Advising
First-year advisors are full-time professionals who offer comprehensive services and provide support to all freshmen. Professional advisors help students enhance academic potential, improve interpersonal relationships, increase self-understanding, and explore vocational and educational goals. Advisors are responsible for each student's academic advising needs and are available for counseling in all areas of college life.
Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors are advised by a faculty member in their major. Freshmen who have declared a major are moved to faculty advisors over the course of their freshmen year.
Along with the scheduling of classes, advisors help students improve the quality of their academic performance. They discuss with students the role of co-curricular and extra-curricular activities and work with students to create long-term academic and career plans.
First Year Advisors are located on the lower level of South Hall.
1st Year Transition
Vincent Tinto (1993) outlined three stages students move through in their first year of college.
These stages are: separation, transition and incorporation.
Separation Stage-? The experience of moving away from the familiar environment of home.?? Some students this process can be quite traumatic.? Students can become very homesick in this stage.? The student may continually contact home and friends.? They have a desire to come home and reluctant to return to school. This stage can be longer and more severe for some students than others.? It is important to the student to get support and patience as they work through this stage.? Although this stage can be difficult for students, most eventually are able to move to the second stage, transition.
Transition Stage- Students are torn between their old environment and the new one; they may not feel they belong in their old environments but have yet to find their places in the new one. Students may come home for a break and realize they have changed.? The student may realize that their friends have changed as well.? This stage can help students become prepared for the last stage, incorporation.
Incorporation stage- In this stage, a student develops full membership into the social and academic communities of the institution. The student will become invested into the school.? They will develop close ties with other students and may become reluctant to come home.? The student may move backwards and forwards through these stages, depending on the events in their lives.? But once they achieve the incorporation stage, they are unlikely to digress in the other stages for very long.?