ADVISING

All faculty members (plus selected administrators) serve as academic advisors to students. Students have general advisors—usually matched by interests—during their first and second years. After selecting a major or majors toward the end of the sophomore year, students then choose an advisor in a specific academic discipline.

The Assistant Dean for Advising also works in a targeted way with students who experience academic difficulty, particularly in the first two years at Centre, and with students with disabilities. Special group and individual counseling sessions are offered; and students are directed to targeted help sessions in particular subjects, to the Writing Center, and to the Center for Career & Professional Development. The Assistant Dean for Advising also works with students wishing to design their own major.

The second phase of advising begins when sophomore students declare a major in March of the student’s sophomore year. During the first week of March sophomores receive a “Major Declaration” form through campus mail (also available in the Dean’s Office or Registrar’s Office). The form asks students to list the chosen major(s), minor(s), and to request a faculty member from the major program(s) to serve as their advisor until graduation. Students are not assigned an advisor for minors. The due date for completed forms is usually before spring break.

Major advising assignments are made by the program chair of the stated major. The program chair usually bases major advising assignments on the 1) student requests, 2) programmatic work load of each faculty member in the program, 3) leave rotations, and 4) individual faculty preferences within the program.

Students may request to have the same advisor for their major as they had during the first two years. While this is acceptable, there are many benefits for the student to have a different faculty member serve as their major advisor, including getting to know another faculty member very well and getting advice from another perspective. Students should be encouraged to maintain a close association with their former advisor even though that person may not continue to be the advisor of record.

The Academic Advising Office coordinates academic advising and partners with the Student Life Office to implement new student orientation. New student orientation includes summer mailings, basic skills and placement testing, the fall orientation program, and special programs for students during the fall term.