Advising: Expectations and Philosophy [The following text is an adaptation of Anne M. Hunter's article "The Undergraduate
and the Academic Advising System: What is Realistic to Expect from your Academic Advisor?"
(MIT: 1996)] | Meeting your advisor | What NOT to expect | Availability | What to talk about | Knowledge of administrative
procedures | Why the advisor is important | Step 1: Meet your advisor To begin with, it is helpful if the advisor has a chance to meet with you outside of
the rush of last minute deadlines and other distractions. It is up to you to initiate the
first contact by calling or emailing your advisor to set up a time to meet. We also
recommend that you determine the name and office number of the administrative staff person
who supports your advisor in case you need further assistance locating or getting in touch
with your advisor. Dropping in on an advisor between classes is perhaps the least
effective way to establish a good advising relationship. So pick a time that works for
both of you and plan to talk about the academic issues that are foremost on your agenda. [top] What NOT to expect! Your advisor is not the oracle of all wisdom. Be clear about what it is that you are
asking your advisor and be prepared to discuss options that you have already formulated
and thought through. If you don't get the answers you are looking for from your advisor,
you may not be asking the right person. Students who expect their advisors to become close personal friends are often
disappointed when that doesn't happen. In general, advisors are limited to discussing
academic issues. While other issues may come up in discussion, advisors may not always be
willing or able to respond effectively. When in doubt, just ask. Other students become frustrated with the advising process and attempt to by-pass it
altogether. "I just need my advisor to sign my form." This a risky approach that
can go wrong in any number of ways. Whether it is a belated need for an advisor's
recommendation on a graduate school application, or the endorsement of a simple petition,
circumstances have a way of reframing the importance of the advising relationship.
"Virtual" advising is no substitute for the real thing, so don't expect much
from a system that you failed to use properly. [top] Availability The student should expect the advisor to be available by appointment, during the
regular term. The student should NOT expect to be able to drop by at random times and find
the advisor in and willing to be interrupted. The advisor's secretary is usually the
person to see to set up an appointment. If there is no secretary or the secretary does not
keep the advisor's schedule, the student should learn from the advisor when office hours
are held or when the advisor can be reached to make an appointment. Advisors will
be out of town from time to time, even on Add and Drop Dates. While we encourage advisors
to be available at such times, students should never assume that their advisor will be in.
Always make an appointment about a week ahead of time. Students should not be overly upset
at being "stood up" occasionally. Professors really can be absent-minded, and
plans do change. Keep making appointments. In our experience, students are prime offenders
in this regard, no-showing or being very late as much as a third of the time. Try not to
forget your appointments. All advisors are very busy. In addition to teaching, they have many other demands on
their time: meetings, research deadlines, travel commitments, proposals and reports to
write, etc. However advising is an important part of their job, and one they should take
seriously. Some of our very best advisors are our very busiest. What is important is not
how busy an advisor is, but what priority he or she gives to students. Occasionally an
advisor will be out of town, or too busy to see advisees. But an advisor should make time,
usually within a week, to see an advisee. Students should not expect their advisors to take all the initiative. Advisors will not
usually contact students just to see how their term is going. Students are actually much
harder to reach than faculty. Fellow students don't take messages reliably, and mail often
goes astray. Students often don't realize how hard they are to track down. At the
beginning of the relationship, it is an excellent idea for the students to make a special
effort to reach out to their advisors, making an appointment or two to ask questions about
the advisor's research area, the Department's major research areas, and the theory behind
the major requirements, etc. Your advisor is a better person to ask about these sorts of
things than your fellow students or even graduate students. If you get to know your
advisor well at the beginning, there is more of a chance to start an excellent advising
relationship. It would be nice if advisors would make the effort themselves, but most of
them need to be encouraged. The student should take responsibility for initiating contact,
and feel brave enough to be persistent. [top] Sample Conversation Starters Here are some examples of questions that might help you to break the ice and get into a
conversation with your new advisor. Don't be embarrassed to sound like you don't know it
all. Go ahead and ask lots of questions. - I've heard of all these "areas", or "sections" of the department.
Can you explain the department's structure to me? How do these areas work and when are
they important?
- It's clear to me why I have to take "Intro to X" and "Advanced X"
and "X Lab", but why does department X also require all these other subjects,
some of which aren't even in department X, and have nothing to do with X, so far as I can
see? What's the rationale behind the department's undergraduate program?
- Where did you attend college?...What was it like then? How has it changed?...What was
your college like? How is it different from this school?
- I'm interested in computer theory, but I've heard that you need a Ph.D. to get a neat
job. Is that true? Are there other, maybe related, areas where you can do nifty things
with a Bachelor's? Could you tell me about them, and who to go talk to for finding a
[project] in one of these areas?
- What courses do you teach? Do you like teaching undergraduates or graduate students
best? What kind of research are you doing? What is it really like doing that? Do you work
alone, or with a group?
[top] Administrative Procedures While advisors are encouraged to be familiar with department and college administrative
procedures, many of them are extremely impatient with bureaucracy and paperwork, a failing
with which most students should sympathize. Advisors should be able to point students in a
reasonable direction to find out about policies and procedures, but students should expect
to do their own legwork. Similarly, advisors are not ultimately responsible for saving
students from administrative disaster. Don't expect your advisor to warn you about every
possible pitfall. Read all the guides to policies and procedures published by your
department very carefully, and keep them handy. Each student must take
responsibility for his or her own paperwork. Don't expect your advisor to save you, or
blame him or her for failing to notify you about some petition or form you need to file.
You, not your advisor, are responsible. Students often expect to be able to drop off petitions, forms and Add/Drop [forms] with
the advisor or his or her secretary, and assume that the advisor will sign them and
see that they are sent on to the appropriate office. This is asking for disaster. Always
check back to see that the advisor signed your form, and take charge of getting forms
where they belong. Otherwise papers will be mislaid and forgotten, or sent to the wrong
place. [top] How Important is the Academic Advisor? Why? Almost as many students underestimate the importance of the advisor as expect too much.
This leads them to ignore their advisor, to assume that their advisor is just for signing
forms. They take no initiative to see their advisor, and may see them for as little as
five minutes a term. Your advisor can make your time in the department easier, and help
you get into graduate school, get jobs, etc. - Your advisor is your primary resource, your best "entree" into the
department, the best person to explain to you the Department's structure, and the best
person to help you solve serious problem, and refer you to other faculty for projects,
etc.
- In the event of academic disaster, your advisor is the person who recommends what action
(e.g. [college] Warning, Department Warning, or Required Withdrawal) should be taken.
While college officials may not follow the advisor's recommendation, they will listen and
consider it seriously. Advisors are naturally more enthusiastic about
"defending" a student whom they know well, in whom they have invested some
interest, and whose problems they know about. Therefore you should keep your advisor
informed about any major problems you have during a term, such as illness, family
difficulties, etc. If you are doing poorly, talk to your advisor about your situation
early and often. If you end up having done badly don't wait for communication from your
advisor, the Department, or the [college]; get in touch with your advisor as fast as you
can and discuss your grades thoroughly. If you've already left the area, call or write.
Advisors really want to know what happened so that they can represent you at the meetings
knowledgeably. If you've established a good advisor relationship, this will come a lot
more naturally.
- Letters of Recommendation. To apply to various special...programs...you will need a
letter of recommendation from your advisor...If you start out right away really making an
effort to get to know your advisor, giving the advisor a chance to find out what kind of
person you are, the letter will be more personal and helpful. You will need
recommendations later, for graduate schools and jobs. If your advisor can only comment on
your academic record, the letter does little but rehash your grade report. This won't be a
very positive comment on your personality, which, since it includes important factors like
drive, persistence, creativity, etc., is crucial to things like graduate school admissions
and jobs.
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