Graduate and Professional Student Advising Tools
As a graduate student in the College of Fine Arts, we value the opportunity for your individual artistic development and exploration. Students have an important role in the advising process.
Degree requirements and expectations are outlined in the CFA Bulletin, and students should be sure they are following those policies and requirements. Even so, there are often times when questions or guidance are needed as you navigate your program.
When working with your advisor, please be sure you have looked at your requirements and articulated specific questions for your advisor to address. Please use the tools below to assist you in this process.
Degree Requirements
All Graduate & Professional programs in the College of Fine Arts have their degree requirements outlined in the Boston University Bulletin. Students are encouraged to use this resource frequently to plan their course selection.
Degree requirements are listed in the current academic year Boston University Bulletin. Students who were admitted prior to the current academic year may find their academic Bulletin in the Bulletin Archives.
For those students for whom a thesis or dissertation is a requirement, please refer to the Mugar Library guide to writing and submitting your thesis or dissertation.
Degree Advice/Degree Progress
CFA students are encouraged to use the Degree Advice tool to monitor progress toward their degree. While Degree Advice does not currently offer planning tools, it is important to refer to this audit, to understand what program requirements have been officially fulfilled.
Degree Advice is an advising tool. It is not your transcript, nor notification of completion of degree requirements. Discrepancies that appear should be investigated further with either your advisor, the department, or the CFA Registrar.
Reading Your Degree Advice
- Requirements in Green are complete.
- Requirements listed in Blue are in the process of being completed. A requirement that involves multiple courses will turn blue only when you are registered for the last required course.
- Requirements listed in Red are incomplete.
Degree Advice has a “What If” function that you can use to see the requirements for any major or minor offered at BU. This is useful if you have yet to declare a major, or are considering changing majors or minors.
Advising Links
Using the My BU Student Portal to Register
All Boston University students register for courses through the MyBUStudentPortal. Be sure to check the compliance tab on your portal and resolve any compliance issues before registration opens. If you are out of compliance with any University requirements, you will not be permitted to register until the issue is resolved. Students must be registered for every semester during the academic year until all degree requirements have been met, unless granted a leave of absence.
The Planner – an online tool that allows you to create and modify your schedule before registering for the courses – enables you to add classes to a draft schedule before registration opens. To access the planner, go to the MyBUStudentPortal, click “Registration Planner” from the main page options. You can then search for, and add courses to your Planner.
Registration Procedure:
- Go to the MyBUStudentPortal
- Login. Enter your BU Login in the “User Name” box and your Kerberos password in the “Password” box. (Don’t know/remember this? Contact IT Help Center at ithelp@bu.edu or 617-353-4357)
- Select the CLASS REGISTRATION box on the main page as shown in the photo below.
- Go to the semester you are registering for (i.e. Fall 2023)
- Click REG OPTIONS under the semester you are planning for.
- Click on Register for classes. (Don’t see that choice? You may need to update your Compliance Status. Follow the prompts in the green text above the Advising Code box.)
- Enter the course information: (college) CFA; (department) i.e. AR, MU, TH; (course #) i.e. 600; (section) i.e. 01
- Click “Add Class to Schedule”.
The video below walks through through the registration process. Please note: the initial “dashboard” has changed, however, you may still find the remaining process helpful to watch.
Schedule Planning
Registration for current students begins in October for the following spring semester, and in April for the following fall semester. Registration dates are assigned by class year, and can be found on the Registrar website. Be sure to meet with your academic advisor (listed on your MyBUStudentPortal > Academic Advising) before registration opens to review your plans for the coming semester. Incoming students register in May, prior to their September matriculation.
Resources for Grad Advising
Faculty
Graduate students are assigned a faculty advisor upon enrollment in the College of Fine Arts. The faculty advisor is a mentor and guide through the degree program. It is the student’s responsibility to be familiar with degree requirements (resources below) and track their progress through those requirements. If there are questions that the faculty advisor is not able to answer, students may seek additional support as listed below:
- School of Music: Director of Graduate Studies (Jason Yust)
- School of Theatre: Faculty Mentor (Artistic Head of program).
- School of Visual Arts: Director of Graduate Studies (Nick Rock).
Concerns
If a graduate student has a concern that they’d like to raise outside of their faculty advisor, and/or the department contact listed above, there are many resources available, including:
- Dana Clancy, Director, School of Visual Arts
- Gregory Melchor-Barz, Director, School of Music
- Susan Mickey, Director, School of Theatre
- John Amend, Associate Dean of Finance & Administration (CFA Dean’s Office)
- Ruthie Jean, Associate Dean of Academic Programs & Enrollment (CFA Dean’s Office)
- University Ombuds, 617-358-5960
- Mental Health Resources
Advising Worksheets
Feel free to use these advising worksheets to help track progress toward the degree. Please remember all degree requirements are posted on the Bulletin.
School of Music
Brass, Winds, and Percussion
Composition
Conducting
DMA – Orchestral Dissertation Track
DMA – Orchestral Recital Track
Historical Performance
Musicology/Ethnomusicology
Opera
Strings & Harp
Theory
Voice
Music Education and Keyboard majors should consult their academic advisors.
School of Visual Arts
FAQs
Full Time vs. Part Time
Full time for graduate students depends on your program:
- School of Visual Arts, except Art Education, and School of Theatre: 12-18 credits
- School of Music and School of Visual Arts Art Education have a flat rate part-time tuition rate: 7-11.5 credits
- International students in all programs are only able to go part time in their final semester.
Tuition/Financial Aid
Various forms of financial aid are available to support your studies at CFA. In addition to loans (federal and credit-based) and external funding opportunities that are available, we offer a range of College-based aid in the form of scholarships and assistantships for students in our on-campus programs.
Guidelines for Graduate Elective Courses
All courses taken towards a graduate degree should be at the 500 level or above. Graduate students should register for electives that are at the graduate level.
If a student has a sincere need to take an undergraduate-level course to support their artistic research, they may do so but the course cannot count towards their degree requirements (ie, a student in an MFA program would take the course in excess of their 60 credits for their MFA).
Incomplete Grades
An incomplete grade (“I”) is used only when the student has conferred with the instructor prior to the submission of grades and there are mutually acceptable reasons for the incomplete work. The instructor and student must both sign an Incomplete Grade Form indicating the nature of the work and the date by which the work must be completed.
If the work is not completed within 12 months of the last day of instruction in the semester in which the “I” grade is given, then the grade is permanently changed to an “F” grade.
Campus Resources
- Academic Standing
- Academic Policies
- Academic Conduct Code
- Financial Aid & Tuition/Fees
- Forms
- Withdrawal, Leave of Absence and Reinstatement
- University Calendars
- Student Health Services
- Behavioral Medicine
- SARP, Sexual Assault Response and Prevention
- Student Life
- Internships, jobs, Fellowships and Grant Opportunities
- Office of the Ombuds
- Mental Health Resources
- Tutoring/Writing Resources
- BU Educational Resource Center
- The Educational Resource Center (ERC) is here to support you as you navigate the rigorous academic landscape at Boston University. A BU education will inspire and challenge you to reconsider your previously held beliefs and acquire skills that will propel you into the next phase of your life. This growth can be both exhilarating and discomforting, but we are here to support you along the way. In addition to our four core programs, we also help connect you to academic resources all across campus.
- Check out our Academic Resource Guide to explore additional academic support options across BU’s campus!
- Purdue OWL – Online Writing Lab
- Purdue OWL serves as a great free resource and reference guide for writing research papers in proper APA, MLA, or Chicago citation and format style.
- Read & Write Gold
- Read & Write Gold is a literacy software that helps students with reading, writing, research, and organization. This software is free to download for the BU community. It is a useful tool for anyone, especially in language-learning classes. You can read an article about this software in BU Today.
- Tutor.com
- Tutor.com is an online tutoring service that is available to you 24 hours a day. If you have been out of the habit of writing for a while, Tutor.com is a great way to jump back in. You can submit a writing assignment for review and receive feedback from writing experts – but don’t wait until the last minute! You can access Boston University’s Tutor.com service by clicking the link provided on the side panel of any online course in BU Online Campus (Blackboard)
- BU Educational Resource Center