What is the Role of a Faculty Advisor?
Establish a caring working relationship with your advisees.
Remember that academic advising is an extension of your teaching that continues throughout the year. Scheduling classes is only one small aspect of advising.
Help students to clarify their goals.
Initiating a discussion with your advisees about their goals will enable you to provide them with more meaningful advice as they make their academic plans.
Encourage students to begin planning for their future career.
Planning for one’s career is not something a student should begin in the senior year. It is a process that can start in their first semester on campus. Urge students to access the opportunities offered by advisors in the Career Connections Center.
Relate interest and abilities to plans.
While it is important to encourage your advisees to take on challenges, it is also important that their decisions have some basis in reality. Sometimes a student’s interest in a subject may far exceed their ability.
Assist advisees in exploring and selecting majors.
Review departmental requirements with students as they explore potential academic directions. You’ll find program details for each major, minor, and concentration in the academic catalog.
Help students select appropriate courses for their academic plans
Courses that meet the requirements for Clark Core are an excellent way to expose students to a variety of academic disciplines. Encouraging students to meet as many of these requirements as they can in the first two years will provide them with a strong foundation and an introduction to the breadth of academic study.
Monitor students’ academic progress.
Advisors play a crucial role in celebrating students’ strong academic performance, as well as identifying steps to take when academic improvement is needed. Faculty will be able to review advisees’ academic performance through the mid-semester feedback survey and end of semester grades and utilize these insights to provide appropriate next steps.
Encourage students to get involved in campus activities.
Students involved in co- and extra-curricular activities are more likely to establish a sense of connectedness to Clark and are, therefore, more likely to be engaged across Clark through and beyond graduation.
Refer students to campus resources when appropriate.
Recognize when an advisee needs the assistance of another professional on campus. Facilitating the connection between your advisee and an appropriate campus resource is an important role that advisors can play.
Recognize that you are not alone in this endeavor.
You have the support of the DOC and DSS staff who add to the advising experience; professional expertise in the areas of academic advising, student accessibility, counseling, academic coaching, First Year Success Advising, study abroad, peer tutoring, and writing assistance.
Should you need to review the academic catalog for the details of these policies, you can find them here.
Academic Advising Center
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Alumni and Student Engagement Center, Room 214
939 Main Street
Worcester, MA 01610 - 1-508-793-7468
- advising@clarku.edu
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Monday – Friday
9 a.m. to 5 p.m