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Roles and Responsibilities of Academic Advisors
Academic advising is a cooperative effort between the advisor, other program and related faculty, and the Student Support Services counselor. Designed to assist the college’s students in succeeding academically, academic advising recognizes the importance of student decision-making and sees others as support for the student’s personal goals and responsibilities.
Retention and support of students are critical during the first year of students’ enrollment at the institution and need to be continued throughout students’ educational programs. Students’ instructors and advisors have specific responsibilities for providing the services related to counseling and advising.
The advisors’ role in the student-centered advisement model at the college is to work cooperatively with the Student Support Services counselor and the Academic Success Center. The advisor receives appropriate training in the college delivery model to facilitate students’ progress toward reaching their educational goals.
The advisor has responsibilities in three major areas: academic support, registration, and graduation.
Academic Support
Advisors perform the following functions:
- Help students clarify their program choices and provide information to students.
- May provide personal contact that includes the advisor’s name and role. Advisors may make this contact by letter, note, phone call, or email to students after an application has been received. Additional mid-term contact regarding course registration/schedule is expected.
- Are accessible.
- Meet with students twice the first semester (once within the first three weeks and again before registration) and at least once each semester thereafter.
- Assist new students in registration and coordinate the registration of continuing students.
Once students have selected their program of study, they are assigned an academic advisor. New students are registered in Student Services with Counselors. After the first semester, students are advised by their assigned advisor.
Students should be encouraged to plan for the registration process. Students are required to set up appointments to meet their academic advisors during the advertised advising weeks. An advising hold is placed on each returning student that the advisor will remove once they have advised the student. Advisors are readily available to plan student’s academic progress during the advertised advising weeks or the final registration period. Advising can be done in person, over the phone, or through email. In addition, students may be advised by visiting the Academic Success Centers at other times.
Students will then register themselves, in Self Service, during the advertised priority registration weeks. Students are strongly encouraged to register during priority registration for two reasons. First, opening a second section during priority registration is easier if there is a high demand for a particular class. Second, classes are much less likely to be full, so the chances that students will get exactly the schedule they want are greatly improved.
If students are on financial aid, their records in Self Service should indicate the award. If the award is not found in Self Service students, they need to return to the Financial Aid Office.
Once students register with advisors, their spot is held until they pay their fees, have been awarded financial aid, or until the next deregistration occurs. Deregistration is a process performed by the Registrar that removes students from courses who have not paid their tuition and fees or made arrangements with financial aid to pay tuition and fees. This removal occurs at the following times each semester: the end of registration (the day before the new semester begins) and at the end of each day during the drop/add period. Students must pay their fees before the next deregistration is scheduled or start the registration process again. They may not get the courses they had originally registered for. Failure to pay is not a problem for students on financial aid since their tuition and fees are automatically deducted from their award.
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Graduation
Advisors perform the following functions:
- Assist students in reviewing their records of credits completed toward their certificate, diploma, degree, and graduation. Provide students with student employment services information at that time.
- Work with Student Services to have a system of providing an exit interview for all students near program completion to discuss jobs/career choices, goals, or additional training as desired.
A commencement exercise to award degrees, diplomas, and certificates is held at the end of the spring semester. The specific date for commencement is listed in the college calendar. All students receiving degrees, diplomas, and certificates are expected to attend commencement exercises. Students should see their advisor or Student Services for a “Graduation Application” the semester before they plan to graduate. Students must submit a “Graduation Application” to Student Services to be included in the graduation process.
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Self-Service
Self-Service is a one-stop shop for student planning, financial aid, grades, tax information, and billing statements. Students must use Self-Service to get their grades after each semester. All students are issued a Self-Service account when they register for their very first class. Students can access Self-Service by clicking on the Student Portal tab found on the College’s homepage. If you have technical questions about Self-Service, create a support ticket.
The following are tabs students can access through Self-Service:
Student Planning enables students to search and plan for courses, register for classes, communicate with advisors, and more.
Financial Aid enables students to check financial aid progress, link to forms, and a financial aid advisor.
Grades enable students to view their grades for previous semesters and midterm grades for the current semester.
Tax Information enables students to access important tax information online.
Student Finance enables students to access billing statements, which contain their class schedule.
All students must meet with or contact their academic advisor before registering through Self-Service.
Students receiving financial aid should not register for a course not needed in their program of study. Students who do so will be subject to withdrawal and/or repayment of tuition.
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