Advising

The College of Communication Arts and Sciences Academic and Student Affairs Office is composed of student-centered professionals who strive to help, listen to, challenge, and empower undergraduate students in ComArtSci to experience a diverse education and positive experience at Michigan State University.

Make an Appointment

The College of Communication Arts and Sciences academic advising is offered in-person and remotely (via Zoom, phone, and email). Students will schedule their appointments online and will receive a confirmation email once the appointment has been booked. See below for specific instructions for each appointment type. Please note that full-length, 30-minute appointments are for major advising only. Advising for minors is available during Express Advising only.

In-Person Appointment:

If an In-person appointment is selected, your appointment will take place in Room 189 in the Communication Arts and Sciences Building.
Once you arrive, please use the laptop located at the student desk to sign in.
If you arrive more than 10 minutes late for your appointment, the appointment will be cancelled, and you must reschedule.

Zoom Appointment:

If a Zoom appointment is selected, you will receive the Zoom link and password in your confirmation email.
If you do not connect to Zoom within the first 10 minutes of your appointment, the appointment will be cancelled, and you must reschedule.

Phone Appointment:

If a phone appointment is selected, please enter a valid phone number in the "Additional Information" box in the appointment system.
The advisor will call you at the time of your appointment. Please note, that the number may show as an unidentified or private number.
If you do not answer, the advisor will try to call you again 10 minutes later. If you still do not answer, the appointment will be cancelled, and you must reschedule.

ComArtSci advisors post appointments one week at a time. Appointments are posted by 3 p.m. every Monday for the following week in the Student Information System (SIS) appointment system. Watch this instructional video on booking an appointment.

Schedule My Appointment

Cancel My Appointment

The ComArtSci Advising Office will offer extended Drop-in/Express Advising hours during the first week of SS25 classes. For Phone or Zoom advising, please use the Express Sign-In Form at during Express Advising days/times only. For In-Person Advising, visit room 189 of the Communication Arts & Sciences Building and sign in during Express Advising days/times only.

*If you wish to meet with an advisor in person, please wait until you are in room 189 before signing in on the form.

Pre-schedule appointments will not be available during the first week of the semester. Regular Express Advising hours will resume every Wednesday from 8:30-11:30 a.m. and 1:00-4:00 p.m. after the first week of classes.

Express Advising is a first come, first serve advising option, based on the major or minor a student wants to be seen for, and it is designed to facilitate quick questions, not lengthy conversations.

ComArtSci Express Advising is offered in-person and remotely (via Zoom and phone) on Wednesdays from 8:30-11:30 a.m. and 1:00-4:00 p.m. during the Fall and Spring semesters only.

Students wishing to be seen in person can sign up for Express Advising upon arrival in room 189 Communication Arts and Sciences Building. Students wishing to be seen remotely (via Zoom and phone) can sign up here.

Students are seen on a first-come, first-served basis by the major or minor they want to discuss.
If you are not feeling well, and/or you have symptoms and reason to believe you have COVID-19, please choose Zoom or phone for your Express Advising session. For the most up-to-date information, please visit the MSU Covid-19 Guidance website.
If you are unavailable when the advisor calls your name, calls your telephone number, or enters the Zoom room, the advisor will move on to the next student.
If you missed your opportunity to speak to an advisor, you must sign up again.
Offered Wednesdays from 8:30-11:30 a.m. and 1:00-4:00 p.m. only.
Offered during Fall and Spring semesters only. Express advising is not offered during the Summer semester.
Designed to facilitate quick questions.
During Express days and times only, students wishing to be seen in person can sign up for Express Advising upon arrival in room 189 Communication Arts and Sciences Building. Students wishing to be seen remotely (via Zoom and phone) can use the Express Advising Sign-In Form to sign in.
Express Advising will continue on Wednesdays from 8:30-11:30 a.m. and 1:00-4:00 p.m. for the fall and spring semesters only.

Consult with the Career Center if you need help with resumes or cover letters, understanding what you can do with your major, or getting started with your internship or full-time job search.

Connect with Us and Learn More

Career Center Hours

Please schedule an appointment with a career advisor via Handshake or email during the summer months.

During the fall and spring semesters, visit our office during drop-in hours for assistance with career exploration, resumes, cover letters, and other professional documents, finding an internship, and utilizing career resource tools.

Schedule an Appointment with a Career Consultant

Visit Handshake.
Log in using your MSU Net ID and password.
Select "Appointment" on the right navigation bar.
Follow directions to search for and schedule an appointment.

Make an appointment for a free, confidential 10-15-minute consultation with a CAPS counselor! ComArtSci students can now sign up to meet with a counselor from the Counseling & Psychiatric Services (CAPS). You can have someone listen to you and offer support, discuss concerns, receive suggestions, brainstorm solutions, and get resources.

CAPS Connect - Counseling & Psychiatric Services

Get in Touch with Your Academic Advisor

Filter by Major or Area of Interest

Filter by Minor

Nicole Acker

ADV MGT Academic Advisor and member of Compassionate Advocates for Retention and Student Success (CARSS)

Christopher Roberts

GIM, Info Sci, and MI Lead Academic Advisor, DS Academic Advisor and Coordinator of Outreach and Development

Jennifer Chesney

ADV and PR Lead Academic Advisor and Coordinator of Compassionate Advocates for Retention and Student Success (CARSS)

Julie Hagopian

JRN and DS Lead Academic Advisor and Coordinator of Academic Progression and Planning

Tara Gazdecki

CSD Lead Academic Advisor, ADV, COM, and Education Abroad Academic Advisor

Allyson DeGraaf

COM and CLAS Lead Academic Advisor and Coordinator of New Student Orientation

Evan Gazdecki

ADV, PR, and JRN Academic Advisor

Tami Marsh

COM and CLAS Academic Advisor

ComArtSci Student Resources

Students with 55 or less total completed credits

Exception: Advertising students with 39 or less total completed credits only.

Freshman & Sophomore Major change

Students with 56 or more total completed credits

You are required to meet with a ComArtSci Academic Advisor before changing your major.

Schedule My Appointment

Submitting an override request:

Please only submit one override request per course. Submitting more than one request for the same course can cause challenges that can affect your initial request
Once you have submitted your request, please wait for an email response. Your request will be addressed in the order received, and a response will be sent in a timely manner

Important information to know:

Submission of an override request does not guarantee that the request will be granted
All requests will be reviewed, and students will receive a response typically within 1-2 weeks of submitting the request
Faculty and Professors do NOT grant overrides
The ComArtSci College enforces all prerequisites and restrictions
We do not offer overrides into full courses - students can add themselves to the waitlist for the course they are interested in. For more information click here.
We have set the maximum enrollment in our courses to the number of students the instructor can reasonably accommodate without compromising student learning, response time, and quality.
Students who are graduating that semester and the course is required by their BA/BS degree program can reach out to their academic advisor to discuss the possibility of an override for a full course

ComArtsci override request Form

An internship for credit towards graduation combines relevant coursework with related work experience. Click your academic program below to learn more about receiving academic credit for your internship.

The last day to apply for a Fall 2022 Internship is Monday, September 19, 2022. Applications for Spring 2023 are currently being accepted.

At Michigan State University, Independent Study is a planned study, highly individualized, not addressable through any other course format, proposed in writing by the student on a standard form, accepted for supervision by a faculty member, and approved by the student’s academic advisor and the teaching unit at the beginning of the semester.

The last day to apply for a Fall 2022 Independent Study is Monday, September 19, 2022.

Independent Study Application

Things to Know:

Our College is no longer accepting paper applications.
Students must initiate the application process, the form will then submit on to the Professor.
After the Professor has signed off, the system will send the form to all other involved offices.
After the student receives their first approval email, the form will need to go through another approval process in the ComArtSci Academic & Student Affairs office. This approval process can take 2-3 weeks.
If and when the student has been approved, the Academic & Student Affairs office will add the student to the course and send them an email via their MSU email.

The College of Communication Arts and Sciences, in accordance with university policy, will allow students to request a course be graded using the credit-no credit (CR/NC) grading system if:

The course counts as elective credit(s) for a student's degree, and
If the student requests this grading system by the deadline set forth by the university

Any course that meets a specific degree requirement (major, minor, integrative studies), any requests received after the university deadline, and any requests for courses that were taken as repeats of courses with a numerical grade, will not be allowed to be graded using the CR-NC system.

The following labs are available in the ComArtSci building for students to use so long as there are not classes active:

134, 236, 237, 239, 240, 242, 243, 245* and 246
All labs have iMac computers
Open 8:00am - 10:00pm (as long as there is not a class)
All labs print to room 241 through MSU Papercut Printing application

Please see the list below for programs that are available in the rooms:

Atom Text Editor	Fetch	Numbers	Unity
Audacity	Garage Band	OneDrive	Visual Studio
Autodesk Maya	GutHub Desktop	Pages	VLC
Avid Media Composer	Handbrake	QGIS	Zbruch
Blender	iMovie	QuickTime Player	Zoom
DaVinci Resolve	Keynote	SPSS