Advising - Colorado College

Basic Information About Academic Advising

We try to assign you to a faculty member with whom you are taking a class in Blocks I and II and on the basis of your intended major. Your advising questionnaire and your course registration forms are essential to the assignment process (please fill it out carefully). Prior to arriving at the College in August you will be sent a letter by the Associate Dean of the College telling you the name, office address and telephone number of your faculty advisor. The letter will also include the FYE First Course in which you have been enrolled. Your initial faculty advisor may continue to advise you during your first two years at the College. We recommend that you not change your advisor until after the first semester. Once you declare a major, you are expected to seek out an advisor in the department of your major. The chair of the department can assist you in selecting someone to act as your advisor in the department. Students may change faculty advisors at any time by filling out a change of advisor form (available at the Registrar's Office), having both former and new advisor sign the form, and then returning the form to the Registrar for processing.

You will have your first official meeting with your advisor during New Student Orientation. Once you find out who your faculty advisor is, you may contact him or her personally (most easily, perhaps, by email) before arriving on campus. When your advisor is away from campus, you can speak to faculty with whom you have had a class (your First Course instructor(s) may be particularly useful resources), the department chair, or you may speak with the Registrar, Mr. Philip Apodaca, or the Associate Registrar (389-6610). You can also seek assistance from Dean Victor Nelson-Cisneros, the Associate Dean of the College (389-6686). Other resource persons include your Resident Assistant, Hall Director and FYE Student Mentor. How often you meet with your advisor is dependent on your own planning and initiative. You should see your advisor at least three times a semester. Be sure to seek out your advisor any time you have an academic or personal matter that you want to discuss. You often can get answers to your questions by phone or e-mail. Your advisor cannot help you if she or he does not know what issues and problems you are facing. Stay in touch! Planning is the key to accomplishing most of your interests and objectives while a student at Colorado College. Be committed to your education and be willing to work hard. Manage your time carefully.

Practical Wisdom from Susan Ashley, Dean of the College

• Connect to faculty members. Don't be afraid to nab them after class or check in during their office hours. They're busy (or seem so), but they also like to talk about their disciplines and most are interested in what you're thinking. Be sure to check with the professor if you're having trouble with the reading, with writing, or you're not sure how you're doing in discussion. Ask for some practical tips. Make them give you constructive suggestions, even (especially) if you're doing very well.



• Try to remember that the point of college is not getting a degree; it's getting an education. Focus on process--on thinking analytically, on writing convincingly, on speaking effectively (that is, asking questions as well as offering answers). Information you'll forget; with practice, ways of thinking and expressing yourself become part of you.



• Don't worry right away about a major. It's tempting to look for labels (major, double major) to wrap up your education. Before deciding, try subjects you've never tried and try ones you haven't liked one more time. The best preparation for a career and a job nowadays is not what you know but how you think. Any classes which force you to think in new ways and to develop analytical skills will give you an edge in the "dot com world".



• Branch out. Try some activities you haven't tried before. Take advantage of intramurals, fine arts opportunities, speakers and concerts. Cultivate a few skills and interests useful when you're older (and old).



• Try not to worry about making a lot of friends right away. Be patient and be open. Take some time to figure out which groups make you comfortable and which don't. You'll find like-minded people in the residence halls, class, and in activities--another reason to get involved.



• Use the Writing Center. The best writers can profit, so can the less-than-best.



• College is a rare opportunity for self-discovery. It's a time when you can figure out your values and goals and determine what you can and cannot change in yourself. A lot of people around you are also searching, so you have company. You also have time and many resources--books, friends, experts.



• Use College to develop a book list for the future--books you want to read and don't have time to read and books that you know you'll understand in a different way years down the road. In a way, the best you can get from College is a great book list and the ability and the confidence to read it on your own later.



• Bring earplugs. Get enough sleep.



• Live and learn applies to College; some lessons, though, you can learn without doing. Use your imagination and avoid deep trouble.