Suggestions for Structuring the Conversation with New Advisees at Advisor-Advisee Picnic, Saturday, September 5, 2009:

As you think about what you will talk about with your advisees, keep in mind that they have spent all day traveling, unpacking, saying goodbye to their family, and moving into a new and strange environment.  They are scared, nervous, and alone.  For many, the main goal is to belong in this new place and meet people.  But because you are their academic advisor, they probably also have a lot of questions about what they will be taking this first term and may expect you to talk about this with them.

The picnic is really probably not the best time to get into the nuts and bolts of schedule planning, and it is probably not a good idea to begin advising students about their individual program (partly because it is part of their academic record and is thus confidential).  Remind students that you will be meeting individually with each student on Monday afternoon to get him/her ready for registration Tuesday morning.  Between Saturday and Monday, students will also have several opportunities to learn more about various departments and programs, and they will also attend a registration planning workshop, plus they will have opportunities to work with upperclass students on schedule planning on Monday morning.

Keeping in mind the place of the advisor picnic within the whole of Week One, here are some ways to direct the conversation.  These are suggestions; choose one or two, and feel free to adapt them to your own style and goals for the evening.

  1. Introduce yourself and talk about your own past experience of being a college student—where did you attend college, why did you go there, what did you study, how did you become interested in your field, how did you end up at St. Olaf?
  2. Encourage each advisee to introduce him/herself as well.
  3. You might go through the Week One brochure with the students, pointing out the logic of the way the week is put together and stressing the importance of the various meetings and sessions in orienting them to the campus, to their fellow students, to the liberal arts, and to a residential college experience.  In particular, remind them to attend the schedule planning workshop to which they are assigned on Monday morning!
  4. You could talk about what the liberal arts mean to you and to St. Olaf (perhaps referring to the mission statement) and mention informally some of the many opportunities available to students for broadening their education through experiential education, study abroad, extra-curricular activities, and so forth.
  5. You might talk with them about the value of exploring a wide variety of courses even if they think they know exactly what they want to do in the future; if they are very unsure of their goals, you might give them suggestions for exploring in an intentional way.  Mention that there is a website specifically for students who are exploring options and interests at: http://www.stolaf.edu/services/career/html/resource.html
  6. You can introduce them to the college’s vision of general education and help them to understand the purpose of St. Olaf’s general education requirements (not as something to “get rid of,” but as a structure that ensures that students have the kind of breadth we expect from a liberally-educated person graduating from St. Olaf College.
  7. You can talk with them about what it means to you to be an academic advisor and try to get them to understand that an academic advisor doesn’t just sign registration cards a few times a year.  In preparation, consult the St. Olaf Academic Catalog http://www.stolaf.edu/catalog/0910/academiclife/academic-advising.html and/or the Academic Advising Syllabus: http://www.stolaf.edu/services/aac/advisorforms.html 
  8. By all means, answer their questions, but try to steer the conversation so that it is beneficial to all students and not particular to one student’s situation.  Remind them that the Monday afternoon time with you will be an opportunity to delve further into questions that apply to them personally.
  9. Make sure they know where and when to meet you on Monday afternoon.

 

(8/09 MC)