By now, hopefully you've been in touch with your ESP faculty advisers! Brandi Robinson and I are the primary advisers for all ESP students. Sue Spaugh helps us keep track of you all and process paperwork to account for your transfer credits and graduation!
By the end of this Lesson, you should be able to:
Refer to the Activities page for more information on the assessments for this lesson.
If you have any questions, please post to the "EMSC 302 Assignment/Lesson Questions?" discussion forum or e-mail the instructor (if the question is personal in nature).
If you don't already know who your adviser is, you can find their name in Lionpath or Starfish. In the ESP program, all students are advised by Brandi Robinson and I. We also get a lot of help from Sue Spaugh, from whom you should have received your original "Welcome" email.
You should have learned a lot about responsibilities vs your adviser's responsibilities in the New Student Orientation's, Academic Advising module [1]. As your Academic Advisers, Brandi and I are here to help you navigate the ESP degree requirements, but we are not experts in:
Your adviser can't help you if they don't know you need help! Reach out and communicate with your advisers regularly! That is what we're here for!
Penn State policy dictates that advising matters should only be discussed using Penn State email addresses. Therefore, you should always use your @psu.edu email when contacting your adviser.
At this time, ESP advisers do not routinely use Starfish to schedule appointments or correspond with ESP advisees.
Contact your adviser using their @psu.edu email address:
Haley Sankey: hjs142@psu.edu [2] or haley@psu.edu [3]
Brandi Robinson: bjn151@psu.edu [4]
When you were admitted to the program, your adviser should have provided you with an Excel document titled "My ESP Academic Plan" - typically the file names look something similar to this: "Last Name, First Name_My ESP Academic Plan" - and the Excel file should have been emailed to you as an attachment. If you did not receive this, it is possible that it was sent to your personal email address or your PSU email before you had it set up. If you do not have this Excel file, please contact your adviser immediately and ask for a copy of your "My ESP Academic Plan".
The My ESP Academic Plan Excel file shows a list of all the courses you'll need to complete in order to earn an ESP degree*. The Excel spreadsheet is our attempt to simplify Lionpath's Degree Requirement report. If you run a Degree Requirement report using Lionpath, chances are it will not understand how to use your transfer credits and therefore, won't adequately reflect your standing. The My ESP Academic Plan will show you where we, as advisers, think your prior coursework will fulfill ESP degree requirements. You should double-check the spreadsheet to ensure that all of your prior coursework is showing. If there is missing information, please contact your adviser immediately!
The My ESP Academic Plan lists ESP degree requirements in logical order. This means that you'll probably want to tackle the courses in the rows at the top of the spreadsheet at the beginning of your academic career, as many of them serve as prerequisites for the 400+ level courses listed lower down in the spreadsheet.
Additionally, the spreadsheet lists the special degree requirements that are specific to the BA and the BS (shown on separate tabs in the Excel file). The University's Gen Ed requirements are also provided. Basically, this Excel spreadsheet is your one-stop shop for making sure you're taking the classes you need.
Below is a screenshot of what your My ESP Excel spreadsheet might look like. The spreadsheet is constantly updated and reformatted to make it more useful to you and to the advisers. If your spreadsheet doesn't look exactly like the one below, it's probably because you have a newer/better version. But the info outlined above and below are still very relevant and pertinent!
I've included some pointers on how to read the spreadsheet below:
There is a lot of information that the advisers add to the spreadsheet before sending it to you. The most important thing you need to know is:
If you see something noted in column D (Under where it says "Institution, Course Number and Name, Semester Taken/PSU Designation") you probably do NOT need to take that course again at Penn State. Of course, you'll want to double-check with your adviser to make sure, but in general, when we list a transferred course on the same row as an ESP required course, it's because we think it's a good substitute for the Penn State ESP requirement.
If there's a course listed in column C and there's no corresponding information in Column D, or in the rest of that row, then you probably need to take the course.
The above example does provide more information, though:
*All students need to have completed 120 credits in order to earn the ESPBA or the ESPBS degree. So, completing all the courses listed in the My ESP Academic Plan alone, will not ensure your graduation, a total credit count is also required. Talk to your adviser about your total credit count. It is possible that your transfer credits will make up the difference. If not, you may want to consider picking up a minor while completing the 120 credit requirement.
There's no such thing as a dumb question or "being a bother". We need to hear from you so that we can help you. Brandi and I both have a large advising roster, but that doesn't mean that we don't have time for you. If you have an advising related question, email us using your Penn State email account (Outlook). We both prefer email for the initial communication, because that way we have time to look up your record and better understand your situation. Also, email allows us to keep an accurate record of our communications, and it also gives you something to refer back to if needed.
At a bare minimum, you should check in with your adviser before every semester, so we can confirm the courses you intend to take will keep you on the most efficient path to graduation.
In your emails/communications with your adviser, you should:
Other items to consider:
Looking to earn credit for prior knowledge of a subject? You have several options outlined below. Once you've evaluated your options, be sure to check with your adviser to confirm next steps!
You can earn credit for courses by taking a CLEP exam. CLEP exams provide you with an opportunity to demonstrate your existing knowledge and earn credit for prior learning. You may have learned about applicable topics by completing an independent study epxiernce, prior coursework (that didn't transfer in), on-the-job training, professional development, cultural pursuits, or internships.
CLEP exams are now available online! These typically cost about $105 (one $20 nonrefundable administrative fee and one $85 CLEP exam fee.)
For a complete list, visit the Penn State Credit from CLEP Exams page [6].
Typically CLEP exams take 90 minutes to complete.
CLEP exams are free for eligible military personnel and eligible civilian employees. You can learn more about that at the CLEP Military Benefits page [7] on the CLEP site.
You can read more about how to get credit for your military schooling and DANTES/DSST testing on the Services for Military and Veteran Students page [8].
DSST exams are another way to earn college credit.
For a complete list, visit the Credit from DSST Exams page [6]. [9]
Typically DSST exams take 2 hours.
Bothe CLEP and DSST exams are multiple choice and administered on a computer.
If you completed coursework a a non-accredited institution and the course credits were rejected by Penn State, you may be able to complete the credit by validation process to earn credit for those courses. Read more about that at Undergraduate Admissions' Credit by Validation [10] page.
In order to see if you have earned Penn State credit based on your AP test performance, please search the list found on the Credit from Advanced Placement Exams page [11].
We know, there's a lot of info, and it's in a lot of places. We've done our best to minimize the amount of clicking around that you have to do by providing the My ESP Excel file, but we've also condensed some course-related information on the Courses page of the Program Office Website [12].
On the Courses page [12], there is a table called "ESP Prescribed Courses (62 credits) and Scheduled World Campus Offerings" (see screenshot below). All of the ESP core courses are listed here, for both the BA and the BS degree (because the core coursework is the same for both**!) For each course, we've indicated when it is typically offered. Offering schedules change infrequently, but it does happen!
This table is important because not all courses are offered all semesters! DO NOT USE THE SCREENSHOT BELOW TO COMPLETE THE ASSIGNMENT!
In addition to showing when courses are offered, the table also lists each course's prerequisites (*Gasp!*) and if you click on the course's title, it will take you to the course's website where you can view the course's content! This table is invaluable when you are making your semester-by-semester plan for completing your degree. (We'll talk about making that plan on the next page...)
If you have questions about which ESP degree is right for your career aspirations, talk with your adviser!
You can use the tools we reviewed in this lesson to formulate a long term academic plan. Here's how:
Use the My ESP Academic Excel spreadsheet to understand what courses you still need to complete. As an example, I've highlighted the incomplete courses in the spreadsheet below.
Open up the Courses page [12] on the Program Office Website - DO NOT USE THE SCREENSHOT BELOW - to see what pre-requisites are needed for each course, and when the courses are typically offered. You'll see that especially some of the upper level (400+) courses are only offered certain semesters. See EGEE 401, EME 444 and EMSC 302 as highlighted examples below:
Use the information to then make a "plan". Your My ESP spreadsheet contains a tab titled "Long Term Plan". Use the LONG TERM PLAN TAB to plan out the courses you'll be taking each semester. See screenshots below:
Requirement | Assignment Details |
---|---|
Submit |
Use the tools outlined in the lesson to submit a long term academic plan. Make sure to do all the items below to earn full credit!
Additionally, when you're writing in the courses you want to take for the Gen Ed or Supporting Category courses, be sure to designate what requirement the course will fulfill. For example: ART 100 (GA) or EBF 301 (Business and Management).
Your plan is graded by your adviser, so it is critical that you provide them with a copy for their review and input. |
Your adviser is one of a team of people that want to see you succeed at Penn State! We are available to answer questions, but we can't do that unless we hear from you!
Get in the habit of contacting your adviser before the beginning of every semester, at a minimum. It's your responsibility to make sure you complete your degree requirements, but we're here to help you navigate the process!
Brandi Robinson: bjn151@psu.edu [13]
Haley Sankey: hjs142@psu.edu [14]
Penn State. "What Are Digital Badges" Accessed December 5, 2023. http://sites.psu.edu/informationliteracybadges/digital-badges/ [15]
Penn State. Penn State Digital Badges. The Penn State Badgesapp platform has been decommissioned as of 3/31/23. There is no replacement system at this time. Accessed December 5, 2023. https://badges.psu.edu/ [16]
Links
[1] https://psu.instructure.com/courses/1879616/pages/academic-advising?module_item_id=27954471
[2] http://hjs142@psu.edu
[3] http://haley@psu.edu
[4] http://bjn151@psu.edu
[5] https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
[6] https://admissions.psu.edu/academics/credit/clep/
[7] https://clep.collegeboard.org/clep-military-benefits
[8] https://student.worldcampus.psu.edu/student-services/services-for-military-and-veteran-students
[9] https://admissions.psu.edu/academics/credit/dsst/
[10] https://admissions.psu.edu/academics/credit/cbv/
[11] https://admissions.psu.edu/academics/credit/ap/english-language-and-composition/
[12] https://esp.e-education.psu.edu/courses
[13] mailto:bjn151@psu.edu
[14] mailto:hjs142@psu.edu
[15] http://sites.psu.edu/informationliteracybadges/digital-badges/
[16] https://badges.psu.edu/