MS in Informatics New Student Checklist - Spring 2025

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Spring 2025 MS in Informatics New Student Checklist
1. First Steps
Prepare your school budget so you will have funds available for textbooks, tuition and technology. Financial Aid Resource Page
Become familiar with the iSchool web site (https://ischool.sjsu.edu). Specifically, review the MS in Informatics program website and the "Student Resources" sections as they contain a lot of information that you will need to know while you are enrolled.
Update your home computing environment to meet the standards required by the school. Two Factor Authentication: All students taking iSchool classes are required to have a smartphone that supports the free DUO Mobile App for two factor authentication login to the one.SJSU portal.
2. Registration and Enrollment
Check your MySJSU messages through one.SJSU. Please log in to your MySJSU account regularly and check it for messages from the University and from your instructors, especially in the week before classes begin.

SJSU Email Account
Login to your new @sjsu.edu email address. (Learn about this by seeing SJSU's Email, Calendar, and Google Suite page and scrolling down to the FAQs). The university will set up a new email address for you no later than 6 weeks before the start of the semester. Once it is created, it will automatically become your preferred email address for university communications. It is very important that you check it regularly or set up forwarding to a personal email address.
Get started with the iSchool Advising pages to access advising FAQs.
Class Registration and Tuition Payment
Register for classes. Register for classes. There are ten Informatics courses available in the Spring, which include: INFM 200, INFM 201, INFM 202, INFM 206, INFM 207, INFM 208, INFM 211, and a health elective (career pathway) INFM 284 course. Session 2 will include: INFM 203, INFM 204, INFM 205 (See Informatics Class Rotation Schedule) and two Health electives (career pathway) courses: INFM 210 and INFM 213. Incoming students are required to take INFM 200 in their first session. INFM 211 requires academic advisor approval for registration, and can be taken the semester following the completion of the INFM 200-208 sequence.

Important! This registration cycle is for both Spring Sessions 1 and 2, and so all of your Spring courses should be registered for at the same time. The university only offers one registration cycle for each semester, and both sessions run in the Spring semester. If you are having any difficulties with registration, please contact the Student Services Team.
For questions related to your choice of classes, discuss with your academic advisor, Jason Kaltenbacher. Check class information on the iSchool class schedules rather than in MySJSU. Important details are included in the iSchool class schedules which are not found in MySJSU. For any classes you are considering, review the course topic (and dates of variable unit classes) which are listed in the "Note" field of the schedule. Then locate your tuition payment deadline in the "Finances" section on your MySJSU Student Center page and see Methods of Payment. The University does not send bills or reminders for payment. Make sure to check on MySJSU for fees and due dates. If you do not pay on time, you may be dropped from your classes. Keep in mind that the drop deadline has nothing to do with refunds! For refund policy, including prorated fees owed, based on the date dropped, see: https://ischool.sjsu.edu/refund-policy. If you drop your classes after the refund deadline, or during the prorated refund period, you would still owe tuition for the classes you were enrolled in. After the close of Advance Registration you will need to wait to add until the first day of instruction for the semester.

Note: The courses in this program are difficult and require substantial work and time. Informatics graduate courses are accelerated, and students should plan on the course workload being six to ten hours per unit per week (double the standard three to five hours per unit in a non-accelerated graduate course). Some courses may require more time depending on the complexity of the material. Most students carry between one to three courses per informatics session. Other obligations such as work and family should be carefully considered when deciding how many courses to take. Dropping classes after the deadlines can be problematic and expensive. We recommend that you be conservative in the number of classes you take during your first semester.

SJSU policy states that students must be active in their course sites within the first day of instruction of a class, or have contacted the instructor in the first 48 hours after the first day of instruction, or the student is at risk of being dropped from the class.
Pay your Special Session Tuition Fees
Locate your tuition payment deadline in the "Finances" section on your MySJSU Student Center page and see Methods of Payment. Please note that tuition payment deadlines may be as short as a few days after you register for a class. Pay your fees on time or your classes may be automatically dropped. After the close of Advance Registration you will need to wait to add until the first day of instruction for the semester. When adding a class on the first day of instruction through the last day to add of the semester, the Bursar will charge a $25 late fee.
3. Prepare for Learning
Complete the Online Title IX Training/Sexual Violence Prevention for Undergraduate/Graduate Students
All incoming graduate students must complete the federally mandated course. It is a 60 minute online training course. Check your MySJSU account for a message with instructions needed to complete the course. You MUST complete the course by the deadline given in the message to avoid having a hold placed by the University on your registration for future semesters. This is a CSU and federal directive that is not administered in any way by the School of Information. Questions regarding your completion status with the requirement can be directed to: mailto:titleixeducation@sjsu.edu 408-924-6202. For additional information, see https://www.sjsu.edu/wellness/grow-your-wellbeing/online-training.php
Complete the Getting Started with Canvas Guide (PDF) a few days after you register in order to prepare for the semester. iSchool students will receive access to Canvas (our Learning Management System) after registering for classes on MySJSU and before their Informatics Tech Prep class begins. You can access Canvas from the menu at the top of the School of Information's Web page.
New Student Technology Workshop: MS in Informatics Program Technology Preparation
Complete the Informatics Program Technology Preparation self-paced course offered in Canvas. You will receive access to the self-paced course after registering on MySJSU for your first class and several weeks before the start of the semester. If you log in to Canvas before the first day of the semester, you will not yet be able to see links to the classes for which you are registered. But you will see tools for learning to use Canvas. You will automatically be joined to the Canvas site, Informatics Program Technology Preparation. The site contains a number of self-paced modules containing information to help you get off to a good start.
Read your course syllabus. Although instructors have no requirement to post their syllabus before the first day of class, many choose to do so. You may be able to access your course syllabus early to find out how the course will be run, what the assignments are, etc. If your class syllabi aren't posted yet, you can check again at a later date; meanwhile, you can read the Spring 2023 semester syllabi (look for the INFM classes at the top of the list).
Obtain your class textbooks. Six weeks prior to the beginning of semester you will be able to find out what textbooks (if any) are required for your classes. On the Spring 2025 Textbook Selections page, choose the courses for which you have been registered. Your courses will begin with "INFM". For example, if you have been registered in MySJSU for INFM 200-10, look for INFM 200-10 in the Textbook Selections.
Prepare for Informatics Welcome Session
A one-hour welcome session is scheduled for December 16, 2024, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. PST to get you started with the MS in Informatics Program. This welcome session will be held on the Zoom Web conferencing platform.

https://sjsu.zoom.us/j/83426881117
If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability, register with the Accessible Education Center (AEC) as soon as possible. The AEC will communicate with your instructor(s) at the start of the semester. See iSchool Accessibility Policy for more information.
4. Information, Communication, Career Development
See the iSchool's Facebook page. It includes news updates, event announcements, and links to other sites. You do not have to be a Facebook user to view the page. Facebook users can post questions and comments on the Wall. Also check out the iSchool X feed.
Join the SJSU iSchool Informatics Students and Alumni Facebook group to interact with students and alumni from the Informatics program. A Facebook account is required.
Bookmark Informatics Career Development page and begin reading through the wealth of information and resources presented. Refer to these web pages early and often while you are a student. Learn about emerging trends, and develop effective job search strategies.
5. Semester Begins
Read Academic Advising guidelines and Advising FAQ. If you have other questions, you can email Jason Kaltenbacher, our Associate Director, Dr. Linda Main.
Restricted Materials Access
The School protects some material on this Web site by keeping it password protected. The iSchool Restricted Materials user ID and password change each semester. Students should obtain this information from their advisors or instructors at the beginning of each semester.
Obtain a Student ID Card (optional). Students can use this ID card to obtain discounts. The ID card must be renewed each semester.

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