SLSS Drop-in Advising
Welcome to the Fall 2025 semester at VCU!
We are pleased to announce that the School of Life Sciences and Sustainability Advising units will offer drop-in advising sessions - both in-person and virtually - during Add/Drop Week (August 19-25). These sessions are designed to help you quickly resolve issues, answer last-minute questions, and provide guidance on registration concerns before the end of the add/drop period. Below are the dates, time, and instructions for participating in drop-in advising.
Important Notes:
Students should come prepared with their V-Number, proposed course schedule, and/or specific questions for advising. The last day to make changes to your schedule is by 11:59 PM on Monday, August 25th.
Drop-in schedules by academic unit are as follows:
BIOINFORMATICS
- All BNFO majors are asked to schedule an appointment via Navigate during the Add/Drop week.
BIOLOGY
| Time/Day | Aug. 19 | Aug. 20 | Aug. 21 | Aug 22. | Aug. 25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 AM - 12 PM | Virtual | Virtual | In-Person | In-Person | In-Person |
| 2 PM - 4 PM | In-Person | In-Person | Virtual | Virtual | Virtual |
Environmental Studies
| Time/Day | Aug. 19 | Aug. 20 | Aug. 21 | Aug 22. | Aug. 25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 AM - 12 PM | In-Person | xx | In-Person | xx | xx |
| 1 PM - 3 PM | xx | Virtual | xx | Virtual | Virtual |
Drop-In Instructions
In-Person Advising:
- All in-person sessions will take place in the Trani Life Sciences building (1000 West Cary Street) in the SLSS Advising Center (Suites 216, on the second floor).
- Check in by scanning the QR code on the second-floor lobby (near the double-blue doors).
- Then wait in the lobby area. The next available advisor will greet you in the waiting area and then bring you back to their office.
Virtual Advising:
Biology zoom link - https://vcu.zoom.us/j/82421570867
ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES ZOOM LINK - https://vcu.zoom.us/j/36878259030
- Upon logging in, you will enter our waiting room and will soon be greeted by an Advisor (or moderator). If the drop-in time has not begun, you will need to wait until the drop-in moderator has started the meeting.
- The drop-in moderator will place you in a private breakout room (if needed). Then an advisor will meet you in your private breakout room as soon as possible.
- If you leave your room before meeting with an advisor, you will have to re-enter the meeting at the end of the queue.
- When you and your drop-in advisor are finished, you can leave the meeting.
Special notes
Students must join the Drop-In Advising Meeting from a desktop application or the Zoom Mobile App and must be logged in to their VCU Zoom account (your Zoom email/password is the same as your VCU email/password). Students who attempt to join the meeting as "guests" or who attempt to join in their browser wil not be able to meet with an advisor.
Overrides
To request a course override, please fill out the correct override form associated with your major:
Environmental Studies Overrides
Please note that size overrides are not typically given, and an alternative course should be found if a course is full.
Account Holds
Please note that our advisors cannot remove holds from student accounts; you must resolve your registration hold by contacting the appropriate office that placed the hold on your account.
If you have a hold on your account, you can still drop a class, just not via e-services. You can drop from courses by either going in person to the Student Services Center in Harris Hall during their office hours, or by emailing rar@vcu.edu with your V-number and the information for the course you wish to drop - including the course number and either the section number or CRN for the course. You must email from a VCU email address and your email must be received by rar@vcu.edu before 11:59 PM on Monday, August 25.
To drop all courses before the start of the spring semester, use the Enrollment Cancellation Request Form.
Additional registration forms can be accessed here: https://rar.vcu.edu/forms/