Program Approval
Once you have developed a formal proposal and final course list, you will submit the completed proposal to the Proposal Review Committee. The BIS/IDIM proposal submission deadline occurs at the end of the fourth week of the semetser. The Commitee determines whether the program proposal is ready for formal review and approval by advisers in your areas of concentration. (The Proposal Review Committee is made up of the BIS/IDIM advisers and faculty from the BIS/IDIM Advisory Committee.)
Ordinarily, students are expected to submit their program proposals to the BIS/IDIM Proposal Review Committee during the semester following the semester they declare a BIS or IDIM major. Students who declare the major when they have relatively few credits may need more time to develop their programs, but students must earn at least 20 of the 50 credits required for a BIS or IDIM major after they have completed the proposal approval process. Students must submit a proposal no later than one semester before the semester they expect to graduate.
After the Proposal Review Committee has accepted your proposal, you will bring your BIS or IDIM program proposal to advisers in your areas of concentration for their review and formal approval. Your proposed program must be approved by your concentration area advisers before your next registration or a registration hold will be placed on your record. The BIS/IDIM office will help you to determine the appropriate advisor for each of your concentration areas.In some cases, the CLA Faculty Experts database can be helpful in identifying faculty person with a particular research interest.
Once your concentration area advisors have approved your program, you will come to the BIS/IDIM office to fill out your major program form. You will bring the major program form to your CLA Student Community advising office and you should at that time schedule a "balance sheet appointment" with an advisor in your CLA advising office.
At this point, you will no longer be required to see a BIS/IDIM adviser before you register, but you will need to consult your BIS/IDIM adviser about any changes in your program and about planning your senior project or analytic paper. It is strongly encouraged that you meet with an advisor in your CLA advising office to be sure that you are on track for graduation (it is your CLA advising community that clears you for your degree, not the BIS/IDIM office).
