2. Advising

First Semester Course Selection

Students generally take no more than 6 semester hours in their first term of enrollment. A standard rule of thumb when trying to determine how much time should be allotted for graduate study is to expect to work at least 3 hours outside of class each week for every credit hour you take. Using this formula, a student taking 6 credit hours should expect to spend 18 hours each week on course related work. This may vary from week to week, as well as from course to course, but is a good starting point when trying to determine how many courses to take. During any term, avoid taking more than one CORE course at a time. By design, core courses require more reading and writing than other graduate courses.

Suggested courses for first semester enrollment:

Master of Science in Information
LIS 5020 – Foundations of the Information Professions
LIS 5408 – Management of Information Organizations
LIS 5485 – Introduction to Information Technologies
LIS 5603 – Introduction to Information Services
LIS 5703 – Information Organization

Master of Science in Information Technology
LIS 5203 – Information Behavior
LIS 5408 – Management of Information Organizations
LIS 5484 – Introduction to Data Networks
LIS 5487 – Information Systems Management

For a complete list of course descriptions and the Course Rotation Schedule, go to http://ischool.cci.fsu.edu/academics/courses/grad/.

Course Rotation Schedule

The Graduate Course Description page contains a link to the Course Rotation Schedule. This document is a PDF file containing a list of courses scheduled to be offered during future terms. Additions or deletions to the schedule may be made in any semester to meet course demand, to introduce new courses, to adjust for faculty availability and/or budget constraints. While this document does not represent a guarantee, the School of Information will make every effort to provide the courses as scheduled.

Faculty Advising

The faculty advisor can be a good resource for advice concerning course selection and/or career opportunities within the profession. Students are encouraged to seek out faculty with similar areas of interest for advice in course selection and/or career opportunities. Find more information about the faculty by visiting their biography pages.

Official Email Accounts for All Students at FSU

The official method of communication at Florida State University is your FSU e-mail account. In order to stay informed and aware, you are required to set up and maintain your account and check it at least three times per week. If you choose to have your official FSU account forwarded to another e-mail account, you are still held responsible for all information distributed by the University to your FSU account.

Florida State University’s Information Technology Services has a recommend Tech Checklist for new students.

The myFSU service is funded in part by the University’s Student Technology Fee; questions regarding the activation of myFSU accounts can be answered by calling 644-HELP (4357) or visiting https://its.fsu.edu/help .

Advising Resources

Student Services
Student Services is the primary point of administrative contact. Some of the tasks performed include: providing information about admission and program requirements, answering questions about orientation and registration, and clarifying College as well as University policies and procedures. Student Services can be reached at ischooladvising@cci.fsu.edu.

Graduate Student Services Facebook Advising
Join the FSU iSchool Graduate Advising Facebook group. Here you can interact with the iSchool Student Services Team, faculty members, and your fellow students to stay informed on exciting events and issues that apply to your enrollment as a graduate student in the School of Information.

Specialist (Post-Master)
Students pursuing a Specialist degree will be assigned a faculty advisor prior to their first semester. You are REQUIRED to plan your program of study with your faculty advisor because there is no prescribed program for the Specialist degree. This must be done during the first term of enrollment, and a copy of the plan of study (approved by your faculty advisor) must be sent to Student Services. If your plan of study (list of courses) changes at any time, you are responsible to revise the plan of study, obtain your faculty advisor’s approval, and submit the signed and revised plan of study to Student Services. You can find a link to the Program of Study form on the Specialist Degree Requirements page.