Being a Good Advisee, by Lucinda Rowe, '09
Every semester you have a mandatory meeting with your advisor to talk about the next semester and what classes you are thinking about taking. This should not be a painful and feared talk. There are ways to make the meeting as painless and easy as possible. Before talking to your advisor do some research into what classes you need to take and what classes you want to take. Look up all the courses available and see which ones sound interesting to you.
Your advisor will love you forever if you prepare two complete schedules of classes for the next semester. By preparing two schedules you are allowing for some leeway when you are registering for classes (for, undoubtedly, you are going to be unable to get into at least one of your classes at some point). You should also do a Degree Evaluation on Banner Web. This will tell you what requirements you have yet to fulfill. Depending on who your advisor is, you may need to print this off for them. Once you know you have some requirements that still need filling, it might be a good idea to look into those classes as well as the classes you want to take (but don’t go about thinking that you have to get them out of the way; a lot of the time the requirements are fulfilled through classes within your major).
Another thing to keep in mind is that you should always check your emails and read what your advisor has sent you (there is important information that is included; don’t just brush it off as stuff you already know). Also be sure to check the BUZZ and the academic calendar for important dates, such as when to register for classes, last day to add or drop classes, etc. On the website there is a link for new courses and honors courses listed for the upcoming semester; you might want to look at those to see if you are interested in any of them.
Of course, this is simply the formal aspect of how to be a good advisee. Being a good advisee is not simply about being prepared and knowing what you want to take. You should also be able to just talk to your advisor. Your advisor should be someone you can talk to easily and joke around with. If you are switching advisors because of your major, pick someone within the department you feel comfortable talking to. Here are some things you should be able to comfortably talk to your advisor about:
- roommate issues
- health problems
- studying abroad
- what kind of degree you want (e.g., art BA or BFA?)
- what classes you should take
- what you are doing over the summer (or any other break)
- your concerns about school
- a really funny story
- what your advisor plans on doing in the near future (art, research opportunities, conferences, etc)
- other school things (internships, independent studies, etc).
Remember; don’t hide from your advisor. If you need to talk to them about anything, they are more than willing to listen to you and help you!
Most importantly remember this: advisors are there to support you and respect what you want to do. However, you also need to be supportive of them. Arrive on time and prepared for your meetings and schedule your meetings in advance of registration. If you have ten minutes and are passing by, stop in and say a quick hello. They will appreciate knowing that you want to talk to them outside of scheduled meeting times.
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