Undergraduate Advising

Pre-business students may complete lower level courses at other institutions while attending OU. New OU students should familiarize themselves with SBA transfer policies by meeting with an academic adviser and/or carefully reading the appropriate section of the Undergraduate Catalog before taking courses at another school. Do not make scheduling decisions based upon assumptions. Transfer guides for Michigan community colleges are posted on the Registrar’s website. However, once admitted to the SBA, business majors must complete all remaining core, major and business minor course requirements for their degree at OU.

Students can fill out a guest application for another school if wishing to take courses for just one semester.

In order to become eligible to earn a degree in the SBA a student must apply and be approved for admission to one of the currently offered business majors. Once admitted to any SBA major, a student has “major standing” status in the School.

Requirements for admission to “major standing” are:

1. Successful completion of the writing requirement, WRT160, the ACHIEVE courses, SBC 199, SBC 299, and the business pre-core courses (a minimum grade of 2.0 in each course and its prerequisite if any)
2. A cumulative OU grade point average of 2.6 or higher for six credits or more
3. Submission of the “Application for Major Standing” Form to the Undergraduate Business Programs Advising Office, 232 Elliott Hall. Students should apply for admission to a business major prior to the last day of finals for the term in which all requirements will be completed. An application submitted in a subsequent semester will be accepted and processed for the term in which it was received.

Use the Degree Program Checklist to aid in knowing when you will be eligible to apply for a major.

If you are experiencing a specific error after already requesting an override, please reference the list below.

• Link Error: A2 Required: You are not signed up for all components of the course (i.e. lab and lecture). NO OVERRIDES GRANTED. Register for both components.
• Prerequisite and Test Score error: You have not met the prerequisites. REQUEST AN OVERRIDE if restriction is inaccurate.
• Field of Study Restriction - Major: You are not in Major Standing or a Pre-business student. REQUEST AN OVERRIDE if restriction is inaccurate.
• TIME CONFLICT WITH _____: Students may not register for courses with overlapping times. NO OVERRIDES GRANTED. Pick a new section.
• Repeat count exceeds 0: You have already attempted this course three times. If it is your 4th attempt, you must submit a petition to take the course a 4th time and see an adviser.
• CLOSED SECTION-X: No seats are available in the course. NO OVERRIDES GRANTED. Add to wait list or contact instructor.

To request an override, sign in to the SBA Undergraduate Student Portal with your OU email name and password. Click on the Reg Override tab on the left-hand side of the page and fill out the required information.

If you are unable to find an answer to your error in the list above, please make an appointment with an adviser by signing in to the SBA Advisor Trac with your OU email name and password.

Please submit a request to the School of Business Closed Class Waitlist, and you will be added to a waitlist for that class. If a spot opens up, you will receive an email and may be able to register for the class.

Look at the SBA Degree Checklists and select the checklist that applies to the year you entered the SBA program. You can also run a degree evaluation through SAIL. 

An independent study is not a physical course, but rather allows highly motivated students the opportunity to construct a unique educational experience that goes beyond the courses contained in the existing course catalog. They usually involve in-depth research on some issue, are supervised by a SBA faculty member and are listed in the schedule of classes as a 490 (ACC 490, for example).

Yes. Math is a required part of the business program at OU. All business administration majors must take MTH 121 "Linear Programming" (or MTH 141) and MTH 122 "Calculus for the Social Sciences" (or 154); MTH 061 and/or MTH 062 may also be required, depending on a student's individual placement. Business students must also take QMM 240 “Statistical Methods for Business I” and QMM 241 “Statistical Methods for Business II”.

Placement is done in a few different ways. If you are an incoming freshman and have taken the ACT, placement is determined by your ACT Math sub score. If you are a transfer student who has taken math recently, you are placed based on your prior math courses. If neither of these applies to you, or if you are unsure of the placement you received, you should take a math placement test given by the Department of Mathematics and Statistics.

All students who seek admission as a business major begin the program with the major “pre-business” or “undecided business” (dependent upon certain course and grade point status) until they have met the requirements and have been admitted to major standing.

No. Freshmen who plan a business major should begin the business pre-core courses right away. General education courses can be taken until graduation and are not required for admission to a major.

Students can take CLEP tests for ECN 200 and 201 and some General Education courses; please contact the Office of Academic Records about procedures and restrictions regarding CLEP tests.

I have academic credit earned from a Michigan Community College – Oakland University’s baccalaureate programs are designed to accommodate students from Michigan community colleges. For most local community colleges, the University has prepared a course equivalency guide which indicates courses that fulfill specific Oakland University requirements. Whether or not you have earned an Associate’s Degree from a Michigan college, OU will evaluate your transfer courses individually. Credit for most courses will be accepted if you earned at least a C- grade in the course. A maximum of 64 credits will be accepted in transfer from a two- year school; however, a “best fit” policy will be applied. This means that the transfer courses which will best satisfy OU program requirements will be applied toward completion of your baccalaureate program. OU participates in the Michigan Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admission Officer (M.A.C.R.A.O.) Articulation Agreement. Students who have satisfied M.A.C.R.A.O. should meet with an academic adviser their first semester at the University to discuss the effect of this status on their program requirements and course schedule plan.

I have academic credit earned from a four year institution – OU will accept an unlimited number of transfer credits from regionally accredited four-year institutions. Some exceptions to this policy include certain physical education courses and religion courses offered by religiously affiliated post-secondary institutions. Your transfer transcript will be evaluated on a course by course basis for equivalent credit for any OU and/or SBA program requirement/s. Credit for specific SBA courses is authorized for courses of similar content taken prior to attending Oakland University at other institutions. Once admitted to the business program, students must complete all remaining core, major and business minor coursework for the degree at OU. Students may be required to submit course descriptions or course syllabi to aid in course evaluation.

Why would I need a syllabus for a course I took at another school? When a student with prior college experience is admitted to OU, each transferred course will be evaluated for possible equivalent credit to an OU/SBA course requirement by a faculty evaluator. If the school was not AACSB accredited students may be asked to provide a course syllabus to aid in the determination of equivalent content.

A grade of "I" in a course indicates "Incomplete" status. This grade is temporary and may be given only by student request and faculty consent. It is used in cases of hardship beyond the control of the student that prevents completion of course requirements. Work to remove an "I" grade must be completed during the first eight weeks of the next fall or winter semester. Students who wish to receive an Incomplete must present a Student Request for Incomplete Grade form to the instructor by the day of the final exam. These are available in departmental offices.

Students can request an extension of "I" grades. This extension must be student-initiated and requires approval by the instructor and the dean of the school or college or other appropriate administrator. If course requirements are not completed within one year and no semester has been registered for, the "I" grade will be changed to "0.0."

A Petition of Exception is a request for a waiver or deviation from University or School policy. Students must fill out a form, attach a rationale, and submit it to the Undergraduate Advising Office who will submit it to SBA's Committee on Instruction when they are seeking an exception to any of the SBA's rules or policies. Regarding some issues, the petition is submitted to either the General Education Committee or the University Committee on Instruction. Students seeking an exception to a policy should meet with an adviser to get information on the appeal procedure and proper submission.

No. Students are limited to a maximum of 18 credits per semester. However, students who have achieved a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher are allowed by adviser permission to take additional credits. The “Permission to Exceed Maximum Credits” form is available upon request in the advising center. Approved permission forms must accompany any request to the Registrar for 19 or more credits per semester.

No. After orientation, students are not required to meet with an academic adviser. However, students who have questions about schedule planning, degree requirements, admission to the SBA, major standing, transfer credit, petitions of exception or graduation audits should meet with one of the School’s professional advisers. Also, faculty members are available to provide advising, mentoring, support, curricular guidance and career information.