Are you a declared major in Communication? Are you interested in a Communication minor? Have questions about your major requirements, student life, and more? You've come to the right place.
Reach out to us or check out our Frequently Asked Questions below! Here are all the ways you can contact our advising team:
1) Email advising questions to cmnadvising@ucdavis.edu . You can also email us forms needing a signature, course information for study abroad, and APFs.
2) Use virtual drop-in advising with our Academic Peer Advisors: hours are listed below. Peer Advisors are current students in the major and are trained to answer questions about major requirements, adding a double major or a minor, academic planning, student life, and more. Drop-in advising is open to all current students!
3) Set up a full 30-minute advising appointment with a staff advisor. Go to appointments.ucdavis.edu: Click on “Get Scheduled” then “Kerr Hall Advising Center” and your specific major. To ensure equitable access, staff advising appointments are limited to declared CMN major students only, and students are limited to 1 appointment per quarter. Due to demand, appointments with staff advisors are booked very quickly; new appointment slots are released each day, so please check at the beginning of each day for the best availability. Appointments can be booked up to two weeks in advance. Please make sure to attend your scheduled advising appointments – appointment access may be limited in the future for students who repeatedly miss appointments. If you must meet with a staff advisor and cannot book an appointment, please email us at cmnadvising@ucdavis.edu for assistance.
If staff advising appointments are not available or if you have time-sensitive concerns, please email us or use drop-in advising to check in with our team as soon as possible.
On this page:
DROP-IN ADVISING
Check out our virtual drop-in advising hours, open to all current UC Davis students. Meet via Zoom with our Academic Peer Advisors for quick questions about major requirements, internship & research opportunities, student involvement, declaring the major and more.
- Drop-in advising is meant to be brief (10-15 minutes)
- Expect longer wait times during week 1 of the quarter, and during Pass 1 and Pass 2 course registration
- The drop-in schedule is subject to change; please check before arriving
- Unfortunately, the Virtual Front Desk only allows current students to sign in. If you are not a current student, please email cmnadvising@ucdavis.edu for support
- Drop-in advising attendance will NOT count towards clearing major advising holds – if you have a major advising hold, or have any in-depth questions to discuss, please make an advising appointment at appointments.ucdavis.edu
Virtual Advising for Communication
There are no peer advising for summer 2025 - please check back for Fall 2025 hours! If you need assistance, please visit appointments.ucdavis.edu to schedule an advising appointment or email cmnadvising@ucdavis.edu .
Login here: https://communication.advisingfrontdesk.lsit.ucdavis.edu/signin
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
- What is advising? What is the difference between major advisors and college advisors?
In order to receive a degree from UC Davis, you will need to meet University requirements, College requirements, and major requirements. You may have additional requirements if you have more than one major, or add a minor. Going to both major and college advising is essential to your academic success. However, since the advisors in either department have different roles, it’s important to understand which advising center can best assist you based on your questions and goals.
Major advisors (that's us!) can assist you with creating academic plans, understanding major requirements, discussing your educational and career goals, preparing for grad school, and learning about field-related opportunities. Learn more about your major advisors for Communication at orangecluster.sf.ucdavis.edu/people.
College Dean's Office advisors can assist you with understanding General Education (GE) and IGETC requirements and other non-major degree requirements. They also advise on academic standing and minimum progress, Pass/No Pass grading restrictions, and dropping courses with a PTD. The Communication Department is part of the College of Letters & Science, visit the College of Letters & Science Dean's Office advising team at lettersandscience.ucdavis.edu/students/advising.
The goal of academic advising is to help you shape a meaningful educational experience. The elements of that education include your classes, your co-curricular activities, your work, and your personal experiences. Through ongoing reflection and discussion, with your interests and goals in mind, you will integrate all the elements of your college experience so you can make the most of your education. You need to be actively engaged in the process of defining your academic goals, and sharing those goals with your advisor in a series of conversations that extend over your entire undergraduate years.
- How can I schedule an advising appointment?
To schedule an advising appointment with your major advisors, please visit appointments.ucdavis.edu and select "Kerr Hall Advising Center", and your major. We offer both in-person and virtual appointment availability. Once you schedule an appointment, you will receive an email confirmation with location information for in-person meetings and with Zoom meeting information for virtual appointments.
Our advising calendar opens two weeks in advance, with new appointments opening each day. Please note that while new appointment availability posts each morning, the calendar fills quickly due to very high demand; please check our calendar early in the day for the best availability.
Note: There are peak periods when advising is in high demand, such as during course registration. During this time, it may be difficult to book an appointment. If you are unable to keep your appointment, please cancel or reschedule as early as possible so the slot can be made available to other students. Don't forget about assistance available during drop-in advising!
- Help! Advising appointments are full.
Please note: advising appointments with staff advisors are be default only available to our declared major students. If you are not a declared major, please use drop-in advising for assistance or email us at cmnadvising@ucdavis.edu.
Our advisors work with large number of students in our major and minor in the Department of Communication. At times, our calendars will be fully booked due to demand for advising appointments. If you need a form signed, please email us a copy at cmnadvising@ucdavis.edu. You can also email us any questions you may have. Due to the volume of student requests that we receive, please allow 3-5 business days for a response via email.
Drop-in hours are available with our peer advisors for brief questions. Please note that peer advisors can advise on topics like major requirements, declaring a major/minor, navigating OASIS, course planning, and finding campus resources. See the top of this page for the latest drop-in advising hours. If you require a document to be signed or an advising hold removed, please make an appointment with your staff advisor or send us an email at cmnadvising@ucdavis.edu.
- How do I prepare for an advising appointment?
Know when you need an appointment! Keep important dates (e.g., course registration) and deadlines (e.g., Study Abroad forms) in mind and schedule appointments in advance! Keep in mind that appointments can book quickly especially during busy times such as course registration; utilize drop-in advising or be proactive about booking appointments so you can get your questions answered.
Next, think about what areas you need guidance in, what specific information you are looking for, and what your goal is for the appointment. Prior to meeting with us, write down questions you have, review your major requirements, and have a look at your OASIS Academic Record. You may even wish to create a Degree Worksheet in OASIS to track your progress in the major. Appointments are scheduled for thirty minutes. By preparing ahead of time, you can get the most out of your appointments.
- Why is there a mandatory advising hold on my account?
All students are periodically required to meet with their major advisor to ensure they are on track to complete their degree. When you are flagged for mandatory major advising, you will receive a future hold on your registration informing you to meet with an advisor to clear your hold, and a future date when the hold will officially take effect. You will be notified of an upcoming hold well in advance.
When you see the hold appear in OASIS or on Schedule Builder, check your email for further instructions from your advising team! Advising appointments can be scheduled at appointments.ucdavis.edu. Consider taking advantage of the opportunity to ask any questions you may have about your major.
- What steps do I need to take to change my major to Communication?
- Before changing your major, it is highly recommended that you take and pass at least one major class; recommended major classes include CMN 1, CMN 3, CMN 5, or CMN 10V. After this is accomplished, you can submit a change of major petition on OASIS. The petition can be found under the “Forms and Petitions” tab. Select “Submit a New Form” and scroll down to “Change of Major”. More detailed instructions can be found here. You will be notified when your department has approved your petition or if further information is needed.
- How can I declare a double major?
Before changing your major, it is highly recommended that you take and pass at least one major class; recommended major classes include CMN 1, CMN 3, CMN 5, or CMN 10V. After this is accomplished, you can submit a change of major petition on OASIS. The petition can be found under the “Forms and Petitions” tab. Select “Submit a New Form” and scroll down to “Change of Major”. More detailed instructions can be found here. You will be notified when your department has approved your petition or if further information is needed.
If you are a current Communication major and you would like to declare a second major in another department, please check the requirements for declaring any other majors with that specific department, as some majors may have specific requirements to meet before declaring.
- What steps do I need to take to declare a minor?
- You can submit a minor petition on OASIS. The petition can be found under the “Forms and Petitions” tab. Select “Submit a New Form” and scroll down to “Minor Declaration”. Include all classes you have taken or plan on taking to fulfill the minor requirements. Please note that minors are subject to final approval upon graduation.
- How will taking a class Pass/No Pass affect my major requirements?
- The Communication Department does not hold any restrictions for Pass/No Pass grading on major requirements—you can opt for P/NP grading for major requirement courses. However, please note that you must comply with the overall P/NP limits from the College of Letters and Science. Please see additional guidelines for P/NP grading here.
If you have questions about how opting for P/NP grading may affect graduate or law school, we encourage you to discuss that with the Pre-Grad/Pre-Law Advising offered by the Office of Educational Opportunity and Enrichment Services. - How can I get credit for courses taken at other institution?
Major credit may be awarded for courses taken at community colleges or other universities, including for study abroad programs. UC Davis Undergraduate Admissions first determines what courses transfer for UC credit and how many total units will transfer. Your transfer credit takes time to process, and you may not see your transfer credit in OASIS for some time, up to a quarter after submitting a transcript.
If Admissions deems credit to be transferable to UC Davis, there are additional steps required to determine whether courses can satisfy major/minor requirements. For an overview of course equivalencies within the UC and California Community College systems, you can use assist.org to identify equivalent credit for many UC and CCC courses. For courses taken at other 4-year institutions in-state or out-of-state, out-of-state community colleges, institutions abroad, or courses that do not have an equivalent in Assist.org, please obtain a syllabus from the course and complete our Course Equivalency Request form. The Department of Communication will determine if the course can be applied to your major requirements using this information.
- Can study abroad classes be used towards major requirements?
- Maybe! UC Davis students have a variety of opportunities to study abroad and the coursework you complete abroad might count towards General Education or major requirements. To learn more about these opportunities, please visit the UC Davis Global Learning Hub. Make sure to check in with all of your advisors including those in the Global Learning Hub to learn more about how to fit your desire to study abroad into your academic plan. See above for more information about assessing coursework from other institutions.
- Are there prerequisites for upper-division CMN classes?
- Most upper division CMN classes do not have prerequisites. The one upper division CMN course that does is CMN 102 and the prerequisite is STA 13 or an equivalent course.
- Why am I not able to enroll in some classes during Pass 1 Registration?
- Some departments on campus, including the Department of Communication, allow only students majoring in their programs to enroll in their upper-division courses during Pass 1. These restrictions are lifted during Pass 2 registration, at which time you will be able to enroll or request addition to a waiting list. No exceptions can be made to this restriction policy. For CMN classes, many upper-division CMN classes are restricted to Communication majors during Pass 1. This does not include Communication minor students. To find out if a course you want has such an enrollment restriction, check the course detail information in Schedule Builder, the Registrar's Office web-based class planning and registration tool that allows you to plan your class schedule and register for classes.
- A class I saw in the General Catalog isn't available on Schedule Builder. How can I find it?
- Not all courses in the catalog are offered every quarter. The courses available on Schedule Builder are the only ones offered during the selected quarter. If there's a specific course you're looking to take, a keep an eye out on Schedule Builder in future quarters as it may be offered in the future. You can also find a tentative schedule of CMN courses for the whole academic year on our department website.
- Can courses used towards my major requirements also be used for General Education requirements?
- Yes! To learn more about your General Education requirements, please visit the College of Letters & Science webpage or meet with an advisor from the college.
- Can courses used towards my Communication major requirements also be used towards other major requirements?
- There is no limit on number of lower-division coursework that can overlap between multiple majors; however, only 20% of the upper-division requirement units in a major can be counted towards another major. Overlapping courses can be tricky! Make sure you check in with Academic Advisors from both major departments if you plan to overlap courses between your majors.
- What research opportunities are available and how do I find them?
- Professors in the department conduct their own research and may have their own labs found on the department website, so reaching out to professors whose research you’re interested in during office hours or by emailing them is the best way to participate in research alongside them. The Undergraduate Research Center is also available to assist students in finding research opportunities and developing the skills to reach out to professors.
- Can I overlap courses between my major & minor?
- Only one course can overlap between your major and a minor.
- I see that my major offers optional emphases. What are these optional emphases and why might I consider picking one?
- The requirements for our major provide students with considerable flexibility to tailor a plan of study that satisfies their educational objectives and career plans. The optional emphases include: Communication Theory, Interpersonal Communication, Organizational Communication, Media Processes & Effects, and Information & Communication Theory. Talk with our advising staff about what is best for you and your educational goals.
MEET YOUR ADVISING TEAM
Staff Advisor, Communication - Jessica Mangili
Hi all! I have over 6 years of experience in the field of advising and I am a proud Sacramento State alum with a degree in Kinesiology. I believe in empowering students to explore their academic interests and achieve their goals by providing a tailored advising experience that considers all aspects of their life including their unique background, values, and interests. As a first-generation student myself, I understands the value of having a supportive space and guidance while navigating the world of higher education. I am so excited to work with you all!
Peer Advisor, Communication - Sabrina Figueroa Avila
Hello everyone! I’m Sabrina and I’m a UC Davis undergraduate Communication and Political Science double major, minoring in Professional Writing. After I graduate, I hope to pursue a career in public relations and affairs, eventually making my way back to school to *hopefully* pursue a law degree! In my free time, I love to listen to music, write, read and watch movies (in the theater because it’s better). I have taken my fair share of Communication courses, so please feel free to visit me during drop-in hours for any major advising questions you may have, or just to chat!