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Meeting Your Advisor
Academic Advisement is more than the simple
dispensing of information about degree requirements, policies,
and procedures. It is an interchange between you and your
advisor to help plan your academic program and to tailor your
academic program to your career goals. Advisement requires
you and your advisor to know where you are in your college
education at any time. The College believes it has
a responsibility to provide you with an academic advisor, and
to be sure the two of you meet every semester.
Here are the ways to meet your advisor:
- Freshmen are required to take an Academic Planning Seminar, as a first step to planning your schedule of classes. (For those of you in Delta College, DCC 100 is the equivalent course; Transition or the Educational Opportunity Programs, GEP 120 is the equivalent; Honors program students have HON 112.) The seminar's instructor will be your academic advisor until you choose a major. Once you declare a major, you will have an advisor from that department.
- Transfer Students are assigned an advisor from within your major department. Don't forget, these only get assigned when you formally declare your major! So make sure you stop in to either your department or Academic Advisement and fill out the Major Declaration form. In addition, if you declare a second major, minor, or are accepted into a teacher certification program, you are assigned an advisor from each program. If you are undecided and wish to postpone declaring a major, you should visit the Office of Career Services for advisement. Once you have declared a major, you will be assigned an appropriate advisor from your new major department.
- Your advisor's approval is required and is demonstrated by a signature on the Undergraduate Advisement Form (for in-person registration) or use of your advisement key number (for web registration) before registering for any course for the succeeding semester.
- What happens if you choose to take different courses than those you and your advisor have agreed upon? Nothing. Your advisor is offering advice, not issuing an order. You have the right, in the final analysis, to take what you please, provided it does not contradict College policy. However, it does mean that if you make a misjudgment in your selection, you will have to take full responsibility. If this occurs, we will help to minimize the damages. College is like the rest of the world in this respect: When you make choices, you have to be ready to live with the consequences.
- What if you don't like your advisor or you don't think you are getting the advice you need? Think hard about this one. Maybe talk it over with a friend or a faculty member whose opinion you value. After careful consideration, if you are convinced that you could benefit by an advisor change, speak with either the department chair or the department's advisement coordinator. You may have a faculty member in mind, and may feel comfortable making a specific request, provided it was discussed in advance with your intended advisor.
