Undergraduate

FAQs

advising

How would seeing an advisor benefit me?

Students are strongly cautioned against self-advising and/or peer advising during their academic career at the Â鶹ÊÓƵ. The DegreeWorks report is sometimes difficult to read and there are requirements that are not always clear to students. Related to the major, there is a sequence of classes that are recommended to students and customized depending upon individual strengths and weaknesses. Outside the major, we also have classes that we can recommend to you that social science students tend to perform better in.

How often should I speak with my advisor?

You may feel free to meet with an advisor as often as you wish, however, we recommend meeting with an advisor at least once a semester and prior to registration to ensure good academic progress and completion of your degree within 4 years. We encourage students to make appointments prior to peak times (two weeks prior to registration and throughout add/drop week).

adding/withdrawing from courses

How can I late add a course?

If you are trying to add a course after the drop/add deadline, you must first get permission from the instructor for that class and ask them to complete the Instructor Documentation form to approve your request to be added to their class. You will then need to submit an ARC Late Add Petition online via Archivum. 

How do I avoid being charged with a $100 late registration fee?

You must register for at least ONE class prior to the first day of classes for each term (typically the Friday before the beginning of the semester at 5pm EST). If you are not registered for one class at all times, you will be assessed a $100 late registration fee in addition to any tuition. You can switch, add, or drop courses anytime during drop/add week without penalty as long as you are actively registered in at least one course.

permits

How do I request permission to enroll in a restricted criminology course?

If you would like to request permission to enroll in a restricted criminology course offered through USF Tampa Campus, please use this or email crimadvise@usf.edu

How do I request a permit for CCJ 4940 Internships?

CCJ 4940 Internship has a separate permit request process. Please follow the steps listed in the Internship module of the Criminology Majors canvas course. This course is for Criminology majors only.

How do I request a permit for CCJ 4910 Directed Research?

For CCJ 4910 Directed Research, students must make arrangements and be approved by the faculty member before requesting the permit. Forward the faculty member's approval to crimadvise@usf.edu so an advisor can issue you a permit. 

declaration of major/minor

How do I declare or change to the criminology major or minor?

Current students who wish to declare or change to the criminology major must first meet with an academic advisor to determine eligibility for the major. Current students must have completed at least one semester at USF and have at least a 2.0 USF GPA to be eligible to request to change to the major. Declare or change your major on the College of Behavioral and Community Sciences (CBCS) website.

graduation

How do I apply for graduation?

Visit the Office of the Registrar website to find deadlines, directions on how to officially apply, and additional information. 

Can I participate in the ceremony even though I have courses remaining?

You can participate in the ceremony with 9 hrs remaining to complete your degree

How do I participate in the commencement ceremony?

Participation in Commencement requires RSVP, which can be done after you officially apply for graduation. Visit the official Commencement webpage for additional information and ceremony dates.

Department tours

Can I schedule a tour of the department?

The Department of Criminology consists of faculty and staff offices, so department tours are not available. Classes are offered in various buildings throughout campus, independent of where the Department of Criminology is located.

Tours of the USF campus are offered through the Office of Admissions. Register for a campus tour on their website. 

Transfer Students

How do I submit a request for course equivalency?

At USF, course equivalency is necessary for students who have to transfer upper level Criminology credit from an institution other than USF. In general, transfer credit for CCJ1010 or CCJ1020 from Florida State Community Colleges who follow the Common Course Coding Such as HCC and SPC will NOT need an evaluation since the course prefix and number has already been equated to USF’s CCJ 3024 Survey of CJ systems course. (If both CCJ 1010 and CCJ 1020 are taken, one will count for CCJ 3024 and the other will go towards general electives).

However, previous evaluations by institutions other than USF Criminology Department will not supersede our evaluations for all other upper level Criminology transfer credit. All Criminology transfer courses are evaluated by professional faculty. Students must initiate this process by submitting their request for an evaluation to the Criminology Department.

Submitting Your Request

  1. Locate a copy of the syllabus or course catalog information for your transfer Criminology course. If you do not have a copy, you can contact your previous school and request one.
  2. Scan or save your syllabus into a PDF file. Please scan all pages of the syllabus into one file. If you have more than one Criminology course for review, please scan each syllabus as a separate file.
  3. Name the PDF file the same name of the course. For example, if you are submitting a syllabus for CCJ 3000 Intro to Criminology name the PDF file CCJ 3000 Intro to Criminology.
  4. Attach a scanned copy of syllabus to be evaluated (If you have more than one syllabus, you may submit all syllabi in the same email) and E-mail your syllabus/syllabi with the following information to crimadvise@usf.edu.
    • E-mail Subject: Criminology Course Evaluation
    • In the body of the e-mail include all of the following information:
      • Your name
      • Your U#
      • Name and state of each non-USF, out-of-state or private school
      • For each school, include a link to the online catalog information
      • For each school, include a list of course names/numbers of the Upper Level Criminology course(s) that you wish to have evaluated.
  5. Wait for an e-mail reply with the results of the evaluation. It is common for this process to take up to 2 weeks and sometimes longer. Please be patient. However, if you have not received a response after 4 weeks, please send a follow up e-mail to crimadvise@usf.edu. If your transfer course is approved, the college will receive a copy of the approval and will update your record to reflect the results. This can take up to 2 weeks (after the evaluation has been completed) to show on your Degree Works Audit.

For all other Undergraduate Program Forms, visit the CBCS website. If you have any questions, please send an email to our Criminology Academic Advising Office.