91´ÎÔª

All College of Business students are assigned a primary, academic advisor in the College of Business Student Success Center. Primary advisors are assigned based on students last names, but all business students can meet with any available advisor during walk-in hours.

• Sarina Hamer: Last Names E - K, A 
• Sierra Stauffer: Last Names L - Q, B
• Madison Hartman: Last Names R - Z, C + D

All College of Business Advisors have offices located in the College of Business Student Success Center (Room L35) on the lower level of the Gallagher Business Building. Right next to Biz Buzz Coffee Shop!

Academic Advisors are here to assist students with their academic, and institutional questions, concerns, and development. Advisors are available to students on a regular basis and establish relationships with students in order to provide the following services: 

• Discuss long-range academic and career goals in planning the appropriate courses and programs to achieve them.
• Know about resources on campus and help refer students to the correct departments and people that they need 
• Assist in the development of a plan of study, including sequencing of core classes, electives, and course pre-requisites.
• Provide advise with information about alternatives, limitations, and possible consequences of academic decisions. 
• Planning Class Schedules 
• Transfer Evacuations for Business Requirements 
• Business Major Applications
• Graduations Applications 
• Registration Overrides

Upon declaring a major within the College of Business a Faculty Mentor will be assigned to students. Faculty mentors are another line of support for business students and can provide guidance regarding student's academic success and potential career pathways post-graduation.

Business Majors earn a Bachelor of Science in Business Administrations with a major in Accounting, Finance, Marketing, Business Management, Management Information Systems, or International Business, or a Bachelor of Science with a major in Cybersecurity.

Students must meet with a College of Business Academic Advisor to Declare their major. 

Whenever! Business students are free to meet with an advisor and declare a specific business major at any point during their time here at UM.

The College of Business does offer a Business Minor. The Minor is open to all non-business degree seeking students. Students pursuing a Business Degree can not obtain a Business Minor. 

While the College of Business does not offer a Business Minor to Business Degree seeking Students, we highly encourage Business students and non-business students to look into our numerous Undergraduate Certificates. Certificates offer students a unique way to bolster their academic career and gain valuable insight into new aspects of the business world. 

• Data Analytics Certificate - Open to All Majors 
• Cybersecurity Management Certificate - Open to All Majors
• Digital Marketing Certificate - Open to Business Majors 
• Entertainment Management Certificate - Open to All Majors
• Entrepreneurship & New Venture Creation Certificate - Open to Business Majors 
• Information and Control Assurance Certificate - Open to Business Majors
• Sustainable Business Strategy Certificate - Open to All Majors

For all questions relation to how to register/what to register for, our office highly recommends setting up a meeting with your Primary Advisor. Current Students will receive notifications for their Primary Advisor to set up a meting prior to a semester starting to go over course registration.

If a student decides to drop all classes in a semester, they will need to withdraw from the semester. Information on Semester Withdrawal can be found at the Semester Withdrawal Page.

For important dates regarding adding and dropping courses, please go to the link to the Semester Calendar on the Office of the Registrar's website.

Check out the various College of Business Associated Student Clubs to learn more. 

Visit the GSSC Internship page to learn more.

• Students interest in Studying Abroad should interact with the Global Engagement Office as well as Dr. Nader Shooshtari, the director of the College of Business International Program (GBB 302). 

• If interested in studying abroad let your advisor know as early as possible, so that they can help you chart the easiest path to your international goals!

Come see an Academic Advisor at the GSSC! Academic Advisors will be able to answer any and all questions you may have and to assist you in making sure you are on track to graduate. The Gianchetta Student Success Center is here for you, so please contact us right away if you are unsure of your status!

Fill out the Graduation Application and submit it to the Gianchetta Student Success Center via email or in person. The GSSC reviews and approves the degree requirements for your major. We then submit your application electronically to the Registrar's Office who will notify you when they receive it and inform you on how to pay the graduation fee. The Registrar's Office has final approval authority over the graduation application.

This depends on when you plan to graduate. The deadline dates are always in the semester before you plan to graduate. THIS COMES MUCH SOONER THAN YOU THINK, SO PLAN AHEAD! Visit the Registrar's Webpage to find information regarding Graduation Application deadlines. The GSSC Staff needs your graduation application one week prior to the Registrar's deadline in order to guarantee it will be processed on time. 

What is my Catalog year? 

- Unless you have changed it with your Primary Advisor, your catalog year is the year you started at the 91´ÎÔª. 

What is my Degree? 

- Business Students receive a Bachelor's of Science in Business Administration. Cybersecurity Students receive a Bachelor's of Science.

What if I am Double Majoring in Business? 

- If you are completing the requirements for more than one major at COB, you do NOT need to fill out a second major application. List all majors at the beginning of the Graduation Application in the majors section. 

What if I am Double Majoring Across Disciplines?

- If you have an additional major outside of business, fill out an additional APplication for the Second Major. If you want two degrees you need 150 credits. Please see the Business Student Success Center with Questions. 

Where does my Undergraduate Certificate go on a Graduation Application? 

- Undergraduate Certificates require a separate Graduation Application. 

• For Degree, put Certificate
• For Major, put Undergraduate Certificate name 

All 91´ÎÔª students enrolled in business courses—200 level and above—are required to have a laptop computer. Various courses utilize computers throughout the semester, requiring students to bring laptops to class.

The minimum requirements and computing recommendations are listed below. Chromebooks, IPads and tablets will not satisfy the laptop requirement. Your laptop must also be able to run on its battery for several hours.

We know many students already have laptops available, but if you are concerned about the computer requirement for business students or have demonstrated financial need, please contact us at cobscholarship@mso.umt.edu or call 406-243-2064.

Because laptops are mandatory, their purchase cost can be included in your cost of attendance and may be covered by financial aid. Please reach out to cobscholarship@mso.umt.edu for more information.

Dell offers some incentives for UM College of Business students, accessible here: . This link will provide access to a discount coupon and allow you to see all of Dell's options.  You will also frequently find “specials” on certain Dell inventory items.  There is also a link for a coupon to purchase from them. You are not required to purchase a computer through Dell, and we encourage you to investigate all options. 

The following PC configuration should meet the minimum requirements to be successful in College of Business Classes, and we encourage incoming and returning students to consider the following when purchasing a laptop and software:

Estimated Cost: You should be able to find satisfactory options for $800-1200.

1. Processor (CPU):
   • 13th-gen Core (Raptor Lake) or anyIntel Core Ultra (Meteor Lake/Lunar Lake)
   • AMD Ryzen 5 (7000 series or newer)
   • Apple M (M3 or better) Please see note below. The COB recommends students purchase a windows laptop.
2. Memory (RAM):
   • 16GB (minimum)
   • 24+ GB (Recommended for better multi-tasking and future proofing)
3. Storage:
   • 512GB SSD (minimum)
   • 1TB (Recommended to store more files and applications)
4. Graphics:
   • Modern integrated GPUs (intel Arc iGPU on Core Ultra; AMD Radeon 700M/800M RDNA 3/3.5) are sufficient for business applications. There is no need for a dedicated GPU unless you are into gaming, AI training or graphic-intensive tasks.
5. Display:
   • 14-inch to 15.6-inch screen size
   • 1920×1080 (or higher)
6. Operating System and Software:
   • Windows 11
   • MacOS (See note on using Apple laptops below)
   • MS Office – available through UM’s MS 365 license for both Mac and PC
7. Ports and Connectivity: Recommended
   • USB-A and USB-C ports
   • HDMI output (useful for presentations)
   • Wi-Fi 6 minimum (Strongly encouraged to support faster and more reliable internet)
   • Bluetooth 5.0
8. Battery Life:
   • Not all classrooms have easy electrical access to power for charging laptops. It is important that batteries can hold a charge for several hours, and optimally 8 hours (to last through a school day)
9. Additional Features:
   • Webcam (for presentations, online classes, and/or meetings)
   • Lightweight and portable (less than 4 lbs)
10. Warranty: Extended warranties are strongly encouraged to protect your investment and reduce financial stress if something occurs to your laptop mid-semester. 
    • Minimum 3 years (4 years preferred)
    • On-site next business day service if available
    • Accidental damage coverage, if available.
11. A Note for Apple Users:
    • The College of Business recommends students use Windows PCs rather than Apple PCs. Not all software packages used in upper-division courses are available in OS for a MAC user.  Additionally, the Microsoft Office experience on a MAC is different from the experience on a PC.  Students wishing to use a MAC should know that support may be limited.

The configuration highlighted above will currently meet the general needs of all College of Business Majors. However, technology changes, and if students want to future-proof their computers for better AI and data analytics capabilities, we suggest the following “upgrades” to the base configuration. Students considering a major in Management Information Systems and Cyber Security may want to consider this configuration.

Estimated Cost:  $1200+

1. Processor (CPU):
   • Intel Core Ultra (Meteor Lake) H-series or newer
   • AMD Ryzen 7/9 7000 or newer
   • Apple M3 Pro or newer: The COB recommends students purchase a windows laptop.
2. Memory (RAM):
   • 16GB (Minimum)
   • 32+ GB (Recommended for more intensive tasks)
3. Storage:
   • 512GB SSD
   • 1 TB SSD (Recommended to store more files and applications)
4. Graphics:
   • If you will train or fine-tune models locally: choose NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 (8 GB VRAM) or higher. CUDA support is the de-facto standard for Windows ML training, and you should avoid AMD GPUs. An NPU does not replace a CUDA GPU for training.
   • If you are not planning to train or fine-tune models locally (inference, transcription, small local LLMs, long battery): a Copilot+ NPU laptop without a dedicated GPU is fine. (NPUs accelerate inference efficiently and free the CPU/GPU.)

Once you repeat a course, only the last grade received in the course is used to calculate your GPA. However, this does not mean that the old grade will disappear off your transcript. It will still be on your transcript but will not be counted in your GPA. Please note, if the second grade is lower than the first, the second grade is the one that is valid.

If you decide to drop a course after the 45th instructional day, a WF or a WP will appear on your transcript. If you are failing the class, you will receive a withdraw fail (WF). If you are passing the class, you will receive a withdraw pass (WP). These grades will not affect your GPA, but will be noted on your transcript.