Advising Information

You are not assigned to an advisor.  If you would like advice about courses to take or other academic matters, there are many advisors on campus:

For advising about any of the SoMAS majors and minors, Nancy Black is the Undergraduate Academic Advisor.  She can be reached by email at nancy.black@stonybrook.edu and appointments with her are made

through Navigate.  

Faculty directors can also provide major/minor-specific advising, particularly about careers and graduate programs.  A list of them can be found on our Undergraduate home page.

Freshmen and sophomores can get general advising from a First Year & Second Year (FYSY) advisor.  Jeannie McDonald in FYSY can also help ENS, MAR, and MVB students with major/minor-specific questions.  

Juniors, seniors, and transfer students can get general advising from an Upper Class & Transfer (UPTR) advisor.  Rebecca Geist in UPTR can also help ENS, MAR, and MVB students with major/minor-specific questions.

Some student groups (athletes, WISE, EOP/AIM) have their own advisors.

The Major/Minor Declaration Form is found in SOLAR or can be accessed directly through this Google Form.  Forms can take several days to be processed.  More info can be found on the Registrar's website.  Access to the form is closed part of the year.  Check the Academic Calendar for when the form opens and closes for the semester.

Contact Nancy Black.  In some cases, there is an error in the major/minor requirement term, and that can be fixed.  Any accepted course substitutions and requirement allowances need to be manually changed there.  

Ultimately, Degree Works is a tool to help you monitor your degree progress, but any inaccuracies for your major/minor will not necessarily prevent you from graduating.  Use the requirements as shown in the Academic Catalog for the semester when your major/minor was declared as a checklist, or contact Nancy for a copy of your major/minor checklist.  Completion of your major/minor is checked manually and clearance to graduate with that major/minor is given by the faculty director, not Degree Works.  

An error in Degree Works could affect your financial aid, though.  Aid like TAP and Excelsior depend upon having a certain number of “degree applicable credits”, so contact Nancy if a course you are taking for your major is not appearing correctly in Degree Works.

See the SOLAR for Students FAQ.  There is info, including screenshots, about finding your enrollment appointment, searching for classes, adding classes, and more.

Course evaluation data from previous semesters is available when you log on to Classie with your NetID and password. Once you log in, you can see final course grade distributions, other numeric data, and text comments. You can also see historically which semesters a course has been offered.  Your input is invaluable, so please remember to complete your course evaluations as soon as they become available.

We will accept one passing grade below a C or a P to count for any SoMAS major.  This can’t be used on a course where a C or higher in it is a prerequisite for another required course, though.  For example, MAT 126 requires a C or higher in MAT 125, MAT 131, or AMS 151.  If you are in a major that requires 2 semesters of calculus, we could accept a D in MAT 126, but not MAT 125.  If you are in a major that only requires 1 semester of calculus, then we could accept a D in MAT 125.

For SoMAS minors, generally all upper-division courses must be passed with a C or higher.  

Refer to the Catalog for your specific major or minor’s requirements.  

Students taking a course for a second time do not need permission from any advisor or department, but do need to wait until the retake enrollment date, which is usually around August 15 for the Fall and January 15 for the Spring.  See the Academic Calendar for the exact date.  Seats might not be available at that time, especially in high demand courses (particularly most BIO courses, GSS 313/314, SUS 201).  Consider retaking a high demand course in a Summer or Winter session, if possible.

In order to take a course for a third time, a petition is needed and you’ll need to wait until the retake enrollment date.  More info about petitions can be found at the Division of Undergraduate Education.  

If you received a W for withdrawing from a course after the add/drop deadline, for whatever reason (even a medical withdrawal), it is considered an attempt, and will require you to wait until the retake enrollment date to enroll again.  

As of Fall 2025, only the highest grade of all attempts of a course will count towards the GPA, but all graded attempts will be listed on the student’s transcript.

You also cannot receive credit for a course twice, with a few exceptions: topics courses (like MAR 395 or SUS 350), 487 research, 488 internships, and select others (SUS 351 & 352).  If you passed a course (D or higher, or P), then you received credit even if it can’t be used for your major, minor, or SBC.  The retake attempt will then count toward your semester credit load, but not your overall credits for graduation.

SPK (Speak Effectively Before an Audience) is a general education requirement, not a specific requirement of any SoMAS major.  It can be fulfilled by any course with the designator SPK.   

Majors in COS, EDP, and SUS are required to take SUS 301 and will fulfill SPK through that course.  

Any students who take BIO 204 can also enroll the same semester in BIO 458, a 0-credit course graded S/U, for SPK.  

Some SoMAS courses are suitable for co-enrollment in the same semester with MAR 458, a 0-credit course graded S/U, for SPK.  Contact Nancy Black for permission and get enrolled before the end of the add/drop period (see the Academic Calendar).  The list of suitable courses is updated every semester and can be found in the SoMAS Brightspace.

If you still need a way to fulfill SPK, there are other courses open to any major, like COM 120 Fundamentals of Public Speaking or COM 365 Talking Science.

WRTD (Write Effectively within One’s Discipline) is a general education (SBC) requirement and can be fulfilled by any course with the designator WRTD, even one not for your major.  All SoMAS majors have a separate Upper Division Writing Requirement (UDWR).  

All SoMAS students must get a grade of S in the 0-credit course MAR 459 or SUS 459 to fulfill the UDWR.  MAR 459 and SUS 459 will also fulfill WRTD.

Students who take one of the SoMAS courses designated as suitable for co-enrollment in MAR 459 or SUS 459 can enroll the same semester by contacting Nancy Black for permission before the end of the add/drop period (see the Academic Calendar).  The list of suitable courses is updated every semester and can be found in the SoMAS Brightspace.

A petition to late add MAR or SUS 459 will not be supported unless the student is otherwise on track to graduate at the end of that semester.

Contact the instructor for a class in which you received at least a B+ final grade and see if they are accepting any UGTAs. 

If they are, and it is a SoMAS course, then complete the 475/476 Agreement Form (available in the SoMAS Brightspace) with them and submit it to Nancy Black before the end of the add/drop period (see the Academic Calendar).  Academic credit received is variable 0-3 credits.  Each credit = 40 hours of work, which is equivalent to 3 hours of work per week per credit in a 14 week semester.  You can work more than the credits you receive.

If the course is not SoMAS (BIO, CHE, etc.), contact that department for their form and procedure.

The best way to discover research opportunities on campus is to connect directly with our faculty and ask if they are accepting students in their lab to do research. They might have graduate students, lab techs, or post-docs you can assist. Some opportunities are advertised, so follow the application directions in that ad. 

If you are accepted into a SoMAS lab and have a research project worked out, complete the 487 Agreement Form (available in the SoMAS Brightspace) with the faculty and submit it to Nancy Black before the end of the add/drop period (see the Academic Calendar).  Academic credit received is variable 0-6 credits, although more than 3 will only be allowed in special circumstances.  Each credit = 40 hours of work, which is equivalent to 3 hours of work per week per credit in a 14 week semester.  You can work more than the credits you receive.

If you are accepted for research in a campus lab outside of SoMAS (ANP, BIO, CHE, etc.), contact that department for their form and procedure.

We don’t have a way of directly connecting students to internships.  A list of internships that SoMAS students have done in the past and other opportunities can be found on our Internships and Careers page.  There is also a list of local environmental organizations and databases available in the SoMAS Brightspace. 

Follow the application directions for the internship.  If you are accepted, then you will need to identify a faculty member to be your faculty sponsor.  If the faculty sponsor is within SoMAS, complete the 488 Agreement Form (available in the SoMAS Brightspace) with the faculty sponsor and your internship site supervisor and submit it to Nancy Black before the end of the add/drop period (see the Academic Calendar).  Academic credit received is usually variable 0-6 credits, although more than 3 will only be allowed in special circumstances.  Each credit = 40 hours of work, which is equivalent to 3 hours of work per week per credit in a 14 week semester.  You can work more than the credits you receive.

We don’t have a way of directly connecting students to internships.  A list of internships that SoMAS students have done in the past and other opportunities can be found on our Internships and Careers page.  There is also a list of local environmental organizations and databases available in the SoMAS Brightspace. 

Follow the application directions for the internship.  If you are accepted, then you will need to identify a faculty member to be your faculty sponsor.  If the faculty sponsor is within SoMAS, complete the 488 Agreement Form (available in the SoMAS Brightspace) with the faculty sponsor and your internship site supervisor and submit it to Nancy Black before the end of the add/drop period (see the Academic Calendar).  Academic credit received is usually variable 0-6 credits, although more than 3 will only be allowed in special circumstances.  Each credit = 40 hours of work, which is equivalent to 3 hours of work per week per credit in a 14 week semester.  You can work more than the credits you receive.

Applying for graduation is done through SOLAR.  There is info on the Registrar’s graduation webpage.

Official transcripts can only be issued by the Registrar or their assigned transcript service.  The procedure and cost of ordering transcripts can be found through the Registrar's website.