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.