Academic Advising Guide

Viewing Advisee Files

Most of the information you will need about the students you advise is available on Workday.

Advisors also have access to some of the information in students' permanent folders on Perceptive Content. You can log in to Perceptive Content with your OneLogin credentials. Once you are in Perceptive Content, click on Documents, then Advisor View. To find files for a particular student: click in the search bar; in the second dropdown box, change "Name" to "Student Name;" type the student's last name in the text box; and click on search.

During Summer Advising and Orientation Weekend files for incoming students are available to advisors in a designated Google Shared Drive

Student files are read-only. If there is an error in the file, or something needs to be added or removed, please consult with the Registrar's Office.

Student information is protected by FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act), a federal law that affords students  the right to have access to their education records, the right to seek to have the records amended, the right to have some control over the disclosure of personally identifiable information from the education records, and the right to file a complaint with the US Dept of Education. 

Faculty may only access a student's file when they have a legitimate educational interest requiring access to that file to fulfill their professional responsibilities to the College.  It is essential that you only access student files as you need them for advising purposes.

Advisees will meet with you for many reasons including discussion of their course of study, graduation requirements, post graduation plans, and academic or personal challenges. These meetings may take different forms depending on factors such as what you are discussing and how well you know the student.

Advising meetings may include:

• Summer Advising: In early June each incoming student meets with a faculty advisor to discuss course plans for the Fall. More detailed guidelines for Summer Advising are provided separately. 
  
  
• Pre-Registration Meeting: Students meet with their advisors at least once during the semester to discuss courses for the following semester and update their Academic Plan in Workday. Many faculty prefer to meet with their advisees after course offerings for the following semester have become available, but you can plans for course of study – and students can update their Academic Plan in Workday – at any time. A student must request approval for their Academic Plan in Workday in order to be eligible to register
  
  
• Start of the Semester: Many advisors contact their advisees at the start of the semester to check in and to let them know about student drop-in hours, provide reminders about the academic calendar (e.g., drop/add dates, withdraw, internship, study abroad deadlines), and let them know about upcoming opportunities. .It is important to be available to your advisees during the first week of the semester to review course selection, discuss changes to their academic plans, and provide assistance if a student needs to drop or add courses.
  
  
• Academic Difficulty: You may be contacted by the Academic Resource Center or another faculty or staff member who is concerned about your advisee. If your advisee is facing significant academic or personal challenges, you may want to speak with professional staff in the Academic Resources Center, Office of Disability Services, or the Dean of Academic Life for guidance about how best to support your student.

Legal obligations to be aware of when you meet with advisees:

FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act)

Please remember: Student information is protected by FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act), a federal law that affords students  the right to have access to their education records, the right to seek to have the records amended, the right to have some control over the disclosure of personally identifiable information from the education records, and the right to file a complaint with the US Dept of Education. 

Faculty may only access a student's file when they have a legitimate educational interest requiring access to that file to fulfill their professional responsibilities to the College.  It is essential that you only access student files as you need them for advising purposes.

You cannot communicate directly with parents or guardians about a student without that student’s consent. Even when a student has given permission, it is important that you consult with the Dean of Academic Life before engaging with a parent or guardian to ensure you are aware of all circumstances.

Title IX

Academic advisers, as are all employees of the college, are mandatory reporters of identity-based discrimination, harassment, sexual misconduct, intimate partner violence, stalking, retaliatory harassment, and criminal behavior that they become aware of occurring on College property, at a College event, or allegedly involving a member of the College community (faculty, staff, or student).For more information or to report an incident, see Title IX Processes at Muhlenberg College.

Whether you are a First Year advisor or an advisor for a major or minor, you play an important role to help students feel connected to our community and all of the rich academic and non-academic resources available to them.  From your first meeting, you will begin to forge an important relationship with your advisee that should develop beyond a conversation about graduation requirements. This page provides information to guide your initial conversations.

Tips for Connecting with your Advisees

• Location matters. Ensure the environment is welcoming and conducive to conversation. While many faculty primarily meet with advisees in their offices, you may sometimes choose to hold a meeting elsewhere -- for instance, Java Joe's, the Library, or outside.
  
  
• Allow adequate time for your meeting. As you are getting to know new students, it may be useful to allocate 30-45 minutes for initial conversations.
  
  
• Ensure that you ask a student’s preferred name and pronouns and share this information about yourself to your students.
  
  
• It is helpful to get to know your advisee beyond their core academic needs. You might ask about their interests, activities outside the classroom, strengths and areas where they wish to improve, and core values. Possible questions include:
  • What specific academic areas are of greatest interest to you and why?
  • How would you describe yourself as a learner?
  • What was your most rewarding academic experience in high school or at Muhlenberg?
  • What skills do you hope to develop, improve upon, or refine?
  • What types of activities/clubs do you plan to (or do) participate in at Muhlenberg?

Topics to discuss may include:

• Course of study and degree requirements
• Plans for study abroad, internships, independent research, and other High Impact Practices
• Goals and plans for after College

Pre-registration advising is not just about the short-term goal of choosing courses. It is an important moment for each student to work together with their advisor to ensure both that they are meeting academic requirements, general and for their major, and, equally important, that they are taking full advantage of the  opportunities available for academic exploration and growth. With those goals in mind, it is essential that you meet with each student. *

Core pre-registration advising responsibilities:

1. Meet with each advisee to help them develop an academic plan in Workday for the coming semester
2. Approve the plan once it has been submitted.

The academic plan is not a schedule. It is a listing of potential courses that will help the student move forward with their academic program, both in their major and more broadly in the Liberal Arts.

As students consider options for the Spring, review with them:

• General Academic Requirements (GAR)
• Especially for First Years and Sophomores, this need not be a checklist. Instead talk about exploration of different ways of thinking and learning.
• For Juniors and Seniors, use the Academic Progress tab under Academics in the student’s Workday profile to see what requirements are still outstanding.

• For Majors, progress to degree completion

This meeting is also a good time to encourage students to think about engaging in high impact experiences such as study abroad, internships, and independent research.

* In departments that use cohort advising, advisees may meet with other faculty in the department, along with their peers. Cohort advising can be a great option for departments with many majors as long as all students have opportunity to have their particular questions answered. 

Inclusive Advising

Education Students

First Generation Students

First Year Students 

Gender identity, pronouns, LGBTQ+

International Students

Individuals with Disabilities

Prehealth Students 

Transfer Students (in progress)

NACADA is the international network for international academic advisors.  Their webpage provides useful information on all advising related topics:  https://nacada.ksu.edu/.

1. Academic Advising Approaches : Strategies That Teach Students to Make the Most of College.
   Authors: Jayne K Drake, Peggy Jordan, Marsha A Miller
2. The new advisor guidebook : Mastering the Art of Academic Advising
   Authors: Pat Folsom (Editor), Franklin L Yoder (Editor), Jennifer Joslin (Editor)
3. Creating a Culture of Caring Practical Approaches for College and University Faculty to Support Student Wellbeing and Mental Health Faculty Resource
   by Active Minds and the Association of College and University Educators
4. Thriving in Transitions : a Research-Based Approach to College Student Success
   by Laurie A Schreiner, Michelle C Louis, Denise D Nelson'
5. Effective Advising: How Academic Advising Influences Student Learning Outcomes in Different Institutional Contexts
   by Lanlan Mu, Kevin Fosnacht
6. The Review of Higher Education
   Volume 42, Number 4, Summer 2019, pp. 1283-1307 (Article)
7. Advising Gen Z Students in a Post-COVID Environment
   by Rich Robbins, Buckness University
8. If Advising is Teaching, What Do Advisors Teach?
   by Marc Lowenstein, Stockton University
   NACADA Journal Volume 40(2) 2020