Virtual Academic Advising and Course Registration
Welcome to The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences!
Spring 2026 CALS Virtual Academic Advising and Course Registration
During mandatory virtual academic advising and course registration you will have the opportunity to meet with your major advisor to review courses for registration. Your advisor is a great resource as you navigate the transition to Virginia Tech. You are still required to complete the University First-Year and Transfer Spring Orientation.
Spring 2026 Agriculture and Life Sciences Orientation Timeline:
- November 10: Receive the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Welcome email
- December 5: Receive the Virtual Academic Advising and Course Registration email
- December 3-January 16: Attend mandatory virtual one-on-one academic advising for your major, dates vary by major
- December 1-January 26: Register for courses, this will be an ongoing process and can begin prior to meeting with an academic advisor
- December 24-January 1: Virginia Tech Closed
- January 16: Attend university orientation from 1:30-5:00 p.m.
- January 20: Classes begin.
Tips and Tools to prepare for this meeting
- Download Hokies On Track app to stay informed about upcoming events and information.
- Download Zoom prior to your meeting with your major.
ALEKS Placement
- Check to see if you qualify for CHEM 1035/1045 - https://chem.vt.edu/undergraduate/chem-readiness.html
- If you are entering a major that requires chemistry, or if you are choosing to take chemistry, and you do not have any of the qualifications or wish to take for proficiency, you will need to complete the ALEKS Placement Assessment. https://chem.vt.edu/undergraduate/chem-readiness/faq.html
Take the placement assessment as soon as possible, one assessment is used to qualify students for eligibility in these courses. Access to ALEKS is available now and is offered free of charge for Virginia Tech students.
Before you begin registering for courses
- CREATE YOUR VIRGINIA TECH USER ID: This will be your Virginia Tech username and email address. (Allow 24 hours before completing the remainder of this checklist)
- ENROLL in the 2-Factor Authentication with Duo.
- DOWNLOAD the DUO Mobile App on your personal smartphone and enroll your device.
- ACCESS, READ, USE your VT Email daily. Your VT Email is how the college, and your academic advisor will communicate with you.
- ADD your VT email to your personal smartphone that you will be using.
- SIGN UP to receive VT Alerts for your phone.
Welcome to the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics! We look forward to working with you as you begin your journey at Virginia Tech!
- You will receive an email to complete a pre-orientation advising survey and instructions on how to schedule a day for your orientation advising appointment held during the week of:
- December 1-5
- December 8-12
- Advising appointments will be virtual over Zoom - each advising session will be an individual appointment. Your appointment will be approximately 45 minutes, and we will finalize your course schedule during this appointment.
- Please make sure you check your VT email daily for updates. If you have any questions, please email Normand Adams.
Department Majors
- Agribusiness
- Community Economic Development
- Environmental Economics: Management and Policy
- Food & Health Systems
- International Trade and Development
Advisor Information: Normand Adams
Email: nadams10@vt.edu | Phone: 540-231-0913
Welcome to the Department of Agricultural, Leadership, and Community Education! We look forward to working with you as you begin your journey at Virginia Tech!
- You will receive an email from your Academic Advisor to fill out a pre-orientation advising survey and instructions on how to schedule a day for your orientation advising appointment.
- Advising appointments will be virtual over Zoom - each advising session will be an individual appointment. Your appointment will be approximately 30 minutes, and we will finalize your course schedule during this time.
- Please make sure you check your VT email daily for updates. If you have any questions, please email Courtney Collins.
Department Majors
- Agricultural and Extension Education
- Community Leadership Development
Advisor Information: Courtney Collins
Email: cswanson8@vt.edu | Phone: 540-231-6337
Advisor Information: Dr. Donna Westfall-Rudd
Email: mooredm@vt.edu | Phone: 540-231-5717
Welcome to the Biochemistry major! We are excited you are joining our program and look forward to meeting with you soon. You will receive an email from us in early December to fill out a pre-advising survey and to choose a for your advising appointment (please fill out the survey a week before your appointment).
In the meantime, please contact us if you have any questions or
Advisor Information: Amy Rasor
Email: asimpkin@vt.edu | Phone: 540-231-8734
Advisor Information: Amanda Villar
Email: avillar@vt.edu | Phone: 540-231-0771
Welcome to Food Science and Technology!
I am excited that you will be joining us! To get you ready, there are a few things to do:
- Complete the FST Incoming Student Survey at https://forms.gle/P38M2QJhdc4WBrZ86.
- You will need to log into Google using your VT email address and PW to access the form. Please list all AP, IB Scores & Dual Enrollment Credit, even if you have not received your score. The personal questions are there to introduce you to your fellow classmates as I will create a webpage for you on the FST Student Site.
- View FST Student Site at https://sites.google.com/vt.edu/fststudentsite.
Again, you must be logged into your VT Google Account to view this site. I have orientation information listed here and as we meet, we will step through the information. Also, you can see your fellow classmates and get to know a bit about them before you meet them this Spring.
- Consider an option for your major before we meet (you may change it later). See FST options.
- Make an appointment with your advisor. That’s me, Herbert (they call me Bruce) Bruce. You can make appointments through Navigate . After you select “Make An Appointment” you can choose a day during the week of:
- December 1-5
- December 8-12
- January 12-16
- December 1-5
We will schedule our meeting for 90 minutes though most often we will be done in about an hour. Can’t wait to meet you!
Department Majors
- Agribusiness
- Community Economic Development
- Environmental Economics: Management and Policy
- Food & Health Systems
- International Trade and Development
Advisor Information: Herbert Bruce
Email: brucehr@vt.edu | 540-231-9570
Welcome to Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise! We are excited to have you in the HNFE family and can't wait to get started!
Next steps:
- Check your VT email regularly. You will receive a New Student Information email with a pre-registration survey where you can choose your major, tell us your interests, and let us know what credits you might be transferring.
- Schedule a course registration advising appointment. You will receive an email in December from your academic advisor with instructions to sign up for an appointment.
- You will be added to the HNFE Advising Canvas site.
Department Majors
- Exercise and Health Sciences
- Nutrition and Dietetics
Advisor Information: Stephanie Nelson
Email: sthollan@vt.edu | 540-231-2259
Welcome to the School of Animal Science! We are excited to have you join our majors in either Animal and Poultry Sciences or Dairy Science and look forward to meeting you in person soon. In the meantime, we invite you to attend our virtual Welcome Session to learn more about our program, academic advising, and what to expect this spring. Families are welcome! The welcome sessions will be held in December. Please stay tuned for more details. Please note you must have your VT email address set up by December 5th to receive an invitation to schedule your advising appointment.
To help us advise you during course registration, you will be receiving additional instructions via your VT email address so be sure to watch for emails from Kathy Tarter Duncan kathytd@vt.edu or ansci@vt.edu.
If you need to get in touch with us prior to your advising appointment, please email Dr. Jessica Bedore jessicabedore@vt.edu. See you soon!
Department Majors
- Animal and Poultry Sciences
- Dairy Science
Undergraduate Education Office:
- Dr. Jessica Bedore
- Dr. Lucy Bergamasco
- Kathy Tarter Duncan
- Dr. Dan Eversole
- Dr. Katie Heiderscheit
- Dr Emma Helm
- Dr. Katharine Knowlton
- Mr. Matthew Miller
- Mr. Dave Winston
- Dr. Cindy Wood
Advising Office
Email: ansci@vt.edu | 540 231-6936
Welcome to the School of Plant and Environmental Sciences! We look forward to working with you as you begin your journey at Virginia Tech!
Next steps:
- Environment Science Majors (ENSC and ER) will meet with Paige Normand for their academic advising appointment about course registration. Plant Science Majors (CSSC, IAT, EVHT, LTS, and PLSC) will meet with Karen Drake-Whitney for their academic advising appointment.
- You will receive an email with instructions on how to schedule a day for your orientation advising appointment during either:
- December 1-5
- December 8-12
- January 5-9
- January 12-16
- Check your @vt.edu email account for an email from your academic advisor with instructions to sign up for an appointment via zoom.
- You will be added to the SPES Undergraduate Advising Canvas course which has information about course registration and deadlines. Please review information on this site and the SPES Advising website at https://spes.vt.edu/Academics/academic-advising.html.
Department Majors
- Ecological Restoration
- Environmental Science
- Crop and Soil Sciences
- Environmental Horticulture
- Integrated Agricultural Technologies
- Landscape Design and Turfgrass Science
- Plant Science
Advisor Information: Karen Drake-Whitney
Email: kdrake@vt.edu | Phone: 540-231-9785
Advisor Information: Paige Normand
Email: paigenormand@vt.edu | Phone: 540-231-3061
How to send information about transfer credit:
- To view transferable credits pleaase visit: https://www.registrar.vt.edu/Transferable-Credit.html
- Transfer students need to send their high school transcript if they completed 2 years of a single foreign language in high school.
- Dual Enrollment must be sent by the institution through which you completed the courses. The official transcripts for dual enrollment courses or courses taken at other universities to Virginia Tech’s Office of Undergraduate Admissions. Virginia Tech will not process transfer credit for dual enrollment courses on high school transcripts; we must receive official copies from the community college or university where the course was taken.
- Official high school, college, and university transcripts
All transcripts should be sent to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions through electronic transfer (i.e., Parchment) or through mail to the address below.
Office of Undergraduate Admissions, Virginia Tech
925 Prices Fork Road
Blacksburg, VA 24061
AP, IB, CLEP, and Cambridge Scores:
To view equivalencies for courses you wish to transfer, please visit those guides at
- AP, IB, CLEP, Cambridge: https://www.registrar.vt.edu/Transferable-Credit.html
Transfer or Dual Enrollment from other colleges: https://transferguide.registrar.vt.edu
- To verify receipt of AP, IB, CLEP, Cambridge, transfer credits on Hokie Spa at any time http://www.hokiespa.vt.edu/
- Click on Hokie Spa tab
- Click on Grades Menu
- Click Transfer and Other Additional Credits
AP, IB, CLEP, and Cambridge scores to Virginia Tech’s Office of the University Registrar. AP & CLEP must be sent to VT from CollegeBoard (they will not process copies of scores). Use School Code #5859
Virginia Tech Registrar
Student Services Bldg., Suite 250
800 Washington Street
Blacksburg, VA 24061
- Campus Resources - https://student.advising.vt.edu/resources.html
- Computer Requirements - https://www.compreq.vt.edu/ You will find all the details needed around which computer to purchase and the software available to you.
- Living-Learning Program Course Information - https://llp.vt.edu/classes.html
- Virtual Academic Advising and Course Registration Additional Tools and Information - https://advising.vt.edu/orientation/orientation-advising-info.html