Boston University Department of Biology

Faculty Academic Information and Procedures

Undergraduate Advising and Registration

At least twice a year, students must meet with their faculty advisors to discuss their course distribution in order to ensure that College and Department requirements are being met. This occurs during the early registration periods in November for the spring semester and in April for the fall semester. At this time all students must meet with their advisors to discuss their progress and to have their registration form [link to form] signed. Biology faculty members are assigned equal numbers of students by the Academic Coordinator.

Advising

Undergraduates in the Biology Department are advised at the Main Office at 5 Cummington Street, Room 101. Students are assigned a faculty advisor. To facilitate the advising process, schedules of advisors’ office hours are posted on a bulletin board outside the Main Office. Students sign up on these sheets for an appointment to see their advisor. Prior to the appointment, students are expected to pick up their folders and registration packets from the Main Office. These folders contain the individual student’s records to date. This gives the advisor the information needed to review the student’s progress. In addition, there are specialization checklists available online. When courses have been selected and written on the registration form (which can be obtained at the Main Office), then both the advisor and student sign the form.

Registration

Once the student has obtained his/her advisor’s signature and signed the registration form, the student must come to the Main Office to get a label containing the Advisor Access Code (AAC). Any staff member giving out AAC labels will check the registration form to see that students have listed all courses. If a course needs “stamped approval,” the student needs to see Ruth Greene to register.

Faculty Link

The Faculty Link provides internet-based access to the University Information System mainframe computer (UIS) via your own computer. Faculty can use the link as a useful advising tool. They can access a student’s complete academic record, obtain the student’s address and phone number, as well as write notes and comments to themselves. Faculty can also use the link to download their own class lists. In order to access the link, faculty are required to obtain a kerberos password (if you have an ACS e-mail account you automatically have a kerberos password) and a secure ID card. Please see Sara Martin to get set up for the Faculty Link.

Course Evaluations

Within the last three weeks of each semester, a packet will be placed in each teaching faculty member’s box containing instructions, evaluation forms, and scantron answer sheets. These should be collected by a student and returned to the Biology Main Office (BRB 101). In addition, faculty will also be given packets for Teaching Fellow evaluations for their lab and discussion sections. These should be filled out by students and returned to the Main Office as well.

The scantron answer sheets are sent to the Academic Computing Center for evaluation. The handwritten comments and the computer results are placed in the faculty member’s file in the Chair’s office and in the course file. Evaluations for labs or discussions go into the TF’s file.

Grading Process

The grading process takes place online via the Faculty Link.

Course Scheduling

Courses are scheduled for each semester approximately six to nine months in advance. This is done in cooperation with the Chair of the Biology Department, who discusses with each faculty member the courses they wish to teach.