Academic Advising
The first resource you should become very familiar with is your team of academic advisors! You should seek support and advice from your College and Major advisors throughout your academic career. For graduate students, this would be Graduate Division in place of a College. For EAP students, this would be your UCSB EAP advisor (in South Hall) in place of a College and Major advisor.
Your academic advisors can help you with things like:
- Informing you of your academic requirements
- Selecting your coursework each quarter
- Getting into the courses you need
- Creating an academic plan for success
- Making sure you're on track to graduation
If you ever have a question that is academically-related, OISS urges you to reach out to your academic advisors first and foremost. They are the best authority on all things that are academic in nature. Visit your major department website to find the contact information for your major advisor. Academic advisors often offer drop-in hours and appointments.
Here is the contact information for your respective academic advising teams:
- College of Letters & Science (L&S): intl_students@ltsc.ucsb.edu
- L&S has a designated team of academic advisors for international students
- College of Engineering: coe-info@engineering.ucsb.edu
- College of Creative Studies: info@ccs.ucsb.edu
- Graduate Division (Graduate Students): See the Academic Services page
- UCSB Education Abroad Program (EAP Students): See the EAP Reciprocity page
Every major belongs to a certain academic college. So within each academic College, there are several major departments. Each major department usually has an undergraduate and graduate advisor.
Finally, here are 6 tips for academic success, directly from your UCSB academic advisors:
Campus Learning Assistance Services (CLAS)
CLAS is short for Campus Learning Assistance Services, which offers free, on-campus tutorial services and academic support for UCSB students. International students frequently comment on how helpful CLAS is (especially the Writing Lab), so it's definitely a resource we want you to be aware of. CLAS also offers academic/study skills workshops (i.e. time management, procrastination, note-taking, etc).
To learn more about CLAS services, watch this video and visit their website.
Reduced Course Loads
As an international Gaucho, you are required to enroll in a full course load in order to maintain your student visa status.
- Undergraduate & EAP Students: 12 units
- Graduate Student: 8 units
However, things do happen and there may come a time when you are unable to maintain a full course load. There are a few exceptions to the full course load requirement that are allowed by the federal government. These are referred to "Reduced Course Loads," and are academic or medical in nature.
Please be aware that you are NOT permitted to drop below your full course load unless you have specifically been authorized by your OISS advisor. Otherwise, you will be at risk of violating your student status. EAP students are not eligible for academic reduced course loads.
We recommend contacting your OISS advisor before making decisions or taking actions that could impact your visa status. We would rather you be safe and double-check with us, so that we can help you maintain your status.
Click the here to find more information on Reduced Course Loads (RCL). Even if you do not think you will need an RCL, it's a good idea to be informed in case anything unexpected happens!
Additional Resources
Click to expand each resource below.
At UCSB, we passionately believe that self-care and looking after your personal well-being is an extremely important part of achieving academic success.
Did you know that stress and anxiety manifests itself physically? Falling ill, or experiencing pain in the mind, body, or heart for sustained periods of time will prevent you from being fully present in your academic pursuits.
UCSB offers students a wide variety of resources to help students proactively look after their own well-being. So much so, we have an entire website dedicated to all these resources and activities!
Be sure to check out the UCSB Student Wellbeing Website and explore what all the campus has to offer you. We understand that self-care looks different for everyone. From virtual meditation sessions to one-on-one counseling sessions, we're confident that there is something here for you.
The UCSB Librarians have compiled a resource page specifically for students. Through this page, you'll find out how to access library tools and resources, research guides, and extra help on academic writing and citations.
UCSB Information Technology / Enterprise Technology Services put together this guide on the campus VPN and how to seek help if needed. You'll need the campus VPN to access restricted resources!