Academic Advising
University Student Success provides academic advising to students who have earned less than 44 credit hours at APSU.
What is Academic Advising?
Academic advising is a collaborative educational process between a student and their assigned professional academic advisor. Students and their advisors’ partner to register for appropriate academic courses, ensure academic success, and outline steps for achievement of the students’ personal, academic, and career goals.
Advisor Responsibilities – What You Can Expect
You can expect your advisor to:
- Understand and effectively communicate the curriculum, graduation requirements, and university and college policies and procedures.
- Encourage and guide students as they define and develop realistic goals.
- Encourage and support students as they gain the skills to develop clear and attainable educational plans.
- Provide students with information about and strategies for utilizing the available resources and services on campus.
- Assist students in understanding the purposes and goals of higher education and its effects on their lives and personal goals.
- Monitor and accurately document students’ progress toward meeting their goals.
- Be accessible for meeting with advisees via office hours advising, telephone, e-mail, or web access.
- Assist students in gaining decision making skills and skills in assuming responsibility for their educational plans and achievements.
- Maintain confidentiality.
- Assist students in working closely with their professors.
Advisee Responsibilities – What You Are Expected To Do
As an advisee, here are your responsibilities for the advising partnership to be successful:
- Schedule regular appointments or make regular contacts with advisor during each semester.
- Come prepared to each appointment with questions or material for discussion.
- Be an active learner by participating fully in the advising experience.
- Ask questions if you do not understand an issue or have a specific concern.
- Keep a personal record of your progress toward meeting your goals.
- Organize official documents in a way that enables you to access them when needed.
- Complete all assignments or recommendations from your advisor.
- Gather all relevant decision-making information.
- Clarify personal values and goals and provide advisor with accurate information regarding your interests and abilities.
- Become knowledgeable about college programs, policies, and procedures.
- Accept responsibility for decisions.
Appreciative Advising
Professional academic advisors in the University Student Success are participating in ongoing training and development in the Appreciative Advising Framework. Appreciative Advising harnesses the power of the organizational development theory of Appreciative Inquiry and the positive psychology literature to provide a framework for increasing adviser and student success.