Advising Philosophy

Biology and Zoology advising is organized around the conviction that students should be actively engaged in their education, as well as the planning and decisions needed to reach their goals. From the beginning, advising focuses on educational and professional goals, and advisors work to suggest opportunities that are important to being successful in those areas. However, advisors will never know everything, and students should also actively seek out information on their own. Advisors are there to assist students, but students bear the ultimate responsibility of being aware of requirements and utilizing appropriate resources and opportunities to meet their needs.

You should

• Understand that you are ultimately responsible for the success of your education.
• Ask for help when you need it and utilize appropriate campus resources to ensure your success.
• Make appointments in a timely fashion to avoid crises and cancel appointments that cannot be kept.
• Come to all appointments prepared with a completed MyDegrees planner and be ready to actively participate in the meeting.
• Keep an advising file where you track career and professional development opportunities and ideas.
• Provide accurate and truthful information when being advised.
• Actively research information and discuss any questions with your advisor.
• Follow up on plans-of-action identified during advising sessions.

Your advisor should

• Assist students in developing education, life and career plans.
• Provide timely and accurate information.
• Assist with academic success issues.
• Assist with career exploration.
• Assist with appropriate course choices.
• Assist with choosing and integrating appropriate extra and co curricular activities such as research, internships, volunteering, and study abroad into education requirements.
• Assist with monitoring progress toward educational/career goals.
• Sign forms that require an advisor signature and recommendations as appropriate.
• Discuss graduation audits and requirements.

Your advisor will not

• Plan out all of your courses. Advisors will provide feedback on plans you develop, but you have an important part to play in choosing what you find most engaging. Not all choices are about what is required.
• Know everything about all careers. Your advisor will provide feedback on ideas, but generally you will need to engage in further research through reading, orientation classes, shadowing, volunteering, informational interviews and other resources. You should be working on and thinking about this task frequently and discussing what you discover with your advisor.
• Solve all of the challenges you encounter. Your advisor will frequently need to refer you to other services on or off campus based on the situation you are dealing with.