Academic Advisor Assignments for Students

All students in Letters and Sciences have assigned academic advisors. This academic advisor will become the student's point of contact for advising and a resource for direction to many other campus offices. It is a student's responsibility to stay in contact with his or her advisor during the upcoming semesters; however, advisors will from time to time send emails out alerting students to their responsibilities in regard to academic planning. All advising takes place through individual, one-on-one appointments. We do not offer walk-in service to students, as walk-in advising does not fulfill the need of students and advisors. It's much better for students to have a specific time with their advisor, where the advisor's focus will be completely on the students he or she may have in the office.

Who is My Advisor? (Assignment of Advisor Caseloads)
Academic Advisors call the group of students assigned to them "advising caseloads." It just means the specific group of students for which the advisor is responsible. The National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) recommends University advisors average about 300 students per academic advisor. Because of the nature of our students (first-year, undecided, etc.) our academic advisors have caseloads even smaller than the recommended amount. This means that freshmen students at Maryland in LTSC have even more access to their advisor than the national average...if students take advantage of the program. Advising in Letters and Sciences is mandatory. Planning is important!

Advising appointments early in the semester is key! Because students have some advising assignments to perform during the semester, and because schedules fill up extensively late in the semester, students who attend to advising responsibilities early have very little concerns when it's time to register for the following semester.

When Do I Hear About the Name of My Advisor?
On Monday, September 19th, caseloads will be set for the upcoming semester. Typically, the academic advisor assigned to a student will remain with them through the student's time in LTSC. Occassionally, a staff member may move on to another position at Maryland or beyond the University and that student will be reassigned to another academic advisor with our office. Regardless, it is at this point (when an advisor first introduces herself or himself) that a student "has an advisor" and can make an appointment to speak with his or her advisor when he or she wishes to do so.

During the week of September 19th, every advisor in LTSC will be sending emails out to their caseloads. The letter they send will look something like this:

Introduction Email

Dear Student,

My name is xxxxx xxxxxxx, and I will be your academic advisor in Letters and Sciences (LTSC).  Please read the entire email to ensure that you get all the necessary information.

All students in LTSC are on mandatory advising.  Depending on your status, students are required to meet with me at a minimum of one, two or three times.  Please read below to see which category you fall into as well as additional requirements:   

• ·         New to UM (freshman or transfer) and those with fewer than 30 credits:

o    At least two (2) appointments

o    Four semester plan, http://ltsc.umd.edu/FourSemPlan.pdf

o    Exploration activity, http://ltsc.umd.edu/exploration.pdf

§  If enrolled in UNIV100, CPSP118_, HONR100, GEMS100, HHUM105, HEIP100, HDCC105 you are exempt from this.   

• Continuing students (not in your first semester) and with 30 or more credits  

• At least one (1) appointment

• Current/accurate four semester plan.  See http://ltsc.umd.edu/FourSemPlan.pdf if you need to revise. 

• New exploration activity as discussed with your advisor

• Change of major plan (for those approaching 60 credits)

• ·         Probation or Dismissal students:

o    At least three (3) appointments – schedule first appointment by 9/28/2011

o    Updated four semester plan, http://ltsc.umd.edu/FourSemPlan.pdf

o    New exploration activity, http://ltsc.umd.edu/exploration.pdf

Please call 301-314-8418 to schedule your appointment as soon as possible; the sooner you see me, the better.  Bring with you the forms indicated above.  Please note that I do not make appointments via email and if you are unable to make a scheduled advising appointment, call and cancel your appointment in advance.  If you are 10 or more minutes late for your appointment you will be required to reschedule.  Please look for weekly advising emails that will include important dates, academic policies, winter/summer course information and available campus workshops.  

In the meantime, please email me any questions or concerns that you may have.  I look forward to seeing you very soon. 

With that letter, the stage is set. Students now have academic advisors, are aware they will have responsibilities for the semester, and should work on those planning steps early in the semester.

What Happens During Appointments?
Generally, students will have at least 2 appointments their first semester at Maryland. The first appointment tends to be one in which the advisor and student get to know each other, the advisor outlines what the assignments are to be completed by the student and any initial questions are asked and answered. It takes one half hour, and students are reminded that they can come back in as much as they wish and for as many times as they make appointments.

During the second appointment, students usually have completed a "four semester plan" and "exploration activity."  The advisor and student talk about the academic plans; and, in most cases, the advisor then clears a student's "registration block" so that student is able to register when his or her assigned time comes up later in the semester.

I will discuss these appointments in more detail in a future blog.

For now, the biggest thing an advisor wants to do is introduce themselves to their new students and ask that those students begin making their first appointments. It's often difficult to get many of these students in early, as they do not know the value of this piece of their planning while at the University.

The second thing a  student soon realizes is that Academic Advisors are NOT High School Guidance Counselors. Academic Advisors will NOT pick courses for a student, pick majors for students or complete any work for a student. Advisors will point out to a student the resources he or she will need to complete a "four semester plan" and "exploration exercise," but advisors do not perform this work themselves. Students must take this first step in being accountable for their academic experience and learn how to plan for future courses, make "major" decisions and pull together all the resources they need to so by themselves. It's assured an academic advisor will be available to assist students in synthesizing what students are discovering as they move through the journey, but at no time will the advisor take over the reigns of that process.



**NOTE** Students in UNIV100 may not necessarily be required to see their academic advisor twice through individual appointments, although the opportunity is always there for a student. Because these students see their advisors in class (UNIV100) each week, much of the advising work is already being done as a part of the course. **NOTE**