Guidelines for Academic Advisors

Guidelines for Academic Advisers

The type of instruction Miami students will receive in Cambridge if they are accepted to the Miami University -Selwyn College, Cambridge Program differs considerably from that provided in most classes taught in the U.S. The Selwyn Program Committee has therefore prepared the attached guidelines to help faculty members advising student applicants. For further information the following individuals may be contacted:

• Timothy Melley, English, 529-5268
• Donald Nelson, International Programs, 529-5628
• Michael O'Brien, History, 529-2615
• Annette Tomarken, MUDEC, 529-5050
• Marcia Waller, International Programs, 529-5985

• Upon contacting you, students should have picked up an information/application packet containing a form on which he/she will declare his/her intended Selwyn topic or topics. (Packets are available in the Honors Program Office, 102 Bishop.)
• Each Fall semester the Cambridge Coordinator will offer, on the Oxford campus, HST 380 (Cambridge and the British Tradition); students are required to complete this class before participating in the Selwyn Program (unless they are in Luxembourg or a comparable program).
• As students will be in residence for two Selwyn College terms, they must decide upon two separate topics or two aspects of the same topic; 8 hours of Miami credit will be earned each term. Students will not necessarily work with the same professor in both terms. Letter grades will be assigned; credit/no credit is not an option.
• The Lent Term begins in the first week of January and ends in mid-March, and the Easter Term begins in mid-April and ends in mid-June. These are the times that the college is open and meals are provided. "Full Term" is the time when students are required to be in residence and usually begins and ends a week later and earlier than Term. Students should plan to arrive a few days before Full Term and, if traveling between terms during the Easter vacation, on leaving a few days after Full Term has ended.
• The supervisors in Cambridge will be selected and appointed with the help of Professor Michael O'Brien, HST, the Cambridge Coordinator. Supervisors will be chosen according to the projects and interests outlined by the students, therefore careful preparation of the project(s) is extremely important. Questions about the feasibility of a given project may be directed to the individuals listed above.
• To ensure that a student's graduation is not delayed by his/her participation in the Selwyn Program, departmental and other advisers must work out in advance the departmental, divisional and/or university requirements met by the study that will be undertaken in Cambridge. Since the Selwyn College teaching system is so different, students may be completing academic work that satisfies Miami University course requirements. This approval procedure is routine for many students who study overseas.

Attention Seniors: Letter grades assigned for participation in the Selwyn Program will not be received by Miami University until June 2003, which is after the deadline for May Commencement. Seniors who have met all degree requirements after completing the Selwyn Program during the Spring 2003 semester will officially graduate in August, 2003. Upon request, the Commencement Office can provide an official certificate verifying that degree requirements have been met in June 2003 and that the degree will be conferred in August, 2003. The certificate is suitable to use for graduate school applications, potential employers, etc.