The Advisor's Responsibilities
Advising students is an important aspect of a faculty member's responsibility. Academic
advisors should be prepared to offer their advisees any combination of the following types of
assistance, depending on the student's individual needs:
- Setting educational goals, both long and short term.
- Acquiring accurate information about such topics as degree requirements, scheduling classes, switching majors, using the enrollment system, using the drop/add process, exploring postgraduate educational opportunities, and exploring career options, etc.
- Providing referrals to other campus agencies, including University Counseling Center, Career and Employment Services, Financial Aid Office, Degree Checking, Transfer Evaluation, etc.
The academic advisor is also responsible for being available to advisees at reasonable times, allowing advisees adequate time to discuss all their concerns, and conveying to their advisees a caring personal interest.
The Advising Process
English Department faculty volunteer or are assigned to advise
undergraduate students in:
- the Bachelor of Arts
- the Bachelor of Science in Education in English
- the Undeclared Majors programs.
The Director of Graduate Studies advises all graduate students in the English Master of Arts program. The Department Secretary directs advisees to the appropriate advisor. Students who do not have an advisor are assigned to one by the Department Secretary.
- Two weeks in advance of registration, the Department Secretary furnishes faculty advisors with student advisement sign-up sheets. Faculty cross out times they will not be available due to classes, etc., and post the sign-up sheets on their doors. Thirty minutes are allotted to each advisement appointment.
- Students reserve advisement appointments by writing their names on the sign-up sheets.
- Faculty advisors obtain advisement folders from the file in the English Office for advisees who have scheduled appointments.
- Faculty advisors meet with students at the appointed times to select courses and to have other advisement-related dialog (see above). Course selections are planned using the appropriate Program Guides.
Students may enroll at this time from the advisor's computer
or
the advisor may furnish students with advisement passwords with which they can enroll on their own from any networked computer. Students having problems with the online enrollment system should see the Department Secretary. - Faculty advisors give a copy of the Academic Advisement Evaluation Questionnaire to each advisee and encourage the student to fill it out and return it to the Department Secretary. Copies of the questionnaire may be obtained from the Department Secretary.
- Faculty keep a record of each advisement session using either the Advisor's Record of Academic Advising Session or the Academic Advisement Log Sheet. Copies of these forms may be obtained from the Department Secretary.
- Faculty return their advisees' folders to the file in the English Office.
