SPIRE & Journalism

It is really important that you learn to read your Academic Advisement Report (also known as the degree audit or progress report). You can find it on SPIRE. Most students find it confusing to read and for Journalism majors, it is particularly so because of Journalism’s requirement of the completion of a minor. Please ask Barbara or a peer advisor if you have any difficulties reading the degree audit.

Students at UMass Prior to September 2004

Journalism majors who were at UMass prior to September 2004 even if they were not yet Journalism majors have the option of completing either the CHFA requirements or the CSBS requirements. SPIRE, however, only is able to show the CHFA requirements. So if you have chosen to complete the CSBS Global Education requirements, SPIRE will not reflect that and you will continue to see the CHFA requirements as saying Requirement Not Completed. So if you are completing the Global Education requirement, you will have to ignore this on SPIRE and be sure you have completed all the necessary paperwork in E-20 Machmer, the Global Ed Office.

Spire and the Minor

The second complicating factor for Journalism majors and SPIRE is the requirement that students complete a minor in another field. This minor can also be satisfied by completing a second major, a concentration or a Certificate, and it must be completed before the requirement is satisfied. The classes you take to be counted toward the completion of your minor will not automatically appear listed in this space. They will be listed at the end of the report. If you are completing an official minor, once the Official Declaration of Minor form is submitted to the Registrar’s Office, this will be appear on SPIRE. But if you are completing a second major, a concentration or a certificate, this will not happen until your Journalism advisor sends a form to the Registrar’s Office requesting that your classes be moved to the correct place.