Get to Know Your Advisor

Expectations

You can expect your advisor to listen and respond to your interests and concerns, to accept you as a unique person, to be reasonably accessible, to know policies and procedures and where to find information, and to be a personal resource for your academic, career and life goals. In turn, you are expected to initiate and maintain contact with your advisor; to discuss information that may affect your academic performance (such as work and family commitments); to learn basic University, college and departmental requirements, and to recognize your responsibility for meeting them; and to seek assistance when you need it. A good academic advising relationship promotes achievement of your educational goals.

Advisor Assignment

Go to your major department to be assigned a faculty advisor. If you are undecided about a major, you will receive advising from the Office of Advising and Orientation, Meriam Library 190.

Don't

Do

Avoid academic advisement as long as possible, or rely on friends and neighbors to tell you what you need to do.

Take advantage of the opportunity to talk with an expert even though you’ve talked with friends.

Wait until registration periods to see your advisor.

Make appointments when your advisor has more time for you, generally after the second week of classes and before the last four weeks of the semester.

Mislead or withhold information from your advisor.

Share information about educational and career goals; report any learning problems; tell about important success or failure experiences. Your advisor needs this information to help you.

Assume your advisor has all of your records.

Keep your own personal records and bring them with you when you see your advisor: GE evaluations, degree audits, transcripts from schools other than Chico, letters you have received from the University, etc.

Assume your advisor will tell you automatically everything you need to know.

Be assertive. Ask questions. It’s a good idea to write down some questions and bring them to your advising appointment.

Assume your advisor will remember what you talked about from one appointment to the next.

Keep your own notes. Remind your advisor of what you talked about at your last meeting.

Limp along with an advisor if the two of you don’t communicate satisfactorily with each other.

Request another advisor if you are not getting the assistance you need.

Assume that it is only your advisor who should be familiar with the university rules and regulations.

Take responsibility for reading about those rules and requirements which affect you. Most of them are published in The University Catalog.

Link to Academic Adivising Programs homepage On-line Learning Experience