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How to use an academic advisor, or, popular myths about advising

Academic Advisors

The first thing to know is that your college academic advisor is not like your high school guidance counselor. An academic advisor is one of the most important resources a student has on campus, especially one as large as the University of Michigan. In a university of this size, individual students must learn to take the initiative in their interactions with instructors, libraries, labs, etc., and they have to learn how to take charge of their education. Most new college students have not had much experience with these sorts of responsibilities; having an advisor to help you "learn the ropes" makes the way smoother and leads most quickly to success.

The advisor is your key to learning what is available here for you to use and how to make the most of these opportunities. This is a person you can turn to for help when you need direction, advice in planning your elections, evaluation of your study and time management skills, determination of the difference between high school and college courses, or help in approaching a college instructor. Your advisor is the logical person with whom to discuss your thoughts about possible concentrations, academic and career goals, or any uncertainty that you might have about where you want to go and what you want to do. Together you can plan how to make your LS&A degree truly a personal design, not just a formula degree.

It's a good idea to see your advisor on a regular basis. The more your advisor knows about you and your goals, the more useful the advice will be. To help you more easily find the time to see your advisor on a regular basis, the Academic Advising Center has arranged for an academic advisor to hold weekly office hours in your residence hall. It's a good way to get to know your advisor.

A general academic advisor will:

• Help you create an academic plan that will allow you to discover and pursue your academic interests.
• Inform you about degree requirements and college policies and procedures.
• Describe course options and useful campus resources.
• Help you learn better study and time management skills.
• Help you decide upon a concentration best fitted to your skills, interests, and future goals.
• Help you plan strategies to achieve your goals.
• Help you handle any academic difficulty you may encounter.
• Be a skilled contact in making the university work for you.

A concentration advisor will:

• Explain the concentration requirements.
• Waive concentration requirements or require additional course work depending on the background and experience of the individual student.
• Assess what courses are still needed to complete the concentration plan.
• Review residency requirements for students who may wish to complete some remaining courses out-of-residence.

An academic advisor cannot:

• Make your decisions for you - tell you what you should concentrate in or what classes you should take. Advisors can describe logical options for your circumstances and your aspirations and give you the information you need to make logical, informed decisions.
• Tell you what is a "good class." What makes a class "good" depends entirely upon your skills, interests, and goals. What's "good" for one student is not necessarily "good" for another.
• Help you very much with specific problems or situations if you wait too long to discuss them. Problems don't go away when you ignore them; they only get worse. Usually there are more options available to correct or improve a situation the earlier you address it.

LS&A Advising Resources

Our Mission

Consonant with Socrates' dictum that the unexamined life is not worth living, we encourage students to:

• examine themselves and the world around them
• explore the liberal arts curriculum, a curriculum which provides a forum in which students can question who they are and who they want to become by providing the opportunity to reflect on the various ways humans have lived and the questions they have found worth asking
• develop academic passions that they will want to pursue after they leave the University of Michigan.

The Academic Advising Center serves LS&A undergraduates by:

1. Helping them make informed decisions about educational goals and the LS&A curriculum.
2. Encouraging them to formulate an academic program appropriate to their individual interests and abilities.
3. Assisting them in evaluating their academic progress and performance.
4. Providing them accurate information about LS&A policies and procedures.
5. Furnishing them an opportunity to explore the purposes of a liberal arts education.

At Orientation students are assigned an LS&A general advisor who will tailor advice to individual students' needs. Students are encouraged to keep in close contact with their advisor throughout their undergraduate career and to get to know their advisor personally.

General Advisors
1255 Angell Hall * 764-0332

Available to discuss general degree requirements, rules, deadlines, procedures, academic plans and options, and study skills and strategies.

Concentration Advisors

Available to discuss particular requirements of each department's concentration. Appointments are generally made through individual departments.

Bachelor in General Studies (BGS) Advisors
1255 Angell Hall * 764-0332

Available to discuss requirements and the design of a Bachelor in General Studies degree.

Individual Concentration Program (ICP) Advisors
1255 Angell Hall * 764-0332

Available to discuss the Individual Concentrations Program (a concentration specifically designed by the student).

Pre-Professional Advisors
1255 Angell Hall * 764-0332

Pre-law, pre-med, and pre-business advisors are available to discuss options and entrance requirements for these graduate programs.

Specialty Advisors
1255 Angell Hall * 764-0332

Pre-Business, pre-architecture, pre-engineering, School of Education, School of Music, and Study Abroad advisors are available to LS&A students who are interested in those programs.

Students' Counseling Office (SCO) G150 Angell Hall * 763-1553

The LS&A Students' Counseling Office is staffed completely by undergraduates. Providing peer counseling, SCO presents students with an opportunity to share and receive experiences in an informal fashion. The office maintains such resources as course evaluations and examinations. SCO also stocks graduate catalogs from schools across the country as well as the latest in post graduation materials.

Residence Hall Advising

An LS&A academic advisor is assigned to each residence hall and holds weekly office hours on site.

Academic Peer Advisor (APA)

A trained peer advisor living in your residence hall is available to discuss basic academic information.

Academic Advising Center Directory

Interim Director
Louis Rice (lcrice)

Associate Director, First-Year Advising
Virginia Reese (vjreese)

Associate Director, Senior Services
W. Harry Marsden (hmars)

Administrative Assistant
Cathy Conway-Perrin (cconway)

Academic Advisors

Cindy Barhyte (cbarhyte)
Marge Carter (mlcarter)
Margaret Elias (melias)
Louise Freymann (pomona)
Beth Hackett (bhackett)
Jean Leverich (leverich)
Marty McClatchey (mmcclat)
Toni Morales (weena)
Marsha Pumroy (mpumroy)
Doug Shapiro (dtshapir)
Joe Summers (jsummers)
Wendy Woods (wwoods)

Specialty Academic Advisors

BGS, Tom Collier (tcollier)
BGS, Chalmers Knight (thinknow)
ICP, Helen Olson (hio)
Organizational Studies, Ruby Beale

Pre-professional Advisors

Pre-architecture, Bill Werner
Pre-business, Marl Horton
Pre-education, Ina Bell
Pre-engineering, Shawn Salata
Pre-law, Karen Wittkopp (klwitt)
Pre-med, Nancy Anderson (stfelix)
Pre-med, Wendy Wyte (wytewein)

Academic Standards Board Directory

Director
Chuck Judge (cjudge)

Assistant to the Board
Carolyn McCullum (cmpurple)

Board Advisors

Jeffery Harrold (jharrold)
Robin Stephens (robda)

Advisors' uniqnames are indicated in parentheses. You may e-mail any advisor by attaching @umich.edu to an advisor's uniqname. General questions also may be addressed to ask.lsa.advising@umich.edu.

Honors Office
1228 Angell Hall * 764-6274

Handles all advising for students in the LS&A Honors Program. (See page 9 for further information.)

Residential College Counseling Office
134 Tyler (East Quadrangle) * 763-0032

Responsible for academic advising and academic actions involving Residential College students. (See page 10 for further information.)

Comprehensive Studies Program (CSP)
G155 Angell Hall * 764-9128

Provides academic advising, mentoring and tutoring to minority and other LS&A undergraduates desiring supportive services. (See page 9 for further information.)

Academic Standards Board
1255 AH * 764-0311 or 764-0332

Members of the Academic Standards Board help students individualize their programs of study and may grant exceptions to College-level academic policies and degree requirements. A student may discuss with a member and, if necessary, petition in writing for a waiver or modification of College rules. (Honors students petition the Honors Program Office; Residential College students petition the RC Counseling Office.) They also administer academic discipline. The purpose of academic discipline is to help foster good performance and to protect a student's chance of graduating from the College. The Board has further responsibility for readmitting students dismissed because of unsatisfactory performance and for interpreting academic standards.

Academic Auditors
1401 Mason Hall * 763-3101

Check for the completion of all LS&A degree requirements once graduation materials have been submitted, inform students of their progress toward graduation, and authorize graduation. They can provide a Letter of Certification that requirements have been met and a degree will be awarded.

LS&A Academic Information and Publications
G411 Mason Hall * 764-6810

Offers current information about LS&A academic policies, procedures, LS&A courses, and LS&A closed course/section information. This information is conveyed in four ways: (1) a series of Newsletters; (2) the bulletin boards outside 1419 Mason Hall; (3) a telephone information system (dial POINT-10, or 764-6810); and (4) a website (http://www.lsa.umich.edu/saa). The Office of LS&A Academic Information and Publications is also responsible for publication of the LS&A Bulletin, Course Guides, and the First-Year Handbook.

Assistant Dean for Student Academic Affairs
1402 Mason Hall * 764-7297

Overall administration of LS&A Student Academic Affairs is the responsibility of the Assistant Dean. Policy and procedure matters are handled in this office, and academic judicial policy is administered by the Assistant Dean. This office also handles LS&A Scholarship requests and other exceptional situations which may arise in student/instructor relationships.

LS&A Scholarships
1402 Mason Hall * 764-7297

Undergraduates who have completed at least one term in LS&A may apply for LS&A Scholarships. Students must have a high GPA and must show financial need.