Written by N. Mölders and U.S. Bhatt

• Meet your advisor

• Get your cubicle assignment and ask for a campus map from our Administrative Assistant.

• If you are an international student then you should also make an appointment with the International Student Office (Eielson room 215) to report your arrival.

• If you are an international student and have not yet obtained a Social Security (SSN) then go to the 12th Ave Social Security Office and apply for one. Make sure you obtain a certificate of application, which you will need to show to HR. There is a bus that goes downtown that is available at the Wood Center. From the main station downtown it is a 15 minutes walk to the 12th Ave SS office. There is a UAF campus shuttle that stops in front of the Elvey building (GI) about every 20 minutes that can take you to the Wood Center.

• Go to Human Resources (HR) located in the Elvey building on the 2nd floor to sign your contract. HR will also give you the tuition waiver form, which is required for registration.

• Go to UA Online to print your registration form.  Complete this form and obtain advisor’s signature.  Take the form to the Office of the Registrar in Signer’s Hall.  You will be able to sign up for classes once you give this form to them; make sure you make a copy so you can then register online. Future registrations can be done online, but first time, registration must be done in person.  In order to print your registration form, do the following:

Go to UA Online

Put in your ID and password, click submit

Click on student services; then click on registration.

Click on check your registration eligibility then click on print Registration Form

• Go to the Financial Aid office (Eielson building) if required. This step will be often needed by students who will live in student housing because the university requires rent payment in advance for the entire semester. Do not be alarmed at the thought of going to Financial Aid as this is normal. They will make arrangements so that you can pay your rent on regular basis throughout the semester so you do not have to pay everything at once.

• Go visit Vicky Zins (IARC 415M) and apply for a Polar Express Card with access to IARC, the cubicle area (3rd or 4th floor depending on where your cubicle is located), GI doors, locker room and library; get the required signatures and bring the form sheet back to Vicky. Go to the Polar Express Card Office in the Eielson building (rm 203) once Vicky tells you to do so. There they will take a photo and issue the Polar Express card. If you are in student housing, the access to those doors can be added at this time.

• Go visit Dave Covey in the CRC Elvey room 227B to apply for a GI email account if your supervisor is GI faculty.  Go visit Jim Long in IARC 415E to apply for an IARC email account if your supervisor is IARC faculty.

• Go to Computing room (Elvey room 227D), and apply for an account to submit your timesheet online. You will need this to report your hours worked and to get paid.

• See the Department of Atmospheric Sciences’ secretary between 8:30am to 12:30pm and give her your e-mail address, physical address, emergency contact information, and your cubicle location.

• Get a student orientation, a library tour, and attend the Department of Atmospheric Sciences’ Semester Start Luncheon. Times for these events will be posted.

• Familiarize yourself with the UAF Catalogue, the Class Schedule, the Department of Atmospheric Sciences’ Graduate Student Guidelines (http://www.uaf.edu/asp/Academics/grad.guidelines.htm), and the Graduate Plan (http://www.uaf.edu/asp/Academics/grad.plan2.htm).

• Read the syllabi of the classes you will be taking in your first semester and find out whether they will be taught using Blackboard. If yes, you will have to apply for an account on aurora in the Bunnell Building room 233. Once you are registered for a class and have an aurora account, in theory, you will automatically have access to Blackboard. If you have problems when you try to log onto Blackboard, you need to email your instructor, who will add your name manually to Blackboard access list.

• If your research is in modeling, go to the Arctic Region Supercomputing Center in the WRRB (behind the GI) and apply for accounts on the SGIs and iceberg. Note that you will need an account on the SGIs later for the Dynamics class anyhow. You will need a copy of your birth certificate or your passport to apply for the ARSC accounts. Visit www.arsc.edu to get more information about getting an account.