Registration

Your registration appointment time is available on Onestart.   Business School classes fill up fast!  Be sure to register as soon as you can. If you can't get an appointment to see the advisor before your scheduled time, REGISTER ANYWAY, do your best to select appropriate classes and you can drop/add later.

Academic Planning

Your academic plan starts with a target graduation date, then you can map out the courses you need and look for ways to enhance the plan through minors, internships, study abroad and other career development activities.

Setting your target graduation date

Find the number of hours you still need to complete the degree using Onestart to access your Degree Progress  report.  Onestart  can also give you access to course offerings, your bursar account and financial aid information, grades, transcript, and your current schedule. . But for constructing an academic plan, the degree progress report is the primary tool.  It is found by clicking on "My Degree Progress."

The Bachelor of Science in Business has three areas of focus and the Academic Advisement report has three major sections that reflect these areas:

• Business Core
• General Education
• A Concentration.

There are six concentrations:

• Accounting
• Business Economics and Public Policy
• Finance
• Information and Operations Management
• Management
• Marketing

Typically students work on the Business Core and General Education courses throughout their academic experience and take concentration courses during the last half of that time.

To complete the BS in Business, you must:

• Take 124 credit hours including 45 hours at the 300/400 level
• Have a 2.0 overall GPA
• Have a 2.0 GPA in your Business & Economics courses
• Take all of the required courses and earn the necessary grades (a C- in Business & Econ courses)
• Take half of all Business courses at IUS
• Take your last 30 hours at IUS

For a complete list of policies affecting Business and Economics Students see the latest IUS Bulletin.

Use the Academic Advisement Report  to determine the number of credit hours you need to complete your degree. Divide by the number of hours you take each semester, this will give you the number of semesters it will take to graduate. Most students can complete up to 12 credit hours in summer sessions, but beware of burnout!

To construct an academic plan:

1. Map out the semesters it will take to complete the necessary hours and start plugging in your remaining courses in the business core. Begin with the last core course you will take in your last semester, BUS J401, and work back to the present.  Business Core prerequisites are listed on Academic Advisement Reports.
2. Next fill in the Concentration courses. Most concentration courses have prerequisites in the business core, usually a 300 level course, so those courses will be in the last part of your program. You can find the prerequisites for concentration courses in the IUS Bulletin course descriptions. Be sure to use the latest Bulletin since prerequisites often change as a course is updated. Concentrations courses are usually offered in the Fall and Spring, but seldom in the summer and some are only offered once a year. Plan to take concentration courses as soon as you have completed the prerequisites.
   
3. Next fill in the remaining General Education courses.
   
4. Last in this plan fill in the elective hours. These can be internships, independent study courses that assist professors in research, courses to be used towards a minor or just courses you want to take.
   
5. Be sure you have 45 hours of 300/400 level courses. Accounting majors will need one additional course ( three hours) at the 300/400 level, all other concentrations will need two. The Information and Operations Management concentration allows students to take 200 level Computer Science courses so students in that area must be sure they have a total of 45 hours at the 300/400 level.
   
6. Check to be sure the total hours of your plan add up to the hours you need to graduate.

Academic Enhancement

Once you have the basics covered, consider academic enhancements, this can make a big difference in employability when you graduate.

• Minors: courses for minors can often be used in general education areas and concentration courses as well In the current Bulletin, minors are listed in the index at the back of the Bulletin.
  
• Internships: up to six hours of academic credit can be awarded for internships and used as free electives in your degree program. Internships are graded as pass/fail. Career Services coordinates the internship program.
  
• Academic credit for campus activities or research: credit is awarded for some activities on campus, for example Student Ambassadors earn two credit hours for a free training class which can be used as elective credit. Sometimes students can earn academic independent study credit for assisting a professor in research.
  
• Study abroad experiences through IU or another university for a year, summer or semester can fulfill general education or concentration requirements. For more information contact IUS International Studies.

Scholarships

Each year in the spring at the annual School of Business Honors Day scholarships are awarded to upper level (junior and senior) Business students. Typically students must have a minimum 3.0 gpa to win a scholarship. Some scholarships are awarded based on academics and financial need, for these scholarships a student must apply for financial aid even if they chose not to accept the aid package.

For scholarships being awarded in the Spring of 2003, students may complete a scholarship application. Completed applications will be accepted beginning November 1, 2002 and no later than January 15, 2003 in the School of Business Office (Hillside Hall, room 214).

Changing your degree objective

If you decide to major in another area or school at IUS, contact the Undergraduate Advisor or School of Business office to have your degree objective changed. If  Onestart  does not give you the correct Degree Progress Report, it is probably because your degree objective has not been updated. Contact the School of Business.