hi this is a short video tutorial for
how to use the four-year plan document
to plan your design major and time at
usf
so as a design major each of you will
have a document that we've made for you
that looks like this
that will be shared with you over google
drive
if you haven't received it already
you'll be receiving it in the coming
week
so the document looks like this on the
first page is an overview of how the
courses for the design major are
typically taken
this has information and you do not edit
this part
the next page is where you'll map out
your own four-year plan you'll list
classes you plan to register for in the
upcoming semester at any questions you
have about your individual plan
so each of you has one document that
we've shared with you and you want to
keep it in a safe place in your google
drive because you will be editing it and
updating it
every semester between now and when you
graduate
so let me review with you how to do this
so on this first page is the overview of
how the courses in the design major are
typically taken
a little legend here
so
this little arrow pointing towards the
left means it's a fall-only course and
to the right means it's a spring only
class
so you can see this chart has the fall
and spring semester
optional summer intersession and then
there's your four years here
okay now some of you might be doing a
design degree in slightly less than four
years if you're a transfer student for
instance and you can work with that in
this document as well
here's the typical way that classes are
taken
so in the fall of your freshman year you
take these classes
in the spring you take these classes
you'll see here that everything that's
black in black font is a design major
requirement
and everything that's sort of in this
gray is a core class or language
or cell the community engaged learning
um or commun or cultural diversity
so you'll also see there's some open
electives those are classes that you get
to take that aren't for your core or for
your design major and some students end
up taking a minor and putting those
minor classes in this zone
so a couple of things to note here
just a note on art 102 our history two
that note is down here you have to take
either art 101 or history one or art 102
are history two you can take either for
your design major
the rest here is rather self-explanatory
right so your freshman year you're doing
design fundamentals history of western
design
viscom1 art history two
in your sophomore year you're typically
taking typography
viscom2
and digital media design
you'll see those little carrots right
that means typography is a fall-only
class and digital media is a spring-only
class what that means is when you make
your own four-year plan
don't put digital media design in a fall
semester because you can't take it then
you'll see there are some spots for
design electives
and notes about design electives are
down here
so you have to take two design studio
electives and one design seminar
electives
electives can be taken any time in your
last two years preferably after you
complete digital media design and
electives rotate every semester and you
can see a complete list of electives in
our catalog
okay so for instance design studio
electives are right now these classes
and seminars are right here
all right so going back to the four-year
plan in your senior year you'll continue
design electives and take professional
practice
and
also do design senior design projects
and design internship
now you'll notice that after the classes
there's little numbers in parentheses
right
that indicates how many units the class
is for
so most classes at usf are four units
but some are less so fabrication lab is
one
you'll see some of our design classes
like professional practice there's a two
unit class an internship is also a two
unit class
some general reminders you have to take
a total of 120 units to graduate
you have to take three semesters of a
foreign language or test at the
equivalent level
if you have transfer units or study
abroad units they might not convert into
a four unit class
and c e l and c d core requirements can
overlap with core a to f right so
sometimes students will take a cd class
that's also
a sociology class for instance
okay
all right so once you've reviewed this
again you're not editing up here
you are going to come down to the second
page and you're going to create your own
four-year plan
what that's going to entail is you're
putting in the years here so let's
imagine you're a freshman
so you're actually starting your classes
in this current year 2021-2022
so you're going to write here all the
classes you're currently taking for the
fall and what you might take in the
spring and fill out all this whole chart
let's imagine you're not a freshman
you're actually a junior or a senior
these parts are then going to be filled
out with classes you've already taken
but it's very important you put those in
any way okay so do not leave those blank
based on this plan we're asking you to
then
fill in the classes you plan to register
for for the upcoming semester and
include some backups and then list any
questions you have for your individual
advisor
so that's how you use this document and
if you have any questions feel free to
reach out thank you