Category: Academic

The North Carolina Community College System (NCCCS) uses a course called "ART 288" or "Studio" as a catch-all course for all studio areas, providing an upper-level studio, which is sometimes handled as an independent study. Most community  colleges implementing the course use it with special designations such as ART 288 C (ceramics), 288 P (painting), 288 PH (photography), 288 PR (printmaking), and a variety of others. Some colleges, such as CPCC even use a different course title for them, identifying them as "%StudioArea% Studio". This still leaves the records very vague when attempting to transfer the credits, since most schools only recognize the "ART 288" portion and then transfer the credit accordingly, usually as a general elective or as an art elective. Surprisingly, the course is still allowed in the Comprehensive Articulation Agreement (CAA) as a premajor/elective course, the same class of course as most upper level studios. How can such a general course be accepted in the CAA at all? I would think that separate studio courses at that level would have been more appropriate, especially since there is a restriction on the number of times 288 can be taken. It can only be taken once without it being counted as a repeated course, making it impossible to complete a 288 in an additional studio area without being partially penalized for it and essentially receiving no credit for the course. 

All of my records have found their way to their destinations, according to the Gaston College admissions office. A few hours after the confirmation came from the admissions office, the registrar had transferred my Personal Health/Wellness credit from CPCC. Now I am just waiting to make sure my transient study authorization for the Digital Photography course takes effect and the course gets transferred properly. 

This morning I dove into the bookstore websites for my varying institutions, looking up what my required texts will be this fall (in an attempt to acquire most of them cheaply). I ran across my Art History course, looked up the text on Amazon and was greeted by a $120 book. Its not even a good $120 book, the reviews for it state how much it sucks. Since the text is fairly new I looked up the previous edition, only to find that its reviews are roughly the same standing, it isn’t a very well liked book. The text, Gardner’s Art Through the Ages, is in its 13th revision. It is speculated by many reviewers that the only reason the book is used by so many college courses is that it has been in print longer than any other art history text. This sucks! I’m considering spending $11 on a "very good" copy of the 12th edition and not bothering with the 13th.

Here is my Fall 2008 class schedule, per the request of a friend. I must apologize for using an image for this, but it would appear that GITI’s output only works in a GITI stylesheet supported UI environment.

Now that my schedule has settled down and everything is on track, I have copied my verbose course schedule for the semester from GITI to here. 

Fall 2008

This evening I ran back over my old assignments from my first attempt at Advanced C++ (CSC234) been rereading the original lab I got stuck on that forced the withdraw (well… that lab and the OTHER 18 credit hours [21 total] I was taking at the time). It was a fairly simple lab, just play with some bank tellers, some customers and a few timers, that’s it. A simple, straight forward modeling program. Unfortunately, the lab still scares me and my own original source code makes no sense. I am likely to take a whole different approach to that lab (or whatever has replaced it now) when the course opens, especially having my knowledge of data structures and things now. I feel more prepared than ever to tackle these labs now, mostly because I don’t intend to waste time with things and procrastinate before getting them done, so I will have plenty of time to research, get help, etc. I have thought about this course too many semesters to let it get away now. My self-esteem needs to take and pass this course (honestly, I need an A…I have only gotten one non-A at CPCC and it kills me).

Anyway… whatever I do this semester has to be better than this:

//Written by Curtis M. Kularski
//CSC234 - 85
//Lab 02 - Banking Simulation
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <iostream>
#include <iomanip>
using namespace std;
class Teller
{
private:
int timer;
bool isBusy;
public:
void setTimer(int K)
{
timer = 1+rand()%K;
}
void decrementTimer()
{
timer--;
}
int getTimer()
{
return timer;
}
void setBusy(bool busy)
{
isBusy = busy;
}
};
class Customer
{
private:
int wait;
int timeInQueue=0;
bool inQueue;
public:
void incrementWait()
{
wait++;
if (inQueue == true)
{
timeInQueue++;
}
}
void setTimer()
{
wait = 0;
}
};
int intializeTellers(int, Teller []);
void createCustomers(int, int, Customer [])
int addCustomers(int);
int main()
{
int i, M, N, K, totalCustomers;
cout << "How many iterations would you like to test? ";
cin >> i;
cout << "\nMaximum customers added per iteration? ";
cin >> M;
cout << "\nHow many tellers will be working? ";
cin >> N;
cout << "\nWhat is the maximum time a teller spends on a transaction? ";
cin >> K;
cout << "\n\n";
int numCustomers = 0, newCustomers=0, numToRemove = 0, freeTellers;
Teller tellers[N];
initializeTellers(N, tellers);
Customer customers[20];
while (i >=1)
{
//Remove Customers who are done
//Customers enter bank
newCustomers = addCustomers(M);
createCustomers(newCustomers, numCustomers, customers);
//Free tellers are assigned customers, customers removed from queue and tellers isBusy=true, timers set
//
assignCustomersToTellers(tellers, customers);
//display 
i--;
system("pause");
}
return 0;
}
void initializeTellers(int N, tellers [])
{
while (N >= 1)
{
N--;
tellers[N].setBusy(false);
}
}
void createCustomers(int newCustomers, int numCustomers, Customer customers[])
{
int j = 0;
numCustomers--;
while (j <= newCustomers)
{
if (numCustomers + j + 1 < 20)
{
customers[numCustomers + (j+1)].setTimer();
j++;
}
else {cout << "Array Full!"; break;}
}
}
int addCustomers(int maxNew)
{
int numToAdd = 1+rand()%maxNew;
return numToAdd;
}

I was just looking at some data to see what’s up with the difference in the two reports generated by UNC for my academic record. I first looked up the section title information by searching it for the semester in which I took the course… no match for ART 390 section 991 (the course I was graded for), but there was an entry for ART 390 section 990… which is not on my record.

Three issues have come up in regards to me moving records around lately.

First, earlier in the spring I prepared paperwork for getting my associate level degrees finalized… unfortunately, there was no high school transcript on file for me at Gaston, even though they have a partial transcript for me as well as having me enrolled in their dual enrollment programs while I was in high school. I requested a transcript to be sent sometime around a year ago when I originally registered for my drawing 1 class. After being told when preparing my applications by the registrar that it still wasn’t on file, I had the county records office prepare and send a transcript… I called a week later to make sure everything was ok, but it still wasn’t on file, so I called the next day and it still wasn’t. I haven’t called back again, and I haven’t been told anything about it from either side… so I’m hoping it has been received and logged. I am planning to call tomorrow to check up on this as well as the next issue.

Second, my transcript from CPCC for summer has been sent to Gaston… it has had over a week to get there and be evaluated, but still, no evaluation appears on my record or has been sent to me via postal mail. Either Gaston is slow… or there is a missing transcript somewhere. I will check on the status of this, along with issue #1 when I call in the morning. The registrar’s office usually moves pretty quickly.

Finally, I contacted UNC today because of an issue with my records in general, my record doesn’t show the digital photography course in my "complete undergraduate record". At the same time I inquired as to if my transcript had been mailed yet… I was told not to worry about my first question, but the second question was ignored. Curious and having bad luck with transcripts lately, I emailed the student services division (not records) to determine my transcript status… I was informed: "We have no record of a request for you". GREAT! So…another transcript goes MIA…. The nice person at the registrar’s office told me to refax my form and she would give it priority processing… I sent it again, and she said it was received fine and the transcript goes out in the morning. I think I will give the registrar’s office at Gaston a heads up when I call them tomorrow about issues #1 and #2… just so they know to expect it. I’m wondering how  much work I will have to do to make sure that the course is transferred properly once the transcript arrives.

I remember when I used to have no problem getting all of my schools to send transcripts to each other and the registrar’s office at each school managed to keep up with things appropriately (except UNCC, who always demanded an official transient study form when they got a transcript). Things were always simpler when there were just 2… or even 3 schools to sync up. Now at 4 (potentially becoming 5 in a future semester) it just makes things hard.

Took long enough, but the grades are finally in. I really hope that when UNC transmits the grades to the other schools that they don’t label the course as "SPEC TOPICS STUDIO", that would so suck, especially since that is only the description, the course title is "Digital Photography".