School of Arts and Sciences

The School of Arts and Sciences
Campus Communities/Douglass Residential College
Nontraditional Students
Student Life
Placement Testing and Orientation/Registration
Academic Life

The School of Arts and Sciences

The School of Arts and Sciences -- combining the former Douglass, Livingston, Rutgers and University Colleges--offers students a wide choice of majors in the humanities, social sciences, biological/life sciences, and physical and mathematical sciences, as well as access to a limited number of majors offered by the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences and the Mason Gross School of the Arts. All School of Arts and Sciences students will be required to satisfy a single set of general education requirements and complete a major and a minor.

In addition, students interested in obtaining a joint degree from the School of Arts and Sciences and one of the professional schools (the Rutgers Business School-Newark and New Brunswick; the School of Communication, Information, and Library Studies; the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy; the School of Management and Labor Relations; or the School of Social Work) can do so after satisfying the relevant professional school admission requirements.

Students in the School of Arts and Sciences also will have access to several accelerated health professions programs, including joint degrees with medical, dental, and physician assistant programs offered through the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

There are five residential campus options available to School of Arts and Sciences students: Busch, College Avenue, Cook, Douglass, and Livingston. Students living off-campus will be encouraged to become a part of one of the five residential campus communities or, in the case of working adults and other non-traditional students, the University College Community. Women will also have the option of selecting Douglass Residential College, located on the Douglass Campus, as their community.

Note to Those Interested in the Biological/Life Sciences:

Both the School of Arts and Sciences-Division of Life Sciences and the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences offer a number of majors in the broad area of the biological/life sciences. The School of Arts and Sciences offers majors that focus on the biological sciences and their application to biomedicine, while the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences offers majors that focus on the biological sciences as applied to the natural world.

Advising is available to assist students with their selection of a major and career path. For further information about the offerings of the two schools, please visit the biological/life sciences web page.

Campus Communities/Douglass Residential College

Each student will be able to choose, subject to availability, to live on any one of the five residential campuses: Busch, College Avenue, Cook, Douglass, and Livingston. Students living off-campus will be encouraged to become a part of one of the five residential campus communities or, in the case of working adults and other non-traditional students, the University College Community. Women will also have the option of selecting Douglass Residential College, located on the Douglass Campus, as their community.

Student Life

Student life programs at the School of Arts and Sciences provide involvement opportunities through co-curricular social, educational, employment, health and wellness programs to students of diverse backgrounds and abilities.

Through our student life programs we:

Cultivate a cohesive campus community through the academic and personal development of the student
Create an environment for individual growth
Provide opportunities for the development of skills
Empower students to make changes
Encourage opportunities to build community by promoting leadership, citizenship, problem solving, and respect for self and others

Helping others is a core principle of Rutgers University. In response to that ideal, we encourage our students to create, organize, and participate in various events that support our surrounding community, such as the Halloween Monster Mash, Relay for Life, and the JDF Walk.

Students are encouraged to experiment and develop innovative programs that address future student life needs.

Placement Testing and Orientation/Registration

Placement Testing

Rutgers University requires that all incoming first-year students take the Rutgers University Placement Tests in both college-level math and English. These tests are designed to provide information about your skills in the English language and in mathematics. The test results will be used, along with other information, to place you in the courses and sections appropriate to your level of preparation.

Orientation/Registration

The orientation/registration program provides an opportunity for you to become familiar with your campus, meet new friends, and prepare to enter your first year of college. At registration you learn your placement test results and discuss your course selection with a college adviser.

Academic Life

The School of Arts and Sciences supports a vibrant undergraduate intellectual life that includes full access by students to learning communities, opportunities for experiential learning including research and other scholarly work, peer and faculty mentoring, academic advising, and other activities that promote student-faculty connections beyond the classroom.

Academic Advising

Throughout their matriculation, students select courses and develop their academic program in close consultation with an academic adviser.
First-year students have a specialized advising system. After the first year, there is an extensive academic advising network composed of SAS deans, faculty, and advisors who address the specific academic needs of each student including general education, major, minor, and pre-professional school advising.
Advising notwithstanding, students must assume full responsibility for meeting all curriculum and college requirements and for being sure they have the proper prerequisites for any course for which they register.
Students are encouraged to meet with their advisers throughout the academic year.

Rutgers Learning Centers

There are several Rutgers Learning Centers situated on the New Brunswick/Piscataway campus which provide a comprehensive array of academic support services to meet the needs of diverse learners. Through this assistance, students are helped to develop effective learning strategies.

Specific services include:

Academic tutoring

Study groups

Supplemental instruction

Instructional computing

A learning lab

The Math and Science Learning Centers provide support services for students seeking assistance in math and science courses. They also provide outreach programs for K-12 students. They have locations on the Busch and Douglass campuses.