Application Process for the Bachelor of Integrative Studies
Students seeking to declare the Bachelor of Integrative Studies (BIS) major with 60 or more credit hours completed are required to work with a BIS advisor and faculty to achieve an appropriate program. Students first should meet with a campus-appropriate BIS academic advisor to orient them to the BIS program.
At your hour-long BIS orientation, expect the following with your BIS academic advisor:
- Review your unique academic circumstances via a “What-If pre-BIS” DARS report to understand your own “construction zone” to build your major and graduation timeline
- Sign into the orientation attendance link and review key resources via the BIS Orientation powerpoint.
- Review key resources needed to create your proposal, including the template, template planning guide, checklist, rubric, and how to utilize resources like the writing center, career coaching, catalog, and course offerings as you create your proposal.
- Establish deadlines with your advisor to collaborate in the coming weeks to complete and formally submit your proposal.
- Declare the pre-BIS major if interested.
- Schedule your next appointment.
For Athens campus students, please call 740.593.1935 to request an hour-long BIS orientation meeting with a BIS academic advisor.
For regional campus students, please declare your intention to become pre-BIS with your academic advisor. Please call 740.593.1935 if you need assistance.
Declare the Pre-BIS major
At the end of your BIS orientation with a BIS academic advisor, your advisor will give you the link to declare the pre-BIS major code. This declaration will prompt a formal assignment of a BIS academic advisor. Your current major program will remain posted and be dropped once your proposal is approved as your official BIS curriculum.
To be eligible to apply to Pre-BIS you must meet the following criteria:
- Be currently enrolled at Ohio University
- Have a minimum of a 2.0 accumulative grade point average
Creating your BIS major
Phase 1: Collaboration with a BIS Advisor
Once a student declares the pre-BIS major, University College will assign a BIS academic advisor. Students are then encouraged to complete a rough draft of the proposal on the BIS proposal template and meet with their BIS academic advisor as quickly as possible to review their rough draft. 45-minute appointments are recommended until a student is admitted to the BIS program.
At your first BIS advising meeting, you’ll review your “What-If pre-BIS” DARS report to understand your own “construction zone” to build your major, agree to a timeline and adjust the MyOhio Success Network (MOSN) success plan accordingly, and review your rough draft. Depending upon the date of your meeting, discussing the adjustment of your current schedule to match your proposed draft may be important. Scheduling a 45-60 minute first advising session is strongly recommended.
Students are strongly encouraged to meet with a Career Success coach to assist with the creation of their transition plan within the proposal. If writing assistance is needed to draft the proposal, please work with a tutor at the Writing Commons.
Students will collaborate with their advisor to revise and refine their proposal until it receives a “green light.” A green light means that your BIS advisor believes your proposal meets all criteria on the checklist and faculty rubric and is ready for phase 2.
Phase 2: Collaboration with Faculty
Once a proposal has a green light, students will begin working with identified faculty partner(s) identified by the BIS advisor.
Students will communicate with faculty online or in person to pursue faculty expertise and input on their own proposal. Once faculty partners support the student’s proposal, a pre-BIS student returns to meets with their BIS advisor once more.
Phase 3: Final pre-BIS Advising Meeting
Prior to the desired residency deadline and once a student has obtained support from their faculty partner(s), a pre-BIS student meets with their BIS advisor one more time to formally prepare and submit their BIS proposal for review and admission to the BIS program.
Once a student’s proposal is admitted, their major code changes from pre-BIS to BIS, and their approved curriculum appears on the DARS report.