#HHDStudentInfo: Student Support

Academic Planning Spring 2021

A message from Associate Dean Shea

As students begin academic planning for Spring 2021, HHD continues to seek to provide as many options as we can for students, whether they wish to be remote or want to take some in-person courses. It's important for students to consider and discuss how your plans will affect your academic progress, financial aid, cocurricular opportunities, and other plans. Penn State updated information on Spring academic plans recently on the https://virusinfo.psu.edu/ web site . For those students seeking to explore all their options, I'll emphasize some of the possibilities:

• If any HHD World Campus courses are not filled, University Park students will be able to register for them beginning one week before classes start.
• HHD is encouraging all of its academic programs to continue providing flexibility in degree requirements to students, if possible.  For example, if a student is unable to complete a degree requirement available only through an in-person class, departments may be able to offer alternatives (course substitutions, independent study, waivers of major requirements, etc.), so students can make degree progress. Accreditation and other requirements can limit a program's ability to provide flexibility to students. Students can contact their department adviser and program leader to discuss these options.
• Four HHD departments (BBH, HDFS, HPA, and RPTM) have degree options online through the World Campus. Students in these 4 departments may want to discuss a temporary change of campus to the WC to be able to take a full semester online asynchronously.
• Several Penn State campuses offer the HHD 4 year degree programs. Students who want to be closer to home or to medical facilities they know can also discuss a temporary change of campus or multiple campus registration and can consider the following campuses (courses and options will vary by campus):
  • BBH: Harrisburg, Greater Allegheny, New Kensington, Lehigh Valley
  • HDFS: Altoona, Harrisburg, Brandywine, DuBois, Fayette, Mont Alto, Scranton, Shenango, York
  • HM: Berks
  • HPA: Harrisburg, Hazleton, Lehigh Valley, Mont Alto, Schuylkill
  • KINES: Berks, Altoona, Harrisburg
  • RPTM: Abington, Greater Allegheny

Students planning multiple campus registrations should register first at their home campus, and then can add classes from other campuses one week prior to classes starting. 

The challenges that the pandemic has provided for all of us--students and their families, faculty, advisers, staff--are huge. I want HHD students to know that we are all working as hard as we can here in Happy Valley to provide the high quality educational experience you expect. If you have any questions, suggestions, ideas or information that you think can help us do that, please drop me an email at dgs4@psu.edu. 

Early Request Procedures for Multi-Campus Registration at Commonwealth Campuses, World Campus or University Park Colleges and Departments.

Given the impacts of Covid-19, Penn State understands our students may have unique circumstances impacting their ability to build a complete spring schedule that may justify their early participation in multi-campus registration. Students with special circumstances, as confirmed by their academic adviser, may request an early exception for multi-campus registration between December 1, 2020 and January 12, 2021 (except during break from December 24 through January 3) for the Spring 2021 semester. Special circumstances must be documented by the student’s academic adviser in Starfish and might include: 

• International students living in their home countries who need access to synchronous remote courses offered in the morning or evening (EST) or to asynchronous courses to ensure their progress to degree or spring graduation. 
• Adult or traditional-aged students whose employment or family situations limit their ability to critical courses needed to ensure their progress to degree or spring graduation. 

Students interested in this should first talk with their academic adviser