Advising for all GEP Majors

Your GEP major advisor is one of the department's faculty members. Your advisor's name appears in your MySSU Student Center.

If no GEP advisor is listed, please contact the: Department Chair

We recommend that you track your progress in two ways:

1. Print and mark your progress on the GEP Degree Plan Worksheet.

          BA Worksheet (PDF)

          BS Worksheet (PDF)

2. Check your Academic Requirements Report (ARR) to track your progress in the overall bachelors degree

There are 4 categories of requirements that you need to keep track of (or more if you are double majoring or minoring). 

1. General Undergraduate Degree Requirements (e.g. 120 units minimum)
2. General Education Requirements (Lower and Upper Division)
3. SSU (Seawolf) Graduation Requirements (e.g. Critical Race Studies)
4. GEP Major Requirements (BA or BS)

Check your progress in all four categories. For each requirement, your ARR will show

• Green Circles (completed)
• Yellow Diamonds (taking)
• Red Squares (incomplete)

If there are any discrepancies between your expected progresses and the ARR, contact your GEP Major Advisor

For instructions on how to view and interpret your ARR, go to How to View Your Academic Requirements Report

Internships are highly recommended, but not required.

All GEP majors (BA or BS degrees) must take 5 units of Professional Preparation. Three of those units are covered by two required courses: GEP 310 and GEP 311. That leaves 2 additional units.

To fulfill those 2 units, you may do an internship (GEP 317). Or, you may take one of the other professional preparation courses (GEP 312-319).
In that decision, we recommend that you choose an option that aligns closely with your focus in the major, and that advances your personal career goals.

Think about how you can best gain the experiences you need to build your resume and launch your career in the direction that you want it to go.
 

When to sign up:

We recommend that first take GEP 310: Professional Preparation.

In GEP 310, you think strategically about what types of internships will advance your career in the right direction. And, we provide resources for finding those internships.

Other than that recommendation, there are no specific rules about when you can do an internship.

How to sign up:

Please go to the Department’s internship page for information on how to sign up: Info on Internships
 

Overall Approach

1. Print your Degree Plan Worksheet and Review the Schedule

Print a copy of the Degree Plan that you are following

BA Degree Plan (PDF)

Review (and perhaps print a copy of) the course schedule for the semester you are entering.

Schedule for the Next Semester

2. Review the Guide on Courses & Requirements

Each semester, we post which courses will meet the degree requirements

Ref Info on Degree Requirements for the Upcoming Semester

3. Build a schedule based on the order of priority shown below

Order of Priority for adding classes:

If a class is not available (or if it conflicts with a higher priority course), skip to the next priority. Stop when you have added enough total units.

1) Take the four required foundation courses:

GEP 201, GEP 211, GEP 280, and one of the Society, Environment & Development courses (GEP 150b, GEP 203, GEP 206, GEP 305 or GEP 306)

2) If you have chosen a focus in the major, take any classes that are offered in that focus area (if you have the prerequisite).

NOTE: Most upper division classes come around once every 3-4 semesters. Take them when they are offered.

3) Take one or both classes in the Planning and Geospatial Breadth Categories

GEP 360 Intro to Urban & Environmental Planning

GEP 387 Introduction to GIS

NOTE: These courses serve as prerequisites for several other classes. You want to take them ASAP in order to keep your options open in the future.

4) Take an additional GEP elective course from any focus area that interests you strongly. It may not be offered again during your time at SSU.

5) Take one or both classes in the Breadth Categories: Environmental Systems or Society, Environment and Development

6) Take a GE

NOTE: GE courses are low in priority because they are always available every semester. GEP major courses are not.

7) If there is still room left in your schedule, contact your GEP major advisor

FINAL NOTE: We recommend that you wait until you have been at SSU for at least one semester before taking a Professional Preparation course (GEP 310-319)

Overall Approach

1. Print your Degree Plan Worksheet and Review the Schedule

Print a copy of the Degree Plan

BS Degree Plan (PDF)

Review (and perhaps print a copy of) the course schedule for the semester you are entering.

Schedule for the Next Semester

2. Review the Guide on Courses & Requirements

Each semester, we post which courses will meet the degree requirements

Ref Info on Degree Requirements for the Upcoming Semester

3. Build a schedule based on the order of priority shown below

Order of Priority for adding classes:

If a class is not available (or if it conflicts with a higher priority course), or if you have already met the requirement, skip to the next priority. Stop when you have added enough total units.

1) Take the three foundation courses:

GEP 201; GEP 211; GEP 280

2) If you have chosen a focus in the major, take any classes that are offered in that focus area (if you have the prerequisite).

NOTE: Most upper division classes come around once every 3-4 semesters. Take them when they are offered.

3) Take one or both classes in the Planning and Geospatial Breadth Categories

GEP 360 Intro to Urban & Environmental Planning

GEP 387 Introduction to GIS

NOTE: These courses serve as prerequisites for several other classes. You want to take them ASAP in order to keep your options open in the future.

4) Take a course in the Natural and Data Science Foundation Category

Note that the courses are organized by theme. Students pursuing different focus areas should prioritize different themes:

5) Take a Society, Environment and Development Foundation Course:

GEP 150b, GEP 203, GEP 206, GEP 305 or GEP 306

6) Take an additional GEP elective course from any focus area that interests you strongly. It may not be offered again during your time at SSU.

7) Take one or both classes in the Breadth Categories: Environmental Systems or Society, Environment and Development

8) Take a GE

NOTE: GE courses are low in priority because they are always available every semester. GEP major courses are not.

9) If there is still room left in your schedule, contact your GEP major advisor

FINAL NOTE: We recommend that you wait until you have been at SSU for at least one semester before taking a Professional Preparation course (GEP 310-319)

Capstone courses are designed to provide an opportunity for students to do a substantial amount of scaffolded research and writing. Scaffolded means that students receive regular feedback throughout the research and writing process.

Throughout this experience, students apply and advance their research, critical thinking and writing skills – building on the skills that they have been developing throughout their college career. As well, students produce a well-developed and well-edited ‘finished’ product.

All capstone classes are also considered electives in the major (part of the 21 units of required GEP electives).

You can take any capstone that you would like. And, you can take as many as you like. They all count as GEP electives

We recommend that you take at least one capstone that aligns with your focus. Those are

BA Degree:

BS Degree

You may take capstone courses at any time. 

However, to meet the major’s capstone requirement, you must take at least one capstone course during your junior or senior year (when you have taken at least 72 units at the time you take the capstone, including the units from that semester).

GWAR is the California State University Graduate Written Assessment Requirement (GWAR). You must meet that requirement in order to graduate. This requirement is designed to ensure that all graduates have strong writing skills.

You complete that requirement by successfully completing a Writing Intensive Course (WIC), during your junior or senior year (when you have taken at least 60 units at the time you take the WIC course, including the units from that semester).

GEP offers a WIC course: GEP 332W.

You can also take a WIC course that is offered by another Department.

Yes. You can find potential courses in three different types of places.

1. Community and Junior Colleges

These institutions offer lower division courses, so you should consider them for lower division foundation courses in the GEP major. Here is a list of courses that commonly transfer to GEP

You can also take lower division General Education courses

We recommend that you use this website to verify whether the classes will transfer correctly: ASSIST.ORG

2. Extended Education

Sonoma State’s Extended Education Office (LINK to Extended Ed) sometimes sponsors upper division GEP courses in the summer, and they are typically GE courses as well. This is fairly rare, but worth looking into.

3. Study Abroad / National Student Exchange / Field Schools / Summer courses offered by other Universities

Summer is an excellent time to study away – at other universities and field schools, nationally or internationally. For more information about those opportunities, take a look at:

1. SSU Study Away: SSU Study Away

2. Our webpage where we highlight some programs : Field Programs

3. Announcements on the GEP list-serve (which all majors are automatically signed up to receive) where we regularly pass on advertisements for such opportunities
 

We address issues about GE in another page. Please visit: FAQs about GE