Advising Program

Good academic advising is both an element and an extension of instruction: it enables the student to benefit more fully from the classroom and it can be an occasion for learning itself. Through the advising process, students can define and redefine goals and make intermediary plans to move towards them, evaluate and integrate past experiences, and come to productive assessments of their current status.

Components of Academic Advising

No single advisor can be expected to know all the information displayed in the categories below; however academic advisors and staff at Guilford are committed to providing advice and answers to questions that cover these areas:

1. The Purpose of College: including Guilford's values and standards, the overview of a liberal eduation at Guilford, the reason for and spirit of the academic requirements, and the standards for achievement.

2. Information Giving: advice and suggestions regarding course registration and schedule adjustment, degree programs, policies and regulations, and administrative procedures (such as drop/add).

3. Short-Range Program Planning: selction of courses by semester, planning for curricular changes and academic requirements, schedule adjustment based on prior performance.

4. Long-Range Program Planning: advice on major and degree completion details, consultation with students regarding career plan, porfolio building, internships, and graduate school planning.

5. Student Referral: suggestions for on campus offices to visit and services to utilize in an effort to meet students' needs on a variety of levels, e.g. counseling, housing, registrar, career center.

Academic Advisor Responsibilities

The responsibilities of the academic advisor at Guilford College have been defined as follows:

  • Keep regular office hours and be available to meet with students
  • Be familiar with the College's academic requirements for graduation
  • Be an active, responsive listener to address students' conerns and needs and make appropriate referrals
  • Maintain up-to-date knowledge about College academic policies and programs
  • Provide advisees information about courses, schedules, core requirements and major and minor (or concentration) requirements
  • Help students identify their program of study based on their abiltities, interests, and goals
  • Assist in securing additional academic support for students not performing at an appropriate level
  • Assist in the selection of courses and the planning of a major that are consistent with the student's academic background, abilities and interests, and personal commitments (work, atheltics, etc.) and the program demands
  • Discuss academic program alternatives for students seeking to change major or declare one
  • Discuss academic progress and grades, both interim and end-of-semester
  • Help students explore alternative learning opportunities, e.g., Internships (summer and semester) and Semesters Abroad
  • Identify special needs and make referrals to other services, staff, offices, and/or departments
  • Keep appropriate notes and documentation on the advising relationship and communications, advice on course selection, and student's career and academic goals and academic progress
  • Maintain and share academic records in manners consistent with FERPA requirements
  • Discuss student's academic performance and the implications for graduate and professional programs and career aspirations

 

Traditional First Year Advisors

First year students are assigned to an advisor who:

a)is a full-time faculty member who has been selected by the Director of the First Year Experience (FYE) in consultation with the Assistant Academic Dean for Advising and is prepared for the responsibility,

b) will teach the advisee in a First Year Experience course.  

There is the expectation of very close monitoring of academic progress by the advisor during the first, tenuous months of the college experience. Around the time of registration for the second year, the student who is not already assigned to a major advisor will continue with the current adviser or, with the assistance of that advisor, change to someone else.

CCE Adult Transition Advisors

The part-time faculty who teach the Adult Transition course, GST 101, serve as their students' academic advisor during the semester the student is enrolled in GST 101. These advisors recommend their students' placement in either English 101 or 102 or in Historical Perspectives, based on an assessment of the students' writing skills in GST 101, and their transfer credit, if any. In addition, for the semester subsequent to taking GST 101, these advisors emphasize registering their advisees in courses that fulfill general education requirements. Students are expected to select and move to an advisor in their major by the semester after taking GST 101.

Major Advisor

A major advisor is an individual within the department chosen by the student for the major, who will guide the student through both the College-wide and departmental requirements for graduation. Students not ready to select a major should, by the end of their first year, change to an adviser in an area of interest or an adviser who specializes in exploratory students.

Transfer Student Advisor

Transfer students will be assigned, when possible, to a major adviser in the student's expressed area of academic interest. Transfer students who have not declared a major will be assigned an adviser who will assist with course selection and, ultimately, assignment of the student to a major advisor.