Advising

One of the faculty duties I found perplexing when I started my career was that of student advising. My personal experience as an undergraduate student was less than pleasant, so I wanted to do a good job, but I wasn’t sure where to turn. My department provided meLouis Vuitton Nil with some general forms to help guide me, and I reviewed the catalog fairly closely, but figuring out things like course rotations in other departments made me paranoid that I would fail to provide accurate advice.

I think that most students seem to want advisers who will merely "punch" their registration cards, providing them with the necessary passwords or whatever might be required for self-registration. A few seek advisers who will double as mentors, but most students seem to want the path of least resistance (and accountability). I have to say, though, that in my role as dean this creates one of the most significant headaches of my job: trouble-shooting either flawed faculty advising or wrong-headed self-advising. The stakes are high: Errors may cause students to remain in college for an extra semester or faculty members to teach directed studies as overloads.

How did you learn how to advise students? What improvements would you suggest for increasing the effectiveness of this important activity?

I am an assistant Professor who advises over 50 majors at a given time. This has been the case from almost the beginning of my time here due to the stretch in my department. A good amount of them see me as a mentor rather than the "punching card" and I pride myself in having been able to handle this work without major mistakes in the past. I would point the following tips Louis Vuitton Gucci lucyout of my experience:
1. Know the general requirements of the undergraduate degree, as well as the major requirements of your departments and the departments that represent the most common double major in your own. This took me some time, but now I am able to create semester-by-semester maps for students in showing what it would take to graduate on time with all the majors, minors and requirements they want. In doing this with students in their freshman and sophomore year, I have avoided issues other colleagues have in senior year.
2. Learn about all opportunities your campus offers: fellowships, grants, study abroad and so on. A good adviser not only punches cards. In my view there is bigger responsibility in understanding individual student's needs and talents and match them as best as you can with opportunities they may have but are not aware of.
3. Know your students in person, take time every semester to catch up with them and make sure you understand their goals and aspirations. You need to know the life that will be affected by any academic decisions you take. This is also related to one of the most important duties of an adviser: letter writing. If you cannot write a positive, individualized, detailed letter for any one of your advisees, you need to spend more time learning about that person.
4. Be friendly but not friends, be a mentor but not a parent. Students will develop a trust bond with you and will come to you for non-academic matters. Define Mother of Bride Dresseswhat is the acceptable line for you (and for your institution's policy). If you are in the position of harmlessly advising someone ("Should I go abroad with my friends or not?") do so, but otherwise refer students, particularly in cases of depression, grades slumps or family issues, to the appropriate counseling instances.

In general, I would say, know your institution and know the individual needs of your students. When you are able to match those two things in an organic way, you will become a successful adviser

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