Working with your academic advisor

Academic planning involves an ongoing conversation between advisees and their academic advisors. Upon arriving on campus for New Student Orientation (NSO), each first-year student meets with his or her assigned pre-major faculty advisor, frequently one of his or her teachers that first semester (transfer students are generally assigned to a department chair). By the second semester of the sophomore year, every student must then select a major advisor in that major’s department or program. Throughout this four-year advising process, students find their college experience to be the most rewarding and stimulating when they themselves take charge of their education. Your faculty advisor will indeed expect you to be proactive! Typically, it is the advisee’s responsibility to initiate contact with his or her advisor, as it is that advisee’s responsibility to arrive at advising appointments on time and well prepared—for example, with a list of prospective courses for the coming semester. The advisor in turn must be accessible and take responsibility for providing each advisee with academic assistance and accurate information.

Advisee Responsibilities:

• Assuming ultimate responsibility for his or her education and academic program
• Establishing an active, academic relationship with a faculty advisor
• Scheduling advising meetings
• Knowing and understanding the College’s academic programs and policies
• Choosing a major advisor within the major’s department or program

Advisor Responsibilities:

• Knowing and understanding Lewis & Clark’s academic programs and policies
• Understanding the registration process
• Meeting personally with advisees during the advising period for registration authorization
• Being accessible through scheduled advising appointments, office hours, telephone calls, and emails
• Helping to guide the advisee’s academic and intellectual journey
• Knowing the variety of academic support services available to students
• Understanding the mandates of the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 as Amended (FERPA)