Academic Advising & Support

Our Child and Adolescent Development (ChAD) faculty and staff offer excellent academic advising and support to current and prospective students.

• Academic Advising for Current Undergraduate Students
• Academic Advising for Future Undergraduate Students
• General Academic Support for Undergraduate Students
• Academic Advising for Graduate Students

Academic Advising for Current Undergraduate Students

Schedule an appointment via Spartan Connect to meet with one of our ChAD Undergraduate Advisors, Terry O’Donnell-Johnson or Laura Pirazzi. They can assist you with concerns, questions and completion of forms related to:

• Declaration of ChAD major (you may also visit the ChAD office)
• Change of major within ChAD (you may also visit the ChAD office)
• Evaluation of transfer credit
• Application for graduation, including the completion of the Graduation form
• Graduation worksheet
• Advisement regarding outstanding requirements
• California Promise Group student advising

If you have a quick question, you can email the advisors at teresa.o'donnell-johnson@sjsu.edu or laura.pirazzi@sjsu.edu.

Academic Advising for Future Undergraduate Students

Schedule an academic appointment with an academic advisor in our Lurie College of Education Student Success Center. They can assist you with concerns, questions and completion of forms related to:

• Course registration and General Education (GE) requirements
• Petitions related to semester withdraw, disqualifications or SJSU Studies under 60 units
• Academic probation
• Education plans for student members in EOP and California Promise

General Academic Support for Undergraduate Students

If you have general questions or have a form that requires a signature, please send an email to childdev@sjsu.edu. Email assistance is available for concerns, questions and completion of forms related to:

• Add/Change of Major/Minor 
• Minor Form- Graduation
• Course Substitution Form
• Graduation Date Change Form 
• Copy of Major Plan Form
• SJSU Campus Petitions

Additional Resources

• Information about our different ChAD undergraduate programs
• See responses to FAQs from our students

• Advice for First-Semester Freshmen

  • In your first semester as a freshman, we urge you to select Core General Education classes (see the University catalog or the schedule of classes for specific course options). If your career goal is to become an elementary school teacher, see the list of required General Education courses for on the department website.

    If you want to begin taking courses in the major, consider:

    - ChAD 60
    - ChAD 70
    - PSYC 1
    - ChAD 80 
    - MATH 12 (for students who will follow Plan A [pdf])

• General Advice for First-Semester Transfer Students

  • In your first semester, we urge you to select Advanced General Education courses (see the university catalog or the schedule of classes for specific information) and to complete any core (lower division) General Education requirements that you have not already finished. For the ChAD major, we suggest that you:

    Check to see that you have completed the equivalent of the following courses at your community college in the SJSU Student Information Website. If you have not taken these courses, be sure to enroll in them during your first semester at SJSU.

    - ChAD 60
    - ChAD 70
    - PSYC 1
    - CHAD 80 or STAT 95 or equivalent
    - MATH 12 (for students who will follow Prep for Teaching with CSET Waiver [pdf] pathway)

    These courses are required for all ChAD majors:

    - ChAD or LLD 100W  
    - ChAD 101
    - ChAD 162 or ChAD164
    - ChAD 168
    - ChAD 169
    - ChAD 170

    Prep for Teaching students will also enroll in the following:

    - ChAD 149
    - ChAD 150
    - CHAD 135
    - ENGL 112A
    - CA 177
    - SOCS 137
    - ENGL 103 or LLD 107
    - SCI 110 or ENVS 158
    - Math 105 (if completed Math 12)
    - ART 39, ART 138, TA 131, DANC 148, or MUSC 185
    - GEOL 103 
    - SOCS 138  
    - HIST 139 

    Child & Adolescent Development majors will enroll in the following courses as they align with their focus area:

    Early Childhood Focus

    - ChAD 150
    - ChAD 152
    - ChAD 161
    - ChAD 173
    - SJSU Studies Areas R, S, and V 

    Community Focus

    - ChAD 104 
    - ChAD 157
    - ChAD 163 or 173
    - COMM 144F, HS 145, JS 152, LING 129, SOCI 151, SOCI 170 or URBP 133
    - SJSU Studies Areas R and V  

Academic Advising for Graduate Students

Program Coordinator

Dr. Danielle Mead-Nytko
danielle.mead@sjsu.edu

Prospective and current ChAD graduate students should contact Dr. Danielle Mead-Nytko for graduate advising or more information regarding the ChAD Master's Program. For general questions about our graduate program, please visit our MA, Child and Adolescent Development webpage.