Phone: Please contact your College of The Albemarle (COA) advisor today to set up an a phone/virtual appointment.

• COA – Elizabeth City: 252-335-0821
• COA – Dare: 252-473-2264
• COA – Edenton Chowan: 252-482-7900

Email: You can easily reach your advisor by email. Please remember to clearly specify the assistance that you need. Due to volume, please allow up to 48 business hours for a response to voicemail/email.

Google Hangouts™: COA advisors can meet with you virtually to discuss your advising needs. If you’d like to arrange a web appointment, just let your advisor know.

Please continue to check your emails for important information concerning advising and registration. This is a fluid situation, and more information about advising and registration will be released during the upcoming weeks.

As always, should you have any question or concerns please contact your advisor or contact Advising and Student Success at [email protected].

Advising

Your advisor is one of your most important partners at COA. Staying in touch with your advisor throughout your college career will help you navigate your educational experience, understand education and graduation requirements, explore academic and career options, set goals and make informed decisions.

Please contact your advisor any time you need assistance. While your advisor is here to help, you’re in charge of your education and need to take an active role in planning your schedule each semester. Visit our advising resources web page to plan your schedule and verify that you’re taking the classes necessary to graduate and/or transfer to a four-year college.

See your advisor to:

• Plan your class schedule
• Withdraw from all your classes
• Change your major
• Update your name, address or phone number
• Substitute a class for credit
• Get advice or help
• Apply for graduation

How to get the most value from your advising appointment:

• Make your appointment during the early registration period
• Review the catalog and graduation check sheet
• Write down any questions you wish to ask your advisor
• Bring the appropriate materials and be on time for your appointment
• Follow through on referrals and recommendations

To find your assigned advisor, log into MyService and view your profile.

New Students Who’ve Never Attended COA

Your first step will be to complete our Online Orientation introducing you to your program of study and the classes you’ll need to take during your first semester.

Your Academic Records

Access to your academic records is protected through the Family Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974. Advisors maintain strict adherence to FERPA and limit academic records access to you alone unless you give written permission to do otherwise. A FERPA parent resource is available at the College Parents of America website.

COA Student Handbook (PDF)

Course Load

While enrollment in at least 12 semester hours is considered full time, a normal course load is 16 hours. You’ll need to earn a minimum of 32 credit hours to gain sophomore status.

Please see your advisor if you’re planning to take more than 18 hours. The vice president of Learning authorizes advisors to approve a course load of up to 20 hours if you have an overall grade-point average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher. If your GPA is lower than 3.0, or if you want to take more than 20 hours, you’ll need to get approval from the Vice President of Learning or the Vice President of Student Success and Enrollment Management. Permission isn’t necessary when registering for the specific course load designated in your occupational program of study.

When deciding how many semester hours to take, please first consider factors like family responsibilities, extracurricular activities, work schedules and study time. You should expect to study two hours for every hour of class time. For example, if you take a course with three lecture hours in a week, you may have to study for six hours a week outside of class. Your advisor can assist you with course planning, but it’s up to you to manage your time wisely.

The following course load is recommended for working students: