Dear Advisors,

As the undergraduate coordinator in World Languages and Literatures, I am responsible for working with students who are submitting retroactive credit requests for basic language courses.  I occasionally receive requests from students who have been informed by advisors that, if they have placed into and passed 2020 of a particular language, they must apply for retroactive credit for 2010 of the same language in order to fulfill the language requirement.

In short, this is not entirely accurate.  It is true that UMdegree is looking for 6 hours of the same language at the 2000 level.  However, if a student has placed out of 2010, and then takes and passes 2020, they have in fact fulfilled the requirement as far as we are concerned, and do not need the retroactive credit for 2010.  A request can be submitted by the student’s advisor to the graduation analyst to force completion in UMdegree.

That being said, there are several situations in which students may want to petition for retroactive credit for language courses they’ve placed out of.  The two most common are:

1. A student nearing the end of their academic career may be short on hours for graduation and wish to apply for retroactive credit for any or all of 1010 through 2020, depending on which level they’ve placed into.
2. A student with a minor in a language may need to apply for retroactive credit for any or all of 1020, 2010 and 2020, since these are listed as requirements for the minor.

I also work with students who are native speakers of a language other than English, who received their high school diploma at a school where that language was the primary language of instruction, and who wish to apply for credit to satisfy the language requirement or fulfill hours towards graduation.  These students can be referred to me to start the process for obtaining credit.

One final note: The Registrar’s office usually only processes requests for retroactive credit while classes are in session (and this excludes the exam period).  Since the credit is posted to the student’s transcript in the semester in which they are currently enrolled, this can only be done during the semester.  Rare exceptions can be made if the student needs the credit to graduate that semester.

I hope all of this information is useful.  Please let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks.

Will Thompson

Dear CAS Advisors,

Below is an email from Ryan Crews about the SmartStart program.  Please be aware of the timeline. I will also post this information on the advising blog.

• December 5^th – Tuition and fee assessment (Student will see fees for the Tiger SmartStart program)
• December 6^th – students will receive an email with more program details
• December 18^th – The opt out option becomes available

There is also an FAQ link below. Please familiarize yourself with this info so you can help guide students through this new program that we expect will provide them significant cost savings and other benefits.

https://www.memphis.edu/auxiliary/smartstart.php#faq

Thanks,

Rika

Email from Ryan Crews

Good Evening Everyone,

With spring 2023 tuition and fee assessment beginning today and eBills set to go out December 5^th, you may begin getting questions from students about the Tigers SmartStart program as they see the fees on their UofM accounts.

It is expected that students will receive an email with more program details on December 6^th including opt out dates. Students who decide to opt out of the program for the spring will be able to do so beginning December 18^th.

I wanted to share the FAQ link below and encourage you all to familiarize yourself with this info so you can help guide students through this new program that we expect will provide them significant cost savings and other benefits.

https://www.memphis.edu/auxiliary/smartstart.php#faq

Thanks,

Ryan