What Sophomores Expect from Their Advisers

Index

The Sophomore Class Council of the Yale College Council interviewed sophomores about the role of the sophomore faculty adviser and prepared the following list of important points. Just below that you will find a Sophomore Adviser Timeline, based on document prepared by April Ruiz of the Center for International and Professional Experience, and some comments about their advisers by sophomores.

Sophomores on Sophomore Advising

  1. The role of the adviser is not just to look over a student’s schedule to make sure the course load looks appropriate and balanced. An adviser can play an important role in helping students think about how their courses for the term fit into their overall academic and career goals. Students can also benefit from having the adviser tell them that it’s fine to take a chance or two on courses.
  2. One of the most helpful things an adviser can do is assist their sophomore advisees in drawing up a tentative schedule of courses for the rest of their time at Yale. Students who are considering several majors may need to make several proposed schedules.
  3. Although it may seem unnecessary to mention this, make sure your advisees know that you are available for discussion throughout the term. A one-line email checking in on each advisee at midterm will matter hugely to students. An end-of-term discussion about what went wrong and right is often more helpful than a schedule-signing talk during the rush of shopping period.
  4. Find out about your advisees’ extracurricular activities. What are they involved in? What do they spend most of their time doing?
  5. Ask your students about the summer. Help them think through their ideas by asking questions such as: “What do you want to get out of your summer experience?” “How would this relate to your major and career goals?” “Have you thought about funding?” “Have you been to Career Services, the Center for International and Professional Experience, or the Office of Fellowship Programs?”
  6. The best advisers are accessible and take the initiative to contact advisees.

Sophomore Adviser Timeline

September | October | November | December | January | February | March | April | May

Fall Semester

Late August: check the Adviser Website to make sure your advisees and their information are listed; if not, contact the Director of Academic Advising. Send your advisee an email reminding him or her that you look forward to meeting during shopping period to discuss the year ahead; secure a meeting time, if possible.

Early September: meet twice with your advisees, once well before signed schedules are due and once to sign the schedule.  

Block out 30 minutes to an hour for the first meeting to ask about 1) last year; 2) their summer activities; and 3) their plans for the coming semester and year, including possible majors — or at least inclinations toward the humanities, social sciences or STEM fields in general.  Discuss strategies for course selection period (“shopping”).

Meet a second time. If your advisees have made modifications to their schedules since your first meeting, discuss them and, when you are satisfied with their choices, sign.

Optional Mid-October: check in with your advisees.  How is their semester going? Do you have any tips for them about studying for midterms? Would they like to meet in a college dining hall for lunch, for a coffee, or during your office hours?

Optional November: bring up summer plans and remind them that many deadlines fall in February. Refer them to the  Center for International and Professional Experience (www.yale.edu/cipe) to learn about internships, study abroad, summer study at Yale, and summer funding for these and other opportunities.

Optional Mid-December: check in with your advisees (see “Mid-October,” above). Do you have any tips about studying for final exams?

Spring Semester

Early January: check the Adviser Website for your advisees’ fall semester grades.  Keep these in mind when you meet. Send them an email reminding them that you look forward to meeting during shopping period to discuss their spring semester; secure a meeting time, if possible.

Mid-January: meet twice with your advisees (see “Early September,” above). During the first of your two January meetings, focus more intently on your advisees’ plans for a major. Assist your advisees in drawing up a tentative schedule of courses for the rest of their time at Yale.  Tip Many sophomores report that that is one of the most helpful things an adviser can do.

Optional Late February: check in with your advisees (see “Mid-October,” above).

Optional Late April: check in with your advisees.  Have they declared a major, and if so, are they squared away with a major adviser?  If not, you can serve as an advisor into the junior year, until your advisees have declared a major. Suggest a final get-together to review their sophomore year and discuss plans for the summer and the years ahead.

Mid-May: Congratulations on a job well done!

Some Comments about Their Advisers by Sophomores

“My adviser challenged me by asking a great question: ‘Tell me why you’re taking this course.’ I realized that if I couldn’t answer his question, then maybe I should rethink my choice.”

“My adviser talks to me as a person. When I had her as a professor, she talked to me as a student, but now she talks to me as a person.”

“My adviser was an adult I could count on to look out for me.”

“I went to her with ideas, and she helped me narrow my class list, and then I went back later with my schedule… . She advised me about individual professors and classes.”

“She makes herself available. We’ll talk about things outside school.”

“My adviser insisted on discussing my schedule with me before he would sign it.”

“She is always very accessible. If I e-mail her, I get a response right away, and she’ll meet with me when I need her to.”

The Six Phases of Appreciative Advising

First proposed by Jennifer L. Bloom a little over a decade ago, the “appreciative advising“ strategy has been employed by colleges across the Southeast with good results.  Bloom’s six phases are:

  1. Disarm
  2. Discover
  3. Dream
  4. Design
  5. Deliver
  6. Don’t Settle