Student Population

Welcome to the beginning of your college career at Caldwell! Your first-year at Caldwell will be a time of exploration and discovery. Having decided on a major, you are encouraged to begin working with your First-Year Seminar instructor, who will also serve as your faculty advisor, to select courses that will further your understanding of the major, the Core Curriculum, and work towards your graduation requirements.

Generally, students take 12-18 credits each semester, with an average of 15 credits or five 3-credit courses. Students register themselves for courses that meet their academic and programmatic needs. This individualized approach reflects a review of each freshman’s high school records including course work, grades, SAT scores and placement test results, as well as the courses required for the intended major.

The Caldwell community is made up of students who follow a variety of paths to achieve their Caldwell Degree. In order to ensure that students make appropriate progress towards their degree, all Traditional Undergraduate Students and Transfer Students must meet with their Academic Advisor to discuss their academic plans. These students will have a registration hold on their account requiring that they meet with their Faculty Advisor prior to registration.

Traditional Undergraduate Students

Declared Students: You will be advised by a faculty member from your major for the first semester, who will also serve as your Freshman Seminar instructor. In your second semester, you will be reassigned to a new faculty advisor from your major.

Undeclared Students: During your first semester, you will be advised by a staff member who will assist you in declaring your major and who will also serve as your Freshman Seminar Instructor. If you remain undeclared into your sophomore year, you will be reassigned to a Senior Academic Advisor in the Advisement Office. Once you officially declare your major before the end of your sophomore year, you will be reassigned to a faculty member from your major. All students must declare at least one major by the end of their sophomore year.

Athletes: In addition to your Faculty Advisor, you will also be advised by an Athletic advisor to ensure that you make the academic process, meet the NCAA Eligibility Guidelines, and minimize the number of class/game conflicts during the season of competition.

Welcome to Caldwell! Of the many choices out there, we are excited that you have chosen the Caldwell community to finish your degree. Although transfer students come to Caldwell with a familiarity with college life, we feel it is important to orient them to the wide array of resources and services available to them at Caldwell.

Prior to the start of the semester, all transfer students must meet with an advisor in the Advisement office to register for classes. You will then attend “TRANSFERmation,” Caldwell’s Orientation for Transfer students, on the Friday morning before the official start date of the semester, where you will be given an overview of the Caldwell curriculum, including Majors, the Liberal Arts Core Curriculum, Academic Deadlines and Procedures, and other opportunities Caldwell has to offer. After the add and drop period, you will be reassigned to a faculty advisor within your major.

Some quick reminders about our Transfer Policy:

Students may transfer in a maximum of 90 credits

Credit will be given for any course in which a grade of C or greater has been received

Half the total number of credits required for a major must be completed at Caldwell

A student’s final 30 credits must be completed at Caldwell

If you are a transfer student transferring in with:

an Associates of Arts (AA) Degree from an NJ community college, you will have satisfied, as a block, the Core Curriculum with the exception of one Philosophy course, one Theology course, and one course towards the Catholic Dominican Tradition Enriched core

Here are some other things to think about as Transfer Student:

Remember that every college has different policies and rules. It is therefore important to review the information you learn at the “TRANSFERmation” Orientation, refer to the academic calendar for upcoming deadlines, and keep in touch with your Faculty Advisor, especially during your first semester of transition.

Get to know your Faculty Advisor! He/she is specially trained to guide you through the sometimes complex advisement and registration process. As a faculty member in the major you are declared in, he/she will also know what kind of classes to consider taking in the future based on your particular interests and can connect you with other faculty members that may have similar interests as you. Remember he/she will be your advisor through your entire Caldwell career.

Use your resources! Whether you need accommodation or are looking to make that grade of a B to an A, the college is here to support you in any way that we can. Visit the Academic Success Center, drop by the office hours of a faculty member, or join one of the many student clubs & organizations on campus, or consider Study Abroad!

More questions? Visit the FAQs For Transfers section to see what other topics may come up.

1. All F-1 students must be enrolled full time for every required semester (fall and spring) of their programs of study with the exception of the final semester of their programs (the semester before they graduate) when they are permitted to take a minimum of 6 credits if that is all that is needed for them to complete degree requirements. As defined in the F-1 regulations, full time enrollment for undergraduate students = 12 credits or more per semester.

2. For F-1 students “no more than the equivalent of one class or three credits per session, term, semester, trimester or quarter may be counted toward the full course of study requirement if the class is taken on-line or through distance education and does not require the student’s physical attendance for classes, examination or other purposes integral to completion of the class. An on-line or distance education course is a course that is offered principally through the use of television, audio or computer transmission including open broadcast, closed circuit, cable, microwave, or satellite, audio conferencing , or computer conferencing.

3. Part of an F-1 student maintaining his/her legal status in the U.S. is that he/she has to be actively pursuing a full course of study while enrolled full time. This means, among other things, that the student is attending classes regularly and is handing in assignments in a timely manner.

4. If faculty are concerned about an international student (ie. not attending classes regularly or is not handing in assignments) please contact the Center for Student Success in order that an advisor can intervene with the student to see that he/she understands the risks of this behavior beyond a poor grade in the class (that risk includes violation of F-1 status and a lengthy and costly process to apply for reinstatement to F-1 status).

5. International students are held to one online course as part of their full-time enrollment during the fall and spring. Undergraduate students who meet eligibility guidelines (30-59 credits and minimum 3.0 GPA or 60+ credits and 2.75 GPA) are permitted to take up to two distance learning courses over the summer. If the student has been enrolled for a full year (Fall and Spring), meaning they have completed their full-time enrollment requirement for the year, they may take unlimited online courses (or a maximum of 2 for traditional students) during the summer. If it is their first term in the degree program, they are limited to one summer class (and must enroll in a full 12 credits over the summer sessions).

6. Contact the director of international students for more information.