Academic Advising

An advisor’s primary role is to provide guidance on academic matters such as course selection, academic progress towards graduation requirements and preparation towards identifying and selecting an appropriate major, given a students interests, skills and abilities.

However, academic advising presents an opportunity for students and faculty to build a meaningful relationship that transcends the classroom.  Academic advising is more than an exercise in selecting courses each semester.  Rather, the academic advisor can serve a multitude of roles, but it depends upon the students’ desire to engage in conversation.

Many advisors also take a holistic approach to advising and are willing to help students with assistance on identifying career options, graduate and professional school opportunities or dealing with other challenges that face students as they grow and develop over their four years at Lafayette.  Faculty advisors take an active interest in their advisees and should always be one of the first places students go when they need help or guidance.

Students often wonder how faculty advisors are assigned.  If a student begins his/her career at Lafayette in a Bachelor of Science program, a faculty advisor from that program will be assigned.  Thus, students in engineering or the natural sciences will have an advisor in their area of interest as a first year student.  This is necessary due to the structure of the Bachelor of Science programs.  Should a student decide to exit a Bachelor of Science program, however, another advisor will be subsequently assigned from another program.

For students who are undecided as to a major or arriving as a Bachelor of Arts candidate, advisors are assigned from faculty across all disciplines for the first two years until the student declares a major program of study, such as Economics and Business, Government and Law or Art. This declaration process is usually done in February of the students’ sophomore year.  Students might question why if their interest is history, they might receive an advisor in music.

The answer is multi-faceted, but there are two critical reasons.  First, the College’s curriculum is structured so that the student’s first two years are primarily concerned with fulfilling the college common course of study requirements; all faculty are well versed in advising students in this regard.  Second, students’ interests change dramatically throughout their college career as they grow and develop.  What interests them frequently changes after exposure to various disciplines discovered as they pursue the common course of study in their first two years.

Getting to know their academic advisor is encouraged and it often makes a difference in how students approach their decisions regarding their academic pursuits.  Typically, faculty members have posted office hours, agree to appointments at other times, and will generally be available for consultation.  However, everyone’s time is valuable so students should always arrive promptly and be well prepared when meeting with their advisors.

I challenge you, to challenge your son or daughter, to meet his/her advisor early and often.

Rosie Bukics -- Dean of Studies
610-330-5080
bukicsr@lafayette.edu