Keeping You on Track to Graduate
From the time you’re accepted until the day you walk across the stage at commencement, your most important resource for being a successful online student is your Saint Leo student advisor.
Knowledgeable about the unique needs of adult learners, student advisors understand and can empathize with the pressures that come with working, raising a family and pursuing a college degree.
At Saint Leo, student advisors are organized by degree program and are experts about your academic field. From curriculum and graduation requirements to university policies and procedures, advisors assist with the entire gamut of academic planning issues including:
- Setting realistic goals
- Deciding on a major
- Selecting courses
- Monitoring your academic progress
- Keeping you on track toward graduation
Your academic advisor can lead you toward resources to cope with stress management or organization, to resolve technology challenges or to address any academic challenges you may encounter.
You can consider your academic advisor to be your ‘go-to’ person throughout your educational journey at Saint Leo.
Advisor Tidbits for Success
Advice from the Advisor
Earning your online degree isn’t easy, so we’re happy to share with you helpful tips for academic success.
Online programs can be challenging at first, especially if you’re a busy working professional, parent, and spouse. That said we’d like to share with you a few tips that can help you manage your time, friends, and family while you earn your online degree:
- Get in the Zone: Designate a room in your home as a “classroom zone.” Use this space to listen to lectures, complete assignments, engage with classmates, etc. A designated study space will help minimize your distractions and keep you focused.
- Communicate Your Schedule: Decide which dates and times you will dedicate to your classes and when you plan to study or tackle assignments throughout the week. Be sure to inform your friends and family. Try to stick to your schedule to avoid compromising course work time and being inconsistent with your availability.
- Reach Out: Take the initiative and introduce yourself to your fellow classmates, either through email or chat. Making connections with other students reduces the isolation factor and gives you the chance to meet people who may have connections or career goals in common with you. They also could end up being be a great resource for you throughout the term.
- Ask for Assistance: Get support from friends or family members to help you with regular responsibilities so you can dedicate more time to your classwork. Is there a fellow soccer mom or dad who can pick your daughter up from school and take her to practice a few times a week?
- Get Organized: Create subfolders for each class you take and include them in a “Saint Leo University” folder. Be sure to keep all relevant materials from your classes. Not only are they helpful for the time being, they may come in handy for future courses or assignments.
- Back Up Materials: In addition to saving your folders, coursework, papers, etc. on your laptop or desktop, save these materials on an external device too. Backing up materials takes only minutes, and can save you hours of frustration recreating a lost assignment or paper. You may want to pick one day a week as your “back up day” for your material.
- Use Free Time Wisely: Take your course books and materials with you to work. Use down time or your lunch hour to catch up on reading or assignments. Every little bit of free time helps!
- Synch Up with a Classmate: Identify someone in your class who may want to study or listen to lectures during the same time as you throughout the term. You may find yourself more committed to a schedule when someone else is involved.
Advising FAQs
How many courses can I take per term?
Most students will only register for two courses per term, which is considered full-time.
Can I take more than two courses per term?
Students may register for 3 classes only if they have completed 12 or more hours at Saint Leo and have a GPA of 3.0 or higher.
Why can't I register for higher-level classes before I take my general education courses?
The lower level courses are designed to help prepare you for the more difficult upper level courses, taken later in your program.
Why are the prerequisite courses so important?
These courses prepare you for the more difficult upper level courses required to complete your degree.
How long does it take to get my transcripts evaluated?
Once you have completed the required application paperwork and all of your transcripts have been received, it usually takes 4-6 weeks.
How do I receive my completed Program Outline?
You will receive an official email from the Center for Online Learning admissions department indicating that your Program Outline/Academic Evaluation is available for you to access via ELion. The academic evaluation is located under Academic Profile and titled Program Evaluations. There is also an Understanding Evaluations Document link located directly under the Program Evaluation. Any Program Outline received before this is not a completed program outline.
Why am I required to take an assessment?
The Center for Online Learning wants to make sure all students achieve a certain academic level prior to entering their English and Math classes. These classes are an important foundation of your academic work and the assessment will help ensure that students are at the appropriate level in order to achieve success in all other courses.
What do I do if I have a question about a grade I received in a class?
You should contact your instructor immediately. Only an instructor can resolve grade issues. We highly recommend that you keep a list of your instructors and their email address for future reference. You can also contact your professor after the semester ends. Log in to www.saintleo.com and click on Student Resources. This tab appears on the top right hand corner of the screen. Previous Term mailboxes appears as an option, click on that to access your course email from the previous term to contact your instructor.
I do not agree with my transfer evaluation. How can I have it reevaluated?
You can request an appeal. In order to do this, you need to submit a copy of the course description from the catalog of the school that you attended and a copy of the course catalog cover. Send the course description to your Student Advisor with a letter explaining which course requirements should be filled with the transfer credits.
After receiving the program outline, how do I determine how many credits I would need to graduate?
On the program outline, this is a line that says: "Hours still needed for BA (or BS) degree". This is the number of credits you will need to graduate from Saint Leo.
All of the credits that I transferred are not counting for my degree. Why is that?
Only those classes that fulfill your degree requirements with Saint Leo can be used towards your degree.
Assessments
The following assessments will help determine the appropriate initial English and Math courses for you based on your current skill level.
You may opt out of the English Assessment if you have earned a grade of C or better in a credit-bearing, college-level English composition course at a regionally accredited U.S. institution. Contact your academic advisor for assistance.
Please keep in mind that you may take each assessment only once. You will be notified immediately of the results.
The English Assessment consists of writing an original essay. The essay should consist of a 4-5 paragraph essay with up to 1,000 words. Note: The maximum word count is 1000 words, and you will have up to 45 minutes to complete the essay.
- Go to The Criterion® Online Writing Evaluation service for access to the English Assessment.
- Click <Create New Account> in the New User section of the page.
- Access Code: 3YGB-RCSX
- Complete the User Account information. Use your Saint Leo Student ID number as your User Name. Be sure to make a note of your Password as you will need the Password for the next step.
- When your User Account is successfully created, you will be taken back to the Criterion log-in screen. In the Returning User section, enter the User Name and Password you created and click Sign In.
- After you log in, click on the underlined English Assessment class link and then click on the Assignments tab on the next screen to begin your essay.
- Depending upon your results you will be eligible to take either ENG002 or ENG121.
- To register for your placement test visit The Saint Leo University Möbius assessment webpage.
- Fill in your profile information and credentials, record your credentials.
- Click Submit, then you will be sent an email to confirm your email address.
- After confirming your email address, click Log in to Mobius.
- Use your email address and password to log in.
- Click Enroll in a Class.
- Select Math Assessment then click Register.
- Click Confirm.
- Click on Math Assessment.
- Click on Assessment 1.
- Click "Next" to move from question to question.
- Click "Submit Assignment" when complete to grade your test.
- Business majors with a score of 14 or greater on Assessment 1 should enroll in MAT 141. If you score below 14, you should enroll in MAT 003.
- Assessment scores are reported to the Center for Online Learning.
Foundational courses are non-credit courses. (Foundational courses DO count as 3 semester hours each for financial aid purposes.) If you are required to take a Foundational Course, we recommend you enroll in at least one foundational course your first term.
Foundational courses do not count toward the 4-class limit prior to matriculation; however, Foundational courses DO count as 3 semester hours each for financial aid purposes.
Under Federal Regulation 38 USC 3672, 3675, 3680A: VA will not approve payment of benefits for remedial courses offered online.
Please contact your academic advisor if you have any questions about the assessments.