Advising Information & Forms

Students, staff and faculty – Here you will find advising information and copies of all currently available and downloadable forms used in the Department of Art and Art History. Please check with the main Art Office (ART 116) if an online form is out-of-date, incomplete, or if you need a form not listed here.

NOTE:

Most forms nowadays are created and circulated virtually using DocuSign. Please check with the Art Office if you are not sure how to use one.
Do not open/fill-out PDF files using the internet browser, Adobe Acrobat Viewer or Adobe Acrobat Preview.
Faculty signatures are only valid for thirty days.

BFA Portfolio Review

Students who want to earn a BFA in Spatial, Pictorial, Photography, or Digital Media Art must pass the Portfolio Review Application. See the BFA Portfolio Review page for additional information.

Advising Information

Many questions can be answered in the advising guides below. Can't find what you need? See contact information below for help with the following topics:

Undergraduate Advising

Your Major Advisors

Faculty Major Advisors are here to help during the Fall & Spring semesters with courses within your degree area.

See the Major Advisor Office Hours page to find out who your advisor is and when they are available. BA studio practice - contact a coordinator in your ‘focus area' where you are taking the most classes.

Major Advisors are faculty who teach within your major - they are on break during Winter and Summer. If you need advising help durring the Winter & Summer breaks you can contact the H&A Studnet Sucess Center or email art@sjsu.edu.

GE Classes & General Advising

General advisors located in the Student Success Center make sure you are on-track with your General Education (GE) courses.

GE Advising & H&A Student Success Center Website: https://www.sjsu.edu/ha-advising/index.php
Email: ha-successcenter@sjsu.edu
Phone: (408) 924-5095

Virtual and In-person Appointments available.
Advising Appointments: Spartan Connect
Intake Form (for quick questions): Submit an Advising Question

Office Open In Person: Visit Office: Clark Hall 244 (closed for lunch daily from 12-1pm
Monday through Thursday, 9am-12pm; 1-5pm
Friday 10am-12pm; 1-5pm

Registration, Change of Major, adding a Minor or Transfer Credits:

Email Bill Alley: bill.alley@sjsu.edu
Zoom with Bill Alley: 1:00 - 4:00 PM, Mon - Fri (email Bill for Zoom link)
In-person drop-ins: Tues - Thurs 8-5 (on break for lunch 12-1), Art Office (Room 116 in the Art Building)

COURSE SUBSTITUTIONS
Students can request course substitutions with their Major Advisor:

Student submits course substitution request here (must be logged in to SJSU gmail account)
Student meets with a Major Advisor during their office hours to discuss the request
Once an advisor approves of the substitution they will:
1. Indicate their approval in the Substitution Form Request Approvals sheet (viewable by faculty advisors only)
2. Email the substitution list to the Art Office & cc the student
The Art Office will send the substitution to the Registrar's Office to process

Substitutions are usually processed in the last semester that the student attends SJSU, this step in the process can take awhile. If you follow the steps above and you don't see the substitution showing up in you MyProgress report by mid-terms in your final semester, contact your Major Advisor or Bill Alley in the Art Office: bill.alley@sjsu.edu

APPLICATION TO GRADUATE
You apply to graduate online via MySJSU online portal. You can apply up to 3 semesters before you graduate, but typically one year/ two semesters before your planned graduation. See step-by-step instructions here [pdf].

The registrar's office will check to make sure you have completed all of your degree requirements and will confirm with you once the check is complete. Additional information can be found on the Registrar's Website.

Graduate Advising

Graduate Student Applications, Forms, Deadlines, ATC, Thesis and other administrative questions: Contact the Graduate Coordinator, Shaun O'dell: shaun.odell@sjsu.edu

What Classes Should I take?

My Progress, My Planner, My Scheduler, & Shopping Carts

The online tools in MySJSU are the easiest way to see what classes you need to take, generate a semester by semester plan, and create options for your schedule next semester.

How to Register for Classes (see our step by step guide):

Identify Courses you already taken and still needed to take using your My Progress or Major Form
1. If you have transfer classes, check your Transfer Credit Report to make sure they are being counted toward your degree (up to 70 units can transfer from community college)
Use My Planner or your Degree Roadmap to make a semester to semester plan (but be flexible, the classes you need may be offered at the same time or only certain semesters)
Once classes are posted, use My Scheduler &/or Class Descriptions to pick classes you want to take each semester:
1. See the SJSU Course Catalog for class descriptions. Filter the search by Prefix:
  1. ART for art classes
  2. PHOT for photography classes
  3. ARTH for art history classes
Log onto MySJSU to add or drop classes via the Shopping Cart.

Art & Art History Advising Guides

Use the Advising Guides below to help you figure out what classes to take and when:

Major Forms

The Major Form shows you all of the art classes that you will need to take to graduate for your intended major. The fillable form allows you to plan your schedule for each semester and helps ensure you are taking the classes you need to gradate with your intended degree. This is a guide to help you, it doesn't lock you into the plan. Many students need to change their plans depending on schedule and availability of classes among other things

You should fill this form out before meeting with you major advisors.

BA Art & Art History

BA Art History and Visual Culture [pdf]
BA Preparation for Teaching Major Form [pdf]
BA Studio Practice [pdf]

BFA Art

BFA Digital Media Art, Major Form [pdf]
BFA Photography, Major Form [pdf]
BFA Pictorial Art, Major Form [pdf]
BFA Spatial Art, Major Form [pdf]

Instructions

Submit the semester and year (ex F24) next to each class indicating the semester that you either took or plan to take the class in the future.
If the course was completed at another college, please indicate the college, the exact course prefix & number in the “Outside course or Substitution” space provided.
Here is an example of a properly filled out Major Form Example. This will show you how to enter the information for all of the major forms, even if the classes are different than your major

General Guidelines for the Order of Classes

You should be aiming to complete all of the preparation for the major courses (the upper box of the major form) before enrolling in any of the Specialized Upper Division (100+ level) courses.
For BFA Majors, you should apply to the Portfolio Review once you've completed 15-21 units of the preparation for the major courses
For BA Studio & BFAs, it's recommended that you take 1 Upper Division ARTH/100W with 2-3 Upper Division Studios every semester

Capstone Classes:

Capstone classes are where you create your senior projects/papers. They prepare you to graduate and enter the professional sphere post-graduation. Take these classes in your Senior Year:

- BA Art History and Visual Culture: Take ARTH 199 or ARTH 277 your last semester at SJSU
- BA Studio: Take ART 197 (DMA, Spatial, Pictorial emphasis) or PHOT 197 (Photo emphasis) your last semester
- BA Studio Teaching Prep: Take ARED/CA 150 your last semester
- BFAs:
  - Take ART 198 the semester before you graduate
  - Take ART 199 (Spatial, Pictorial, Photo) or ART 195 (DMA) your last semester at SJSU

Roadmaps

Use the Roadmap to determine what semester you should take each class. The roadmap will give you a sense of what courses should be taken for the major and what the recommended order is.

This is the form that the SJSU uses to populate your ‘My Planner’ tool.

BA Art & Art History

BA Art History and Visual Culture [pdf]
BA Preparation for Teaching Roadmap [pdf]
BA Studio Practice [pdf]

BFA Art

BFA Digital Media Art [pdf]
BFA Photography [pdf]
BFA Pictorial Art [pdf]
BFA Spatial Art [pdf]

Minor Forms

It is especially important to use the minor forms when planning for classes.

The 'My Progress' reports are prone to errors when adding a minor (they can indicate that some classes you took are being counted toward your major and your minor when that is not the case).

Minor Architectural Studies [pdf]
Minor Art Education [pdf]
Minor Art History and Visual Culture [pdf]
Minor Ceramic Art [pdf]
Minor Digital Media Art [pdf]
Minor Photography [pdf]
Minor Pictorial Art [pdf]
Minor Sculpture [pdf]
Minor Studio Art [pdf]

Graduate Forms

MA and MFA Program Admissions

The Art and Art History Department's graduate program application is rolled into SJSU's central Cal State Apply system. Please see the program admission pages for additional information.

MA Admissions (Art History & Visual Culture)
MFA Admissions (Digital Media Art, Photography, Pictorial Art, & Spatial Art)

Graduate Handbooks

MA Graduate Handbook

MFA - Graduate Handbook [pdf]

MA and MFA Tutorial Form

MA and MFA - Tutorial/Special Study [pdf]

Studio Policy

Graduate Studio Facility Policy

MFA - Advancement to Candidacy:

Review Week Instructions and Application [pdf]
Gallery Identification Template [docx]

MFA Thesis Guidelines

MFA - Thesis Guidelines [pdf]

Forms for Faculty / Staff Use

Generic Invoice

Generic Invoice [pdf]

Purchase and Payment Request Form

Purchase and Payment Request Form [DocuSign]

Absence Request Form

Absence Request Form [Google Form]

Student Assistant Request Form

Student Assistant Request Form [pdf]

Volunteer Forms

Submit the Supervisor Evaluation Form [pdf] with the University Personnel Volunteer Form