Advising

Class Advising

A group of students having a class at Smith Decision Center.

There are two types of class advising at CSUCI, academic advising and faculty advising.

Academic Advising at CSUCI is the central advising office. Please make an appointment with them to ask about all degree requirements including:

  • General Education (GE)
  • Upper Division General Education (UDGE)
  • American Institutions
  • Language
  • Multicultural
  • Major requirements

To schedule an appointment with an Academic Advisor for the business major, you can use Dolphin Navigate in your myCI portal, or the links below:

For short questions, Academic advising also runs daily Express Advising sessions. A 10 minute drop-in Zoom consultation with an academic advisor is usually the fastest way.

Faculty Advisors focus on the specifics within the Business major and minor. They can help you:

  • Assist with major course substitutions;
  • Check whether you are on schedule to graduate;
  • Plan which classes to take each semester;
  • Assist with exploring career and graduate school opportunities;
  • Provide assistance with internship and research opportunities;
  • Decide whether you want to declare an option, such as Finance, Management or Marketing, in the business major;
  • Plan which classes to take while studying abroad; and
  • Answer any other questions about the business major or minor.

To schedule an appointment with a faculty advisor, you can use Dolphin Navigate in your myCI portal, or the link below:

Required Classes

The exact classes required for the business major or business minor, depend on the semester you begin at CSUCI. To find the requirements that apply, do the following:

  • Go to https://catalog.csuci.edu
  • Change the drop-down in the top right corner of the browser window to the catalog for the year you began at CSUCI. For example, if you began in Fall 2022 or Spring 2023, choose “2022-2023 Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]”.
  • Scroll down to pick “Programs and Degrees” in the red menu at the left side of the browser window.
  • Scroll down to “Martin V. Smith School of Business & Economics”
  • Click on the link for your major (and option if you have one) or your minor. This will display the list of all the requirements.
  • To see the prerequisites for the courses, click on the small red icon in the upper-right corner that looks like a sheet of paper with the corner folded over. This will open a new window that lists all the requirements and the prerequisites for each.

Planning Classes to Take

To graduate from CSUCI, 120 units of classes need to be completed for the major. To graduate within four years as a freshman or within two years as a transfer student, students need to enroll and complete 15 units (normally five classes) each Fall and Spring semester. The vast majority of these classes need to fulfill specific requirements, e.g., GE, language, business major classes, etc.

The Business program has developed example class schedules to assist student with which classes to take each semester. You do NOT need to take the classes in exactly this order; these are simply examples of schedules that will work well. The examples are slightly different depending on the year you began at CSUCI:

Tracking Your Progress

You can use CI Records to track which requirements you have fulfilled. Students can do this by reviewing their CARR report. Follow the instructions at https://www.csuci.edu/registrar/carr.htm.

Options

Options in the Business major are sets of extra, upper-division classes that will help you develop more detailed knowledge and skills in a specific area of business, such as finance, management, or marketing. Options are valuable for students who have an interest in one of these areas and would enjoy learning more about it. Because option classes are not required for the major, they are often smaller than core Business major classes. This allows you to receive extra attention from the instructor and further increase your learning. In addition, options can increase your preparation for a career in the selected area (e.g., marketing). Note that completing an option is not required; many students go on to careers in these fields without completing an option.

Most of the options classes are offered once a year, but they are sometimes available only once every two years. This means you should plan ahead to make sure that you are leaving space in your schedule to take option classes.

To add an option to your Business major, either make an appointment with a major advisor or complete the “Change of Major, Minor, or Certificate” form available from Records & Registration (https://www.csuci.edu/registrar/).

Frequently Asked Questions

CI Records says I can take BUS 310, ENGL 330, ENGL 482, or ENGL 483 to fulfill my writing requirement. Which should I take?

BUS 310 is the new Business communication class that began in Fall 2019. We generally suggest that you take BUS 310. If you would like to discuss your specific situation, make an appointment with a major advisor.

Do I have to do an option?

You may complete an option in the Business major (e.g., finance, marketing, management), but you are not required to so. Completing an option requires taking additional classes beyond the courses required for the major. The main reason to do an option is because you are interested in topic and want to learn more about it.

Which classes do I have to take before Capstone?

There are many prerequisites for the Business capstone course (BUS 499). Please check the information in the Required Classes section. Do not rely on rumors; read the requirements.

What is the lowest grade I can get in a class and have it still count for the major?

For the major, the lowest grade you can earn in a core course depends on the year you began at CSUCI. If you began on or before Spring 2016, the course counts for the major if you earn a D- or higher as your final grade. If you began at CSUCI later than that, you must earn a C- or higher for the class to count toward the major.

What is the lowest grade I can get in a class and have it still count for the minor?

For the minor, the lowest grade you can earn for the class to count is D-.

How many times can I take a class if I don't do well the first time?

You have two attempts at CSUCI to successfully complete each Business major or minor requirement. That means, if you earn too low a grade for the class to count toward the major in the first time you take a class, you have one more chance to take that class. When you do this, make sure that you reserve extra time to work on this class.

What happens if I am unsuccessful in a class two times?

If this happens, you should make an appointment with a major/minor advisor. One common solution is to switch to a Liberal Studies with Business concentration major.

CI Records says that I have to take five classes for my option, but my classmates only have to take four classes. Why is that?

The rules for options changed in Fall 2019. The biggest change was reducing the number of classes you need to complete for an option. If you declared your option before Fall 2019 and would like to change to the new rules, make an appointment with a major advisor. We can submit a request to make that change.

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