What is Transitions and why is it important?
Transitions courses prioritize a long-held belief that a student’s first term at OSU is critical in their journey and that we can do a better job of giving our first-year and transfer students infrastructure around their OSU onboarding. The Transitions course will go hand in hand with the start of the advisor-advisee relationship to ensure that students are properly acclimated to the tools, resources, success strategies, opportunities, culture, and values of OSU. Transitions courses aim to build community and a sense of belonging and have content dedicated to priority topics like mental health awareness and financial literacy.
When:
Students should take Transitions during their first term at OSU.
- Summer and Fall Admits* - take Transitions in Fall term
- Winter Admits - take Transitions in Winter term
- Spring Admits - take Transitions in Spring term
When to Advise FAQs
There are not enough summer admits to offer Transition in summer. While we know students will benefit from taking Transitions during their first term at OSU and it is a best practice at OSU, we need to be strategic with summer course offerings.
Some colleges have scheduled Transitions courses via Ecampus that advisors could recommend to Ecampus students at the appropriate level. Ecampus students from any college can register for these sections.
Students should make every effort to prioritize Transitions during their first term to set them up for academic success at OSU.
Transitions was designed to support new students at OSU by sharing resources and intentionally scaffolding timely information throughout the academic term. Each college meticulously plans and provisions adequate sections with the 35 student course caps. Fall term section forecasting and scheduling factors in historical summer enrollment by campus, modality, and college.
Cascades will offer Transitions every term, excluding summer.
- Fall 2025: BA 100 and 300, CORE 100, ENGR 110
- Winter 2026: CORE 100 and 300
- Spring 2026: CORE 100 and 300
Campus Restrictions:
Does it matter what campus or modality a student takes their Transitions course?
Transitions is intentionally designed to serve students based on the location or modality in which they are declared.
- Students at the Corvallis Campus must take Transitions in-person on the Corvallis Campus.
- Students at the Cascades Campus must take Transitions in-person on the Cascades Campus.
- Ecampus sections are restricted for Ecampus students only.
Campus Restriction FAQs
Transitions courses are designed specifically for each location and modality and admit type. Resources and success tools are differentiated between locations and modalities. Additionally, Transitions builds community within the student body based on the student's campus and admit type. Students studying at Corvallis and Cascades are not permitted to enroll in an Ecampus section of Transitions, and there are enrollment restrictions that prevent Corvallis and Cascades students from registering for the Ecampus sections.
If your student cannot locate a Transitions course that fits with their schedule, keep in mind they can register for any Transitions course code at the appropriate level. There are no major or field of study enrollment restrictions on Transitions courses.
Example: A transfer student in Liberal Arts studying in Corvallis cannot find an LA 300 course that fits with their schedule. They may register for BA 300, CORE 300, ENGR 310, ED 300, and SCI 300.
Course Subject Codes:
- CORE – Central OSU offering through the College of Health. Students in the following colleges should take Transitions through the CORE designator:
- Health, CEOAS, Ag, Forestry, UESP students should enroll in CORE
- BA – College of Business
- ED – College of Education
- ENGR – College of Engineering
- LA – Liberal Arts
- SCI – Science
Course Code FAQs
Some colleges have opted to offer university-level Transitions courses. Some colleges have opted to have their new admits take Transitions as CORE through College of Health. All Transitions courses are considered equivalent in Banner, regardless of the course code.
Corvallis and Ecampus
- Students from Health, CEOAS, Ag, Forestry, and UESP should enroll in CORE 100 or 300.
- Students starting at OSU in BA, ED, ENGR, LA, SCI should be advised to take Transitions in their primary college.
Cascades
- Cascades will offer CORE, BA, and ENGR designators.
Students may take Transitions from whichever course code they like at the appropriate level.
Example: An on-campus transfer student who is in Liberal Arts wants to take CORE 300 instead of LA 300 because there is a CORE section that fits their schedule better. The student can take CORE 300.
Transitions courses are equivalent in Banner, regardless of the course code. If a student starts in Business and changes to a major in Liberal Arts, their 2-credit Transitions course is portable and the student is not required to retake Transitions.
Course Numbers:
What's the Difference?
- 100 – Designed for first term students entering OSU.
- 110 – Engineering’s specific 100-level course number, designed for first-year students entering OSU.
- 300 - Designed for transfer students and accessible to those who have the Upper Division Transitions attribute.
- 310 – Engineering’s specific 300-level course number, designed for transfer students and accessible to those who have the Upper Division Transitions attribute.
Course Number FAQs
What is the Upper Division Transitions Attribute?
Newly admitted transfer students (student type of "T") and readmitted students with any student type are assigned a UDTR attribute, granting them access to the 300-level Transitions courses.
Students without the UDTR attribute (i.e., first-year students) will not be able to register for the 300-level Transitions courses.
You may review Transfer Student Admission requirements on the Admissions website.
How do we know the student type "T"?
Student type "T" can be found in Beaver Hub in two locations.
- Open Beaver Hub
- Select the student you would like to view
- Click on the student name to get to the contact page
- On the contact page, scroll down to the academic information to find student type code
- If students have student type "T" then they have been assigned a UDTR attribute.
They will encounter a registration error and will not be able to register for the 300-level course because they do not have the UDTR attribute.
ATT (attribute) is the Banner override registration code that can be performed by an advisor in an instance when the advisor determines that a student's admit type does not align with the student's Transition course-level needs. These overrides should be used conservatively. Here are examples of appropriate instances to provide the registration override using the ATT code:
- DPP students who were admitted to OSU as first-year students but have since earned more than 24 transferable college courses may be given an attribute override so that they can register for the 300-level course. This override cannot be given to any other first-year students (i.e., any other students without the "T" student type).
- Transfer type "T" students, who, for whatever reason, are missing their UDTR attribute can be given an override using the ATT code.