Role of the Advisor

Academic advising must be a cooperative effort between advisors and advisees.  In order to achieve this goal, advisors should:

Create an atmosphere of openness, caring, and concern where meaningful communication and trust exist.

      Listen constructively, attempting to hear all aspects of students' expressed problems

      Help students to clarify their values and goals.

      Assist advisees when they are not achieving in accordance with their abilities--

      helping them plan activities to correct their difficulties.

      Provide pro-active assistance to the academically underprepared student.

      Assist advisees in identifying career goals and objectives.

      Attempt to understand advisees' concerns from a student point of view.

      Make students aware of the full range of educational opportunities that are

      appropriate to their plans.

      Help students in academic difficulty recognize possible causes of their difficulty and suggest alternative courses of action.

      Encourage superior students to take advantage of special educational

      opportunities, i.e. interdisciplinary courses, honors program, etc.  Encourage them to explore double majors/minors, etc.

      Encourage first-year students to become involved with departmental clubs and

      campus activities.

      Schedule, post, and keep regular office hours for meetings with advisees.

      Set aside enough regularly scheduled time to adequately meet the advising needs

      of students assigned to them.

      Know University academic standards, policies and procedures in sufficient detail

      to provide students with accurate, usable information.

      Provide accurate information about general education requirements, academic

      programs, and graduation requirements.

      Refer students to other sources of information and assistance when referral seems to be the best student-centered response to be made.

      Maintain good records of conferences with advisees.

      Become familiar with the Buckley Amendment and the legal implications of

      academic advising.

      Maintain confidentiality of student records consistent with the requirements of the

      Buckley Amendment.

      Share his/her advising skills with new departmental faculty who may also be

      actively involved with advising.

      Actively participate in departmental and University-wide in-service advisor

      development programs.

      Encourage student feedback on the effectiveness of his/her advising.

      Become knowledgeable about financial aid guidelines and the impact on academic progress.