Advisor Meeting Preparations

Advisor Meeting Preparations

The Advising Committee has prepared the following guidelines for undergraduate academic advising.

Best Practices:

  • Have dedicated advising hours; increase availability during peak advising times.
  • Schedule advising appointments to accommodate a variety of students’ schedules in relation to the academic calendar.
  • Send students reminders about when they need to schedule appointments and encourage them to see all their advisors.
  • Meet with current students at least three times per semester (recommend week 1, 5 and 10) to coincide with pre-exam time period.
  • Require or encourage students to complete/update an academic plan including when they intend to take which courses and bring it to appointment.
  • Discuss students’ responsibilities in advising such as preparing calendars and reading emails.

General:

  • Provide arts and DLA advising in one advising session so that students do not need to make multiple advising appointments or see different advisors.
  • Discuss unsatisfactory mid-term grade notifications, semester warning alerts, implications of academic probation, and refer to academic support resources (refer to Advisor Manual).
  • Discuss undergraduate research opportunities, support systems, study abroad, internships, and other forms of experiential learning.
  • Encourage engagement in the University and local community (e.g., clubs, student government, recreation, community service).
  • Demonstrate that you care about the students’ academic success and be patient.
  • Communicate regularly with students through emails about appointments and appointment preparation.
  • Ensure that students have access to updates curriculum worksheets and information on departmental websites.
  • Utilize departmental worksheets for arts and DLA requirements.
  • Participate in advising workshops for faculty, provided by the University.
  • Evaluate your advising and make improvements by seeking students’ input through appointment surveys.

Time-to-Degree/Withdrawals/Repeats

  • Address time-to-degree by advising which courses need to be taken immediately and which can be taken later for proper progression.
  • Review entire transcript to ensure students have not repeated credit for equivalent coursework. This includes courses repeated at UNCSA and TR/AP/IB credit (together with transient study).
  • Inform students about possible pitfalls of changing disciplines (e.g., time-to-degree; tuition surcharge; financial implications).
  • Discuss consequences of withdrawing (from a single course and/or the University) and repeating a course; help them to understand the consequences (e.g., time-to-degree; tuition surcharge; financial implications; unique consequences per college/department). Send emails regarding these topics as appropriate.
  • Assess students’ progression toward degree.
  • Have students leave advising appointment with a plan to enroll in the exact courses needed to graduate.
  • Encourage students to consider summer school as a method to staying on track.
  • Discuss plan for finishing before reaching 140 attempted hours (tuition surcharge).
  • Continue to make appropriate referrals in relation to career exploration and career development.