Your academic plan is going to reflect the goals that you set, evaluate, and evolve while attending UB. Your plan may change over time depending upon your interests, skills, and academic strengths. Course planning is a major component of an academic plan, with the end goal of earning a Degree at UB. You may want to view the Undergraduate Catalog as your User-Manual. The sections that you may have already referenced are: Academic Programs; General Education Program; Degree Requirements; and perhaps Academic Minors. You will also use to the Catalog to find more information about: Academic Integrity; Grading; Dean’s List, and Academic Standards at UB.
Occasionally you may not readily find what you are looking in the Catalog. In these situations try using the Catalog A-Z index, or enter a keyword in the Search the Catalog page. Both of these links are located at the top of all of the Catalog pages. If these searches fail to provide you with answers to your questions, contact an academic advisor.
In addition to the Undergraduate Catalog, you will use other resources to develop and manage your academic plan at UB. These tools include: UB DARS Report (Sample DARS); Class Schedule; Web Registration; Grade Report (Sample Grade Report).
Your academic plan will in all probability eventually include entwined strands relating to undergraduate research, career development, involvement in clubs and organizations, campus leadership, internships, and community involvement.
As your plan evolves, ask your faculty, academic advisor, staff, and other mentors for their feedback.
We would like you to get off to a good start academically at the University at Buffalo, but we recognize there are many other things you need to get “squared away” before you begin classes. Things like getting the right dining plan, or figuring out how to order textbooks, or perhaps getting your campus parking permit. The New Student Checklist provides both a timeline for completing these tasks and links to the different offices on campus that can assist you. As always if you are not able to find answers to your questions contact your academic advisor. Think of your academic advisor as one of the people of your UB-Go-To-List (UB Advising Directory).
Do you know that you can take college courses over the summer? Most colleges offer two or three session each summer. At UB the first session for began on May 20 and concludes on June 30, the next session begins on July 3 and finishes on August 10. Refer to this link to see which courses are offered at during the summer at UB: Summer Class Schedule.
Some new freshmen take summer courses especially if they are seeking to improve their background in mathematics. Currently enrolled students may take summer courses to: lighten their academic course load for the upcoming year; take interesting courses; participate in fieldwork courses or internships; or even study abroad summer programs.
If you are considering taking a course this summer, we recommend that you speak with your academic advisor to learn how to register for the course, and to understand where to find important drop/add/resign and billing dates. Additionally, your advisor and you will determine how this course might fit into your academic plan, and also assess whether it affects your Fall class schedule.
For those of you who live in Western New York, you might also want to check out some of the events that fall under the banner of UB This Summer. The UB This Summer Lecture Series is where our internationally-recognized faculty will share their excitement about topics in the humanities, social sciences and sciences.
Click here for campus maps, and campus parking and transportation.
It’s more than just knowing where the buildings are…it’s also important to know how far apart the buildings are and what is the best way to get there. These things are most important when planning your class schedule each semester so that you are sure you have enough time between classes. The best advice is to plan breaks in between classes so that you do not get delayed and miss class.
TIP: As a general rule of thumb you can get from any one building on the Academic Spine to any other building on the Spine in 10 minutes. Occasionally you may have a class in what is called Fillmore or MFAC- this is the classroom portion of the Ellicott complex where many students reside. It takes a little longer to get here from the spine (about 20 minutes) whether you walk or take the quick and easy shuttle.
Few undergraduate students have classes on the South Campus (with the exception of Architecture, Biomedical Sciences, Exercise Science, Environmental Design, Nursing, and Occupational Therapy majors). NTR108 (a popular gen-ed science course) is also usually on the South Campus.
Now that you know where all the buildings are, look at your class schedule and make sure you know where your classes are and how to get there!
