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

Academic Advisors

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, or help in approaching a college instructor. Your advisor is the logical person with whom to discuss your thoughts about possible majors, 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.

A general academic advisor will:

• 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.
• Determine what transfer credit (including "departmental" credit) can be applied toward the concentration.
• 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 transfer 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.

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Meeting with your advisor

You have been assigned a general advisor who will meet with you during Orientation and act as your advisor on general academic matters during your time as an LS&A student. You are encouraged to meet with your advisor on a regular basis. Meeting with the advisor a couple of times each term is best, to talk about how you are doing in your courses, and to consider all the academic options available to you. Never hesitate to ask a question, to seek clarification about a requirement or a policy, or to discuss the academic expectations placed upon students in the classroom here.

When you want to speak to your assigned general advisor, you need to make an appointment. You can do this by calling (734) 764-0332 or coming in to the Advising Center in 1255 Angell Hall to arrange a time to talk. You can also ask some "quick" questions by sending your advisor an electronic message. Your advisor will be in regular e-mail contact with you through out the year to provide information on academic deadlines, suggestions of resources on campus, tips on how to be a successful student and lots more.

The LS&A Advising Center has several academic resources located in the residence halls. Advisors from the Center hold regular office hours in the residence halls each week beginning the first full week of class. Even if the advisor in your residence hall is not the one assigned to you, it is appropriate for you to stop in and
ask your questions of that advisor if it is more convenient for you. Also, an Academic Peer Advisor (APA) lives in each residence hall. This person is an experienced student who has been trained to provide basic academic information and who can give you good perspectives based upon what it is like to be a successful student on campus.

As you begin to explore concentrations (and, especially, once you decide on a concentration) you will begin to meet with a concentration advisor. This is an advisor from the department you have chosen who will help you understand the requirements of the concentration itself and learn about the activities and resources within the department.