Tools and Activities for Academic Advisors
Tools for Academic Advisors
- Academic Resources: A Guide for New Students and Advisors
- Week One Advisor-Advisee Picnic: Tips and Ideas
- Explanation of the General Education Requirements
- Four-year Planning Grid
- Assessing and Exploring Majors
- Piper Center’s Resources for Faculty and Staff
Suggested Activities for First-Year Advisees |
Time Frame |
|---|---|
Week One Picnic |
|
First Advisor / Advisee Meeting |
|
Early October |
|
Early October |
|
Early November |
|
March |
|
March |
|
March |
|
* These activities can be done effectively and efficiently in a small group format. The small group could consist of a specific advisor’s first-year advisees, the first-year advisees of several academic advisors or even the first-year advisees in an academic department
Suggested Activities for Upper-Class Advisees
- Planning Experiential Learning as part of a St. Olaf Education, Sophomore Year
- The Junior Year Audit
- The Senior Year Audit
Suggested Activities for First-Year Advisees
THE FACULTY ADVISOR'S ROLE* (Week 1 Picnic) Bring copies of the “Academic Advisors’ Roles and Responsibilities” from the Academic Advising Syllabus to the picnic with you. Discuss your responsibilities as an academic advisor with your new advisees.
THE ST. OLAF MISSION STATMENT AND GOALS FOR ST. OLAF (First Advisor/Advisee Meeting) Make copies of the St. Olaf mission statement for advisees and give them an assignment to complete prior to your first advisor/advisee meeting. Ask advisees to read the statement carefully and underline those specific sentences of the statement that speak most directly to their goals and dreams for their St. Olaf years. Advisees should make notes on why they were drawn to those specific parts of the mission statement. Discuss individual advisees’ responses at the first advisor/advisee meeting.
INTERIM AT ST. OLAF* (Early October) Ask new advisees to read the explanation of Interim in the Academic Catalog; schedule a group meeting to discuss the intent and structure of Interim. Discuss what to think about when choosing an Interim course and how to make the best use of Interim. Ask each advisee to name one specific thing he/she would like to do with one of the Interims.
RESPONSIBILITIES: ADVISEE AND ADVISOR* (Early October) Ask new advisees to read the sections on “Students’ Roles and Responsibilities” and “Academic Advisors’ Roles and Responsibilities” in the Academic Advising Syllabus; discuss the roles of both the advisor and advisee in a group meeting. Ask each advisee to indicate which of the advisor responsibilities is most important to him/her and why; ask each advisee which of the advisee responsibilities will be most difficult for him/her and why. (Include both this and the Interim topic in the meeting highlighted above to save time.)
THE GENERAL EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS* (Early November) Ask each advisee to read through the “Explanation of the General Education Requirements.” Discuss the intent of the GE requirements.
ACADEMIC GOALS (March) Prior to meeting to plan courses for Interim and Semester II, ask each advisee to think about his/her academic goals. Email the questions listed here to help each advisee articulate what he/she hopes to gain from a St. Olaf education. Discuss academic goals individually with each advisee before identifying potential courses.
DEGREE REQUIREMENT WORKSHEET (March) Use the Degree Audit Worksheet to guide advisees in their course planning. Though the worksheet may look like a checklist to students, it is helpful to encourage advisees to choose each course intentionally and thoughtfully – to strengthen the academic program, complement courses in the major, gain exposure to a new field of study – rather than selecting a course just because it fulfills one or more GE requirements.
FOUR-YEAR PLANNING (March) Introduce the Four-Year Planning Grid as a means of tracking courses planned for the coming terms. Ask each advisee to email his/her courses once registered so that you can record courses taken on your copy of the grid.
SOURCES FOR COURSE IDEAS * Discuss the many potential sources for suggestions about courses to take and professors to choose with your advisees. Ask your advisees to comment on the advantages and disadvantages of each. Discuss which students might choose over others and why.
ACADEMIC RESOURCES: A GUIDE FOR NEW STUDENTS AND ADVISORS* Assign advisees the task of becoming familiar with St. Olaf’s academic resources by using this brief questionnaire. Direct them to “Academic Resources: A Guide for New Students and Advisors” for assistance in locating the requested information.
Suggested Activities for Upper-Class Advisees
PLANNING YOUR EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING, SOPHOMORE YEAR
In a fall advising meeting, use the Experiential Learning Planner, available at the CEL, to help each of your advisees determine the types of experiential learning that will complement the student’s academic program and further his/her vocational exploration. Encourage each advisee to meet with a CEL counselor to identify and plan for specific activities.
Ask each advisee to complete the Degree Audit Worksheet, available on the Registrar’s website under Academic Resources, using the information in his/her degree audit from the SIS system. Remind advisees to bring the completed forms to a fall advising meeting.
Ask each advisee to share the Senior Audit completed by the Registrar’s Office in the fall. Remind each advisee to inform you of any change in registration after the formal registration period ends. Academic departments certify the completion of majors and concentrations; remind each advisee to consult departments to ensure completion of major/concentration requirements.
