Home » Incoming Students’ Guide » Academics

Academics

The YSE Office of Academic Affairs has three primary goals:

  1. To ensure all students achieve academic success and satisfaction
  2. The ongoing development and support of YSE’s degree programs and curriculum
  3. To aide faculty and the delivery of high-quality instruction

We are always happy to help with any questions or concerns! Never hesitate to contact us at academicaffairs.yse@yale.edu.


Meet the Academic Affairs Team

Registration

Registration for YSE students opens on Monday, August 18, with the preferred course registration deadline set for Tuesday, August 26. Official registration is done through the Yale Hub using your Yale NetID: https://yub.yale.edu/. 
 
Before registration, review the YSE degree programs site to review the academic requirements for your degree program. For a full directory of YSE’s courses, visit the Course Listings page, which includes descriptions and class times. It is recommended that you build a tentative course plan for your first year and beyond. Please note that course offerings and schedules can change over time, so it is important to double-check a tentative course plan with the most up-to-date course offerings.
 
MEM students should pay particular attention to the courses required for their intended specialization as well as Foundational Knowledge requirements. Before registration, each new MEM student will be informed of any unmet Foundational Knowledge requirements and pre-registered into the Fall 2025 Foundational Knowledge courses by the YSE Academic Affairs Office.
 
An updated video with full registration instructions for Fall ’25 will be shared with all incoming students this summer, but for those curious to see the Fall ’24 video, visit the Registrar’s page of YSE Resources and look for “Course Registration Instructions and Information Video.”

Academic Advising

Every incoming student will be assigned a YSE faculty member as an Academic Advisor. MEM and MF students can share their advisor preferences in the consolidated onboarding survey (shared in late April). Advisor assignments will be communicated to you by email before the fall semester begins.
 
*All MESc and MFS students either selected or were assigned Academic Advisors during the admissions process.*
 
An Academic Advisor’s role is to guide your overall program of study. This includes ensuring you fulfill course requirements as well as offering assistance on selecting and scheduling courses based on your past experiences, education, areas of academic interest, and professional goals. Because you are welcome to seek professional advice from any YSE faculty member, it is not crucial that the expertise of your Academic Advisor corresponds with your area of professional interest. Additionally, all students also have access to guidance from the Learning Community faculty coordinators.
 
After a student’s first semester, one may switch advisors pending their signed consent.
 
To help set good expectations with your advisor, all students are encouraged to review YSE’s Guide to Advising for Faculty and Students.

Learning Communities

YSE’s 10 Learning Communities (LCs) were created to offer robust interdisciplinary experiences and networks. They cut across media (e.g., forests, water) and strategies (e.g., business, policy). The Learning Communities serve as “targeted filters” to curate opportunities related to particular academic interest areas. Examples of work done by the LCs include hosting workshops, speakers, professional development opportunities, conferences, community building and networking events, new course development, etc.
 
Students may engage with as many Learning Communities as they choose, regardless of their degree program or specialization. The consolidated onboarding survey, which will be open for incoming students from mid-April to June 1, will collect incoming students’ interest in joining the Learning Communities, and students can also search and join YSE’s Learning Communities via YaleConnect. 

Teaching Fellow (TF) Opportunities

Learning how to teach is an important skill to develop and hone. TFs work closely with faculty to ensure high-quality learning, evaluation of work, and support for each course.
 
Teaching Fellowships are not a requirement for master’s students. YSE Ph.D. students have a teaching requirement and are eligible to fill TF positions first. Securing a TF position at YSE during your first semester is uncommon; however, TF positions may be more available at Yale College, especially in departments that align with your previous studies or experience. The process to apply is decentralized and on a course-by-course basis. It is up to you to proactively contact a department or faculty member to inquire about the availability of a TF position before classes start.
 
Please note that most TF positions are contingent on enrollment in the class, which means a position is not completely secured until the registration period is over and the faculty member knows exactly how many people will officially enroll in the class.
 
Yale Teaching Fellows are considered positions within Local 33, the Union of Graduate Teachers and Researchers at Yale. To learn more, visit: https://local33.org/
 
Courses with lower enrollment are ineligible for a Teaching Fellow; however, they are eligible to hire a Course Assistant. Course Assistants are non-union positions that help with the non-teaching elements of the class, such as administrative and logistical support.

Library

Students have access to the enormous holdings of the Yale University Library, which is comprised of over 15 million volumes, print and electronic. The library is committed to acquiring whatever books and journals are needed to support Yale’s teaching and research activities. Most YSE materials are located online and in the Marx Science and Social Science Library. Smaller, more specialized collections, such as the Henry Solon Graves Papers and the Rachel Carson Papers, are housed at Manuscripts and Archives (in Sterling Memorial Library) and the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library. The Librarian for Environmental Studies has an office in Marx and is available most weekday hours to aid students.
 
Overall, Yale University Library subscribes to over 1,000 databases. Library resources outside of Yale are accessed through the BorrowDirect service as well as Interlibrary Loan. As part of the Yale University Library system, the Librarian for Environmental Studies participates in all library services offered to Yale patrons. The Yale University Library supports both EndNote and RefWorks bibliographic data management tools, and the Librarian for Environmental Studies provides instruction in both. The School’s Library Research Guide is located at http://guides.library.yale.edu/yse. Feel free to contact the librarian directly to set up an individual session:
 
Librarian: 203-432-5912 (CSSSI C44)


All Yale University Libraries’ hours are posted at: http://web.library.yale.edu/buildings.

Home » Incoming Students’ Guide » Academics