Advising FAQs

We're flexible! Feel free to email advisor@csum.edu for quick questions, schedule an appointment to meet one-on-one, or stop by the SEAS Center (Lab Building, first floor). We're happy to help any way we can!

1) Show up; 2) Participate; 3) Ask for help.

Students who go to classes, do their homework, ask questions and apply study skills generally do well in school. Cal Maritime has a multitude of services available to support students including tutoring, counseling, accessibility and disability services, career services, and more. University Advisors can assist in referring you to the best resource.

The best first step is to schedule a meeting with your professor or drop by during their office hours to discuss your progress in the class. Once you've found out what you are struggling with, you can come meet with a University Advisor to develop an action plan! University advisors work closely with faculty advisors, tutoring services, and other departments to get you resources for improving your grade. We can also work with you on goal setting and time management tools. We also work closely with the Office of the Registrar and can help discuss alternative plans regarding our policies, such as withdrawing from a course before week 4, or after week 4 for serious and compelling reasons.   

If your academic performance is suffering because of personal obstacles, University Advisors can help refer you to the campus' Counseling and Psychological Services in the Health Services Building. Please contact advisor@csum.edu to learn more about your options today! We're here to help. :)

*TLDR (too long, didn't read); here's a cool registration checklist to download.

Here are the steps you must take every semester to successfully register for classes at Cal Maritime:

1. Confirm when advising and registration begins!

Once the semester begins, we will post when the academic advising and registration periods are on the Academic Calendar.

TIP: Write down the dates on your personal calendar so you don’t forget! You’ll also receive an email to your Cal Maritime email from the Office of the Registrar notifying you about advising and registration dates before they begin each semester, or if the dates change.

2. Check when your individual registration appointment date and time is.

You can find out when your registration appointment is during the academic advising period in your PeopleSoft Student Systems > Student Center, right-hand side under "Enrollment Dates”.

TIP: Set a reminder in your phone or computer to remind yourself to register!

3. Meet with your Faculty Advisor to get your Advisor Registration Hold removed.

During the academic advising period and before registration begins, you must meet with your Faculty Advisor to get your Advisor Registration Hold removed (this meeting is required for all students to be able to register). Your Faculty Advisor is listed in your PeopleSoft Student Systems > Student Center, under “Program Advisor”. Be sure to reach out to your advisor to set up a meeting to discuss which classes you need to register for, review your graduation plan, and get any other questions answered before registering!

TIP: Your Curriculum Roadmap or Smart Planner can be used to check which classes you should be registering for as well! Double check these with your Faculty Advisor.

4. Make sure you don’t have any other holds too!

Other types of holds that can prevent you from registering include Student Health Center holds, Accounting holds, Judicial holds, etc. If you have a hold listed in your PeopleSoft Student Systems > Student Center, click on the “details” link to find out next steps to clear your hold.

5. Create a schedule in Schedule Planner.

Once you’ve met with your Faculty Advisor and all holds are removed, you can build your class schedule in Schedule Planner! Once you find your favorite schedule, be sure to send it to your PeopleSoft shopping cart. For more info on how to use Schedule Planner, click here!

6. Register for your classes in PeopleSoft on your registration date!

Once your schedule is sent to your PeopleSoft shopping cart from Schedule Planner, you’ll need to import your cart, and then register for classes on your registration appointment date. For more info on how to enroll in courses using PeopleSoft, click here!

For more registration tips, see our Registration Tools page!

If you need assistance with any of these steps, always feel welcome to reach out to a University Advisor at advisor@csum.edu for questions, or make an appointment in Passport Navigate for one-on-one help!

Tutoring and workshops are offered every semester, and for every major! Check out the Tutoring Services webpage for so many amazing resources, like how to make a tutoring appointment, upcoming workshops, resources about study skills, note-taking, and more! Also feel free to contact us at advisor@csum.edu for a referral!

If you fail a course, we generally recommend that you retake the course as soon as possible, unless you've failed the course twice. Retaking the failed course replaces the failing grade with the newly earned grade, and recalculates your GPA to reflect the most recent grade achieved. This is the quickest and most direct path to improving your GPA.  But remember, you can only repeat up to 16 units at Cal Maritime, and you cannot fail a course three times. If you'd like to check where you are at in your repeat units, or come up with a plan for repeating failed courses, come speak with a University Advisor! 

Academic Probation:

All students must maintain a 2.0 for their Cumulative, Campus, and Major GPA in order to stay in good academic standing. If a student drops below a 2.0 in any these GPA's, they will be placed on Academic Probation and must adhere to the probation requirements. University Advisors will reach out to students who fall below good academic standing and will work with them closely to develop a plan to improve their GPA in order to be successfully removed from probation. We're here to help! 

Administrative Academic Probation:

All students must continuously make sufficient progress toward their degree each term, meaning they may not be allowed to excessively withdraw from, fail or repeat courses. If a student is identified as repeatedly failing to progress toward their degree for any reason, they will be placed on Administrative Academic Probation and must adhere to the probation requirements. University Advisors will reach out to students who fall below good academic standing and will work with them closely to develop a plan to improve their progress rates in order to be removed from probation. Again, we're helpful people, we promise. Our goal is to support you.

Meeting with your Faculty Advisor is the most accurate way to confirm if you are on track in your program and taking the right courses. You can find out who your Faculty Advisor is in your PeopleSoft Student Systems > Student Center, under "Program Advisor".

Reviewing your online Academics Requirements Report (degree audit) is an easy way to see what classes you have left to complete, and will help you figure out if a class you are registered for, or have taken, counts toward your degree. Any classes that count toward your program will fall into one of the "Requirements" sections. Any classes that do not count toward your degree (i.e. intercollegiate sports, failed classes, etc.) will fall to the bottom section under "Additional Courses Not Meeting Requirements."

Your Curriculum Roadmap can also help you identify which classes are in your program. By checking off classes you've completed, you can see what classes you have left. 

All students are welcome to contact the University Advisors for any questions regarding navigating these helpful sites and looking at their degree requirements. We can teach you how to use these tools!

To transfer in credits taken at another institution into Cal Maritime, an official transcript from that school will need to be sent to the Office of the Registrar (electronic/PDF transcripts sent directly to registrar@csum.edu are preferred!). Once processed by Registrar, transfer credits will appear on your Academic Requirements Report. If a course is not applied to your degree, it may not satisfy Cal Maritime's course requirements. Please check with your department chair if you feel a course should have transferred over but is not. 

Students may take a course(s) at another regionally-accredited institution if the student finds an equivalent course, and approval is given prior to enrolling in the course. Students can submit the online Course Equivalency Request form with the institution and course information, which will go to the Office of the Registrar and be routed for approval. Responses can take approximately 1-2 weeks, so be sure to leave enough time for approval before having to register for the course. 

Check out our Guide to Taking Courses Outside of Cal Maritime for next steps!