Advising Guidelines
Resources for Advising
- Advisors' Manual
- Catalogs - This shows current and past UMD catalogs. Use this to look up the requirements listed in the catalog under which your candidates were admitted when they came to UMD.
- Class Schedule
- Program Planning Worksheets - This is part of the Advisors' Manual, but it's useful to have the link listed separately for quick reference.
Portfolio
- Use Portfolio to view your advisees' records. It is a good idea to
pull
this up before you meet with your advisees, and have their portfolio
and electronic APAS on your computer screen during your advising session
(so you can refer to it during the meeting). To do this, go the the
Portfolio page.
- Login (using your faculty email login and password).
- Click on "View" link.
- Click on "Advisor View." This brings up a list of all
your advisees.
- Click on the name of advisee to review his/her records. This
opens the Personal Information view. You can link to specifics
on the
student's personal information. Key links include:
- Student's photo: You can copy this and paste it into
you own
advising records.
- Education link: This takes you to a page
listing the student's major, any holds, tracking
information, registration
information and APAS (Academic Progress Audit System) report.
- View APAS:
- APAS: This link takes you to
a screen with a brief summary.
- Request
Generation of an APAS Report: This link will open a new
screen showing the student's current APAS (it is generated
when you
click
this link, so you know that it is the most current, up-to-date
version possible). This online APAS is very useful when advising
because
it shows in color the areas that the student has not yet completed.
Tips for Advising
Record Keeping
You should keep accurate records
on the content of your meetings with your advisees. You may do this
on a piece of paper in a hard copy advising folder, or you can keep
these electronically on your computer (either in a database program
such as FileMaker Pro or Access, or just using a word processing file
for each advisee). A useful guide for these records is:
- Record the date the advisee came to see you.
- Note any holds or alerts and what your advisee's plan was (based
on your meeting) to take care of these. If you made any changes,
such as exception to APAS, signed an orange form to substitute
grade change, etc.
- Summarize key points of your meeting.
- Have a follow-up discussion based on key points you raised with
the advisee at your last meeting. (Example: you may have told advisee
that s/he
should take the PPST right away. Note if s/he in fact did do this,
and what the outcome was. If GPA was low, what steps did s/he
take
to correct this, and how are classes going this semester?)
At the Start of the Semester
Send an email to your advisee
alias, welcoming your advisees back for the semester, and reminding
them
of upcoming deadlines:
- Student teaching applications due end of
week three. Candidates will need to have you review and sign their
application, so warn them of this and remind them to schedule time
in advance to
meet with you prior to week three.
- Applications to program are due
and of week five. Again, candidates will need to have you review
and sign
their
application, so warn them of this and remind them to schedule
time in advance to meet with you prior to week five.
In the Middle of the Semester
Email your advisee alias and
warn students of upcoming advising and registration weeks. Remind
them
of your office hours and encourage them to come and see you to go over
their plans for the upcoming semester (refer them to the CEHSP Responsibilities
of Students Web page). Also remind candidates who are planning
on applying for program admission the next semester that they should
take the PPST right away (if they have not already done so), as there
can be delays in scheduling a time, and also because it takes a few
weeks
to get scores back on the writing section.
Setting up Advising Meetings
Post your office hours
on your door. (You should have at least three hours of face-to-face,
in-your-office
office hours each week). Ideally, have a sign-up sheet each week, so
candidates can be sure to secure a time to meet with you. Have them
leave a contact
number in case you need to get hold of them prior to this meeting.
Planning for Advising Meetings
Review your sign-up
sheet to see which advisees are scheduled to meet with you. Then, prior
to their meeting:
- Open their records (hard copy, or electronically by login to their online Portfolio) and review
these, to see if there is anything that you need to bring to their
attention. Example: Holds, tracking information, low GPA, time
to
apply for admission/student teaching/graduation.
- Make a note of points you want to bring to their attention, so
you can check these off during your meeting.
Reviewing Applications for Program Application and Student
Teaching
You must meet in person with your advisees, to
go over their application and check their accuracy before you sign
the
forms. (Your signature on these forms indicates that you have done
so). Please also review their letter of application/essay and provide
feedback
and suggestions.
Near the End of the Semester
Email your advisee alias
to remind your advisees of the following:
- There can be no incompletes in Education licensure
courses,
and no grades less than C- if they plan to student teach next
semester.
- If the Pre-professional Skills Tests (PPST) have not been taken, they MUST be taken
before the
start
of the semester in order for students to have their results in time.
- If you will not be available over the break, notify them, because
otherwise
they
will assume that you will be around and be responding to email. If you
will be available, say when (what days/hours) and how they
can reach
you.
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