Meeting With Your Advisor
All Northern Michigan University students are encouraged to meet regularly with their advisors. Freshmen are required to meet with advisors before registering for the next semester's courses. Along with providing guidance on course selection, advisors are an invaluable resource to students in that they usually know who to contact to get questions answered and problems solved.
Make an appointment with your advisor well in advance of registration. Also, take care of any holds (adviser, financial, medical, etc.) as soon as you can. You will not be allowed to register until the holds are lifted. If you don't know who your advisor is, you can access that information at Mynmu.nmu.edu under the Students Information – Academic Information menu.
See below for information on when biology courses are typically offered, tips for taking full advantage of advising, and additional resources for success.
Meet Our Success Advisors!
Not sure who to talk to or where to direct your questions? Start with your advisor!
Our Success Advisors are committed to helping our students succeed and reach their goals. They may be assigned as your academic adviser, but they are here for more than just course registration! Take a look to the right for some of the ways that you can utilize them during your time here.
Ruth Abbott: rabbott@nmu.edu
Lauren Anargyros: lanargyr@nmu.edu
Jennifer Mital: jmital@nmu.edu
Susan Robison: surobiso@nmu.edu
Michele Stephenson: mstephen@nmu.edu
What the Success Advisors can do for you:
- Course registration
- Understanding program requirements
- Going over degree evaluations
- Degree planning/semester mapping
- Academic skill-building/tips for staying on track
- Time management
- Referral/connecting to campus resources
- Brainstorming alternative major/career paths
- Problem-solving unique situations
- Addressing other questions/concerns
Biology Course Timetable
The Biology Course Timetable shows which semesters courses offered by the Biology Department are taught. As indicated, courses in the “Biology Core” all Biology majors must take are offered every semester. BI 207 and BI 208 (Human Anatomy & Physiology I & II) are also offered every semester.
This course guide is intended to help students to plan when they will take courses required for their degree. However, the semesters courses are actually offered may vary from that shown on the Course Timetable. A particular course may not have enough students for that course to be offered or we may not have sufficient staffing to offer the course. Be sure to check the online course schedule to determine if a particular course is actually being offered.
The timetable indicates whether a course is offered:
- Every Fall
- Every Winter
- Fall, Even Years
- Fall, Odd Years
- Winter, Even Years
- Winter, Odd Years
Biology Course Timetable
If you'd like to download a copy of the timetable, you can do so in excel or PDF formats:
- Biology Course Timetable (MS Excel)
- Biology Course Timetable (PDF)
| Course Number | Credits | Course Title | Every Fall | Every Winter | Fall, Even Years | Fall, Odd Years | Winter, Even Years | Winter, Odd Years |
| BI 100 | 4 | Biological Science | Yes | Yes | ||||
| BI 104 | 4 | Human Anatomy & Physiology | Yes | Yes | ||||
| BI 111 | 4 | Intro Biology: Principles | Yes | Yes | ||||
| BI 112 | 4 | Intro Biology: Diversity | Yes | Yes | ||||
| BI 203 | 5 | Medical Microbiology | Yes | Yes | ||||
| BI 203A | 3 | Medical Microbiology | Yes | Yes | ||||
| BI 207 | 4 | Human Anatomy & Physiology I | Yes | Yes | ||||
| BI 208 | 4 | Human Anatomy & Physiology II | Yes | Yes | ||||
| BI 210 | 4 | Princ Of Ecology | Yes | Yes | ||||
| BI 215 | 4 | Principles of Evolution | Yes | Yes | ||||
| BI 218 | 4 | Intro To Cell & Molecular Bio | Yes | Yes | ||||
| BI 221 | 4 | Comparative Anatomy | Yes | |||||
| BI 229 | 1-4 | Field Marine Biology | Yes (?) | |||||
| BI 230 | 4 | Plant Kingdom | Yes (?) | Yes | ||||
| BI 240 | 4 | Conservation Biology | Yes | |||||
| BI 262 | 3 | Field Ornithology | Offered during the summer, starting soon after the end of Winter semester. Not offered every year. | |||||
| BI 290 | 1 | Fisheries & Wildlife Seminar | Yes | |||||
| BI 303 | 5 | General Microbiology | Yes | |||||
| BI 305 | 4 | Ecology North Forest | Yes (?) | |||||
| BI 310 | 4 | Ecology Theory and Methods | Yes | |||||
| BI 312 | 4 | Genetics | Yes | Yes | ||||
| BI 314 | 4 | Introduction to Marine Biology | Yes | |||||
| BI 321 | 4 | Embryology | Yes | |||||
| BI 322 | 4 | Vertebrate Zoology | Yes | |||||
| BI 324 | 4 | Invertebrate Zoology | Yes | |||||
| BI 327 | 4 | Animal Physiology | Yes | Yes | ||||
| BI 333 | 3 | Genetics for Natural Resources | Yes | |||||
| BI 402 | 4 | Microbial Ecology | Yes | |||||
| BI 404 | 3 | Virology | Yes | |||||
| BI 405 | 3 | Immunology | Yes | |||||
| BI 406 | 4 | Advanced Cell Biology | Yes | |||||
| BI 410 | 4 | Ecology of the Great Lakes | Yes | |||||
| BI 411 | 4 | Limnology | Yes | |||||
| BI 412 | 4 | Biostatistics | Yes | Yes | ||||
| BI 413 | 4 | Biochemistry of Development | Times offered depends upon staffing and demand. | |||||
| BI 415 | 4 | Evolutionary Analysis | Times offered depends upon staffing and demand. | |||||
| BI 417 | 4 | Comparative Vertebrate Neuroanatomy | Yes | |||||
| BI 418 | 4 | Molecular Biology | Yes | |||||
| BI 419 | 4 | Biology Of Cancer | Yes | |||||
| BI 420 | 4 | Neuroscience | Yes | |||||
| BI 423 | 3 | Parasitology | Yes | |||||
| BI 424 | 4 | Entomology | Yes | |||||
| BI 425 | 3 | Endocrinology | Yes | |||||
| BI 426 | 4 | Human Histology | Yes | |||||
| BI 427 | 4 | Ecological Animal Physiology | Yes (?) | |||||
| BI 428 | 4 | Behavioral Ecology | Yes | |||||
| BI 429 | 1-4 | Advanced Field Marine Biology | Yes (?) | |||||
| BI 431 | 4 | Plant Physiology | Yes | Yes (?) | ||||
| BI 433 | 3 | Boreal Flora | Yes (?) | |||||
| BI 434 | 4 | Plant Ecology | Yes | |||||
| BI 435 | 4 | Boreal Ecosystems | Offered during the summer. Not offered every year. | |||||
| BI 441 | 4 | Fisheries Management | Yes | |||||
| BI 442 | 4 | Wildlife Management | Yes | |||||
| BI 443 | 4 | Aquaculture | Yes | |||||
| BI 460 | 4 | Ichthyology | Yes | |||||
| BI 461 | 4 | Herpetology | Times offered depends upon staffing and demand. | |||||
| BI 462 | 4 | Ornithology | Yes | |||||
| BI 463 | 3 | Mammalogy | Yes | |||||
| BI 465 | 4 | Aquatic Insect Ecology | Yes | |||||
| BI 466 | 4 | Stream Ecology | Yes | |||||
| BI 467 | 4 | Fish Ecology | Yes | |||||
| BI 469 | 3 | Wildlife and Fish Population Analysis | Yes | |||||
Things to do to get the greatest benefit from advising:
- Pay attention to information coming via e-mail from the registrar, Student Success Department, and your adviser.
- Prepare to meet your adviser. You should do so early and often every semester.
- Go online to look at courses being offered. Remember to write down course registration numbers (CRNs) in case you need to refer to them later without the benefit of being online.
- Go to your adviser with a tentative course schedule. Be aware that he or she may advise you to take different courses.
- Talk to your adviser about some alternative courses in case the courses you chose are closed when you are registering.
- Ask for help if you need it. Your adviser wants you to succeed.
Things that will not help your advising experience:
- Don't wait until the last minute to see your academic adviser.
- Don't go to your adviser un- or under-prepared.
- Don't depend on your adviser to select your courses for you.
- Don't rely on your roommate, a friend down the hall, your landlord, etc., to serve as your adviser or to definitively provide answers to policy questions.
- Don't select courses based on other students' opinions of an instructor. They may dislike an instructor that you'll truly enjoy.
- Don't accept "I don't know" as a definitive answer. Go to other advisers in your department, department head, ACAC, until you find someone who can provide you the information you need.
- Don't be afraid to ask for help. Don't leave a meeting with your adviser if you are confused. Keep talking until you understand the information being provided.