Office for Undergraduate Studies
Welcome to the Office for Undergraduate Studies. Our goal is to assist both students and faculty—and we encourage you to browse our webpages using the links on the left.
Our team of assistant deans provides a range of services, including orientation, student advising, course scheduling, coordination of the transfer and readmission process, approval for study abroad, advising regarding course completion while abroad, and status certification of undergraduate degrees.
Find Your Advising Dean
To better serve our students, we have adopted a new advising system in which students are assigned a specific assistant dean who will work with them through graduation.
As in the past, Assistant Dean Vicki Toumayan will work with all preprofessional students.
All other students are assigned an assistant dean based on their last names:
- A–D: Dean Paulette Curtis
- E–F: Dean Vicki Toumayan
- G–L: Dean Nicholas Russo
- M–Q: Dean Ava Preacher
- R–Z: Dean Joseph Stanfiel
Additionally, students from any college in the University are invited to consult with Assistant Dean Ava Preacher to prepare for law school, although they should continue to see their assigned adviser for all other matters.
To Serve, Educate, and Empower
The mission of the Office for Undergraduate Studies in the College of Arts and Letters at the University of Notre Dame is to:
- serve as a resource for students and for offices in the College and across the University.
- uphold and maintain the standards inherent in the Academic Code of Honor.
- empower students to be lifelong, self-directed learners by mentoring students and encouraging them to explore opportunities in research, publication, international education and scholarship and to identify their strengths in considering potential career path.
- meet students where they are in their respective life journeys.
- lend encouragement as students progress toward their own life goals.
- promote an appreciation of collegiate education as an opportunity for exploration, contemplation, and intellectual engagement by providing and directing students to resources.
- work cooperatively with other campus entities to inspire students to develop ethical standards and values for life.
In sum, our overarching goal is to achieve unsurpassed excellence in the guidance and nurturing of undergraduate students during their intellectual and spiritual journeys as members of the Notre Dame community.
Office for
Undergraduate Studies
Location: 104 O’Shaughnessy Hall, Notre Dame, IN 46556
Hours: 8 am–5 pm
Walk-ins: MWF from 1:30 pm–4 pm and TTh from 9 am–11 am
Appointments: Call 574.631.7098
Three-Year Plan
Curious about Senior Thesis?
Check out some of our highlighted senior thesis projects!
Arts and Letters News
History Major Explores Work of Missionaries in Colonial Peru
It is widely known that Spanish missionaries played a significant role in introducing Catholicism to the peoples of the Andes throughout the colonial period. Notre Dame senior history major Joseph VanderZee traveled to archives in Lima and Rome to dig a little deeper and find out what these early missionaries thought of the indigenous population—and how their attitudes affected the development of the Peruvian Church. Read More >
Theologian Gary Anderson Elected to American Academy of Jewish Research
Gary Anderson, Hesburgh Professor of Catholic Theology at the University of Notre Dame, has been named a fellow of the American Academy of Jewish Research (AAJR). The AAJR is the oldest organization of Judaic scholars in North America, and fellows are nominated and elected by their peers. The group has approximately 100 members in the United States—and Anderson is one of a select few who are not Jewish. Read More >
Solving a Fascinating Puzzle
Robert Goulding, an associate professor in the University of Notre Dame’s Program of Liberal Studies, was recently awarded a grant from the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) to support a research project that combines mathematics, philosophy, and Renaissance science. Goulding, who also teaches in the History and Philosophy of Science graduate program, says his work focuses on English scientist and mathematician Thomas Harriot (1560–1621), whom he calls “a really unusual figure” in intellectual history. Read More >
Microfinance Yields Mixed Results in Thailand, Economist Joseph Kaboski Finds
Large-scale microfinance programs are widely used as a tool to fight poverty in developing countries, but a recent study by University of Notre Dame economist Joseph Kaboski and MIT colleague Robert Townsend suggests that microfinancing can have varying results for participants and may not be the most cost-effective use of funds for many situations. The study was published in a recent issue of Econometrica. Kaboski and Townsend used the Thai Million Baht Village Fund, one of the largest government microfinance initiatives of its kind, to evaluate and understand the benefits and disadvantages of microfinance interventions. Read More >
