Student Advising:

Checklist for great academic advising

1. Create a UTA records folder.  Organize your paperwork – admissions acceptance letter, copies of transcripts from other colleges, financial aid information, veteran’s benefits info, correspondence from your department etc.  Keep it updated and remember where you keep it!


2. Don’t have an academic advisor? Get one!  Ask your department’s advising staff to assign you a faculty advisor.  Keep handy your advisor’s email address, phone # and scheduled office hours.  Make the commitment to develop a mutually respectful working partnership!


3. Schedule a quick first appointment with you advisor via email.  Schedule a convenient time a week in advance.  Introduce yourself-share you career plans.  30 minutes max is long enough to discuss your academic plans and clarify your degree plan together.  If you draft a working degree plan, be sure leave with a copy in hand for your records.


4. Don’t have a degree plan? Get one!  Draft one with your advisor at your first meeting.  Your “working degree plan” is the most important document of your academic career!  It tracks your courses of study in the major.  Many courses in your major have prerequisites, so a degree plan lets you know what courses to take and the order in which to take them.  Working without a degree plan sets you up for failure – by taking classes you don’t need, taking courses out of sequence, or missing foundation credits in the major required for graduation.


5. Bring your UTA records file along each time you meet with your advisor.  Be organized and come prepared – show you have your act together!  Request a copy of your current UTA transcript from you department’s staff the day before each scheduled meeting.  Your advisor will appreciate having and updated transcript on hand when talking with you.


6. Stay in frequent contact with your advisor.  Have questions?  Can you handle it by email?  Be sure to end your emails each time with “thank you” for time and energy spent handling your concerns.

   REMEMBER: You have only yourself to organize – advisors usually work with dozens of student advisees.  Stay courteous, remain upbeat, and be pro-active ways to facilitate the handling of your concerns.

7. Respect your advisor’s time as much as your own!  Maintain a friendly, organized working relationship in the following ways:  set up your appointments a week in advance; avoid last-minute scrambling that makes you terrorize everyone, begging for help; plan ahead when creating your schedule of classes for the upcoming semester; drop of materials before an appointment in case our advisor needs to review the information prior to your meeting.


8. Does your department devote specific periods during the semester for academic advising?  Find out when your advisor devotes extra office hours and sign up early for an appointment.  Some advisors have a “crunch” time in which they like to handle all of their advising in a short period of time, such as two weeks of back-to-back meetings.  Learn how your advisor likes to get things done-use that system!


9. Get advised & “cleared to register” at least 2-3 weeks prior to the first day that YOU can register.  Know when you are eligible to register and plan ahead accordingly.  Avoid last minute decisions that leave you hounding your advisor for immediate attention when you haven’t got your act together!  Your procrastination results in miscommunication, bad decisions and ineffective advising – always set your personal deadlines a week ahead of your departments’ deadlines.


10. Get acquainted with staff members in UTA offices with whom you may have contact concerning advising and academic issues: Admissions; Registrar/Graduation Desk; Office for Students with Disabilities; Veteran’s Affairs; Financial Aid; Career Services; Assessment Services; Advising Center.  It helps to be able to contact familiar faces when your academic issue requires their input or expertise!