First-Year Advising

Meeting 1Why Are You Here?

First-Year Advising Folder Resources

Academic Advisor Student Information SheetStudent and Advisor ResponsibilitiesRegistration FAQ SheetDepartmental Listing

Student Services CenterCareers Services ResourcesImportant Dates

Academic Advisor Student Information Sheet

Filling out the Academic Student Information Sheet helps me get a sense of…

who you arewhat your background iswhat your plans arethings that may affect your academics and how I can assist you

Take a few minutes to fill out the form. Turn it in to me once completed.

Student and Advisor Responsibilities

Use your Student and Advisor Responsibilities Sheet to find answers to the questions below.

What are the Academic Advisor’s responsibilities?

What are the Academic Advisee’s responsibilities?

Who is ultimately responsible in ensuring you

meet your graduation requirements?

How can we best work together to fulfill our

responsibilities?

Time Capsule Letter

What are your expectations?What are your questions/fears/goals?What are you most excited about?What are you dreading the most?

Seal your letter in the envelope when complete and I will hold onto it until April.

You’ve had an entire summer and you may not have written much. It’s time to get back in the swing of things. Write a letter for your future self to read at the end of the academic year.

Liberal Arts Education

BroadEngagingWell-roundedProductiveCritical ThinkingConnected

InformedDiverseFree-thinkingCollectiveGrowingLifelong

What can they answer for me…

Academic AdvisorWhat are the General Education Requirements?Where can I find my prospective major requirements? If it is not my advisor’s discipline, where (from whom) can I get more advice?How do I choose classes?Where do I go to get help with my writing or find out about study skills?Where do I go for help with emotional issues that are affecting my school work?

ProfessorsWhat are the course requirements?What is the syllabus?What are their office hours?What is the best way to contact them (e-mail or phone)?I’m having trouble understanding a topicI need some guidance with my paper

Who do I go to for…Academic Services

Academic Rules and Regulations - Dictionary of Academic RegulationsExceptions to policies: late withdrawal, incompletes, course out of sequence, etc.Advising for students in academic jeopardy (probation, suspension)Tutoring and Study Skills

RegistrarTransfer/Dual Enrollment, AP, IB, Cambridge creditRelease of Information FormTranscriptsEnrollment VerificationAddress/Name ChangesDates and DeadlinesSchedule/registration issues

Who do I go to for…Student Life

ClubsOrganizationsLeadership opportunitiesVolunteer opportunities (OSACS)

Residence Life (under Student Life)Housing concernsRoommates

Counseling & Psychological ServicesStress and AnxietyProblems at homeProblems with friends, significant others, roommatesFeeling overwhelmedDepressionDon’t wait until you’re at a breaking point!

Health CenterIllness, Fatigue, etc.

Things to Know and Think About

Academic Calendar

Add/Drop Period

Print out your schedule every time you make changes

Plot out weekly commitments

Use a calendar to keep track of appointments and due dates

Look at the final exam schedule – “I have a plane ticket” or “I’m going to a friend’s wedding” will not excuse you from taking the final at the assigned time.

Attendance Policy

Faculty are entirely at their own discretion about whether or not to allow a student to make up missed assignments.

Class participation itself is an appropriate criterion for grading.

Contact Academic Services if you will be out for more than 3 class meetings and they will send a courtesy notification to all of your instructors. This is a notification, not an excuse. You must then contact the instructors personally to see how they will handle missed work/time.

Tip: If you do have to miss a class, do not ask the instructor, “Did I miss anything important?” Assume it’s all important.

There is no such thing as an excused absence.

Common Misconceptions Cleared Up

UMW has a variety of minors. You may decide to do one or more minors along with your major.Education is not a major. You major in something else and work toward your teacher licensure.Pre-Med, Pre-Vet, Pre-Dental, Physical Education, Criminology, etc. are not majors. Consult the current UMW Catalog to see what majors are offered. You may be able to arrange some special majors, such as Linguistics or Asian Studies. Please see the Dictionary of Academic Regulations for details.

Search UMW

Need a quick answer to something? Try using the Search box on UMW’s webpage. Toggle to People for contact information. You can find the link on all UMW webpages. Enter a keyword or name and you will find the information you are looking for.

Check out our website at www.umw.edu

EagleNet and E-mail

CHECK THESE DAILY:

University offices will use announcements in EagleNet to communicate with groups.

University offices will use your UMW Email for personal communications with you.

Using Your Academic Catalog

You each have a copy of your UMW Catalog, let’s learn how to use it by answering these questions together.

Where can you find a description of the Writing and Speaking Centers?What are they and how could you utilize them during the coming semester?How much does UMW tutoring cost?Where can you find information about the General Education Requirements for BA/BS Students?How many credits are required for… graduation? a specific major?What are some of the required courses?

Anonymous Questions

How about things like:What is a Registrar? Where do I go for tutoring?What is Experiential Learning and how can I fulfill this requirement?Can I approach my Professor after class?What is a syllabus?

Here’s your chance to ask any question you like, even if you think you’re the only one who doesn’t know. (You’re probably not the only one.) Write down your question and pass it up.

Individual Advising Sessions

Tomorrow, Friday, August 24…we will meet for individual advising sessions.

Please bring the following:Any questions you may haveA copy of your scheduleYour time capsule letter, if not completed now

Scheduling your appointment…

Upcoming Important Dates

August 31 Last day to add classes

September 14 Last day to drop a course without a “W” grade

September 21 - 23Family Weekend

October 26

Last day to change to/from Pass/Fail (please note P/F regulations - Dictionary of Academic Regulations) Last day to withdraw from a course without a grade “F”

October 8

Next First-Year Advising meeting #2