courses are run on an occasional basis and may only run twice. A special project course allows faculty to gauge student interest and see how the course performs. 

All special project and experimental courses must be reviewed and approved by the Department Chair, and the appropriate Academic Dean. If a faculty person would like to make the special project course a regular part of the curriculum, a Request for New Course form would need to be completed and approved by the Chair, Academic Affairs, and the Curriculum Committee.