wheredoistand

Hutchins School of Liberal Studies

Sonoma State University

"WHERE DO I STAND?: THE ADVISING PROCESS IN HUTCHINS

Lower division students have most of their advising accomplished within 12-unit block classes (101, 102, 201, or 202).

Most upper division students in Hutchins are transfers from schools that have a variety of advising procedures. Understandably, any such adjustment may be disconcerting. But even if you are not, there is a certain complexity to the Tracks I and II that make it necessary to seek advice. The purpose of this text is to review the advising process available to you in the Hutchins School of Liberal Studies.

First of all, it is important for you to be conscious of the role you, the faculty, and other offices at SSU play in the advising process.

Within Hutchins, there are three levels of advising. A Hutchins faculty member is assigned to you to serve as a regular advisor. First, in LIBS 302, it is your teacher. For continuing students from the Hutchins lower division, advising begins in 202 and a faculty member is assigned as your advisor. You can find out who your advisor is by consulting the lsit available in the Hutchins Office under the dictionary. Later, to distribute the students evenly among faculty, students may be assigned to a different professor. There is also a special advisor for Track II students who have technical questions their regular advisor may not be able to answer. And as a last resort, there is the Provost who deals with special cases, petitions and policy issues.

In Admissions & Records there is another advisor listed at the bottom of your Evaluation of Transfer Credits. This person will address any question having to do with your records and/or your graduation.

Now that you know the WHO, let's deal with the WHEN. The faculty office hours are always available in the Office. There is also a chart on the bulletin board that tells you the weekly spread of office hours for the entire Hutchins faculty in case you need to see someone that same day. Every Orientation day, before the semester starts, and the week before registration, Hutchins faculty are available to meet with you (usually between 10-12 in CH 68).

In addition to all these persons being available at the indicated times, there are brochures and other written materials in hard copy and on the Hutchins WEB page, designed to guide you through the requirements and the scheduling of your courses. These are carefully designed to address the questions you may have.

All of these resources, however, are of no use without the active participation of the most important factor in the advising process: YOU, THE STUDENT. Students often come to the faculty advisors or the Provost and ask: "I want to know, where do I stand?"

If you want to know "where do you stand" (in terms of what you need for your major, concentration, etc.) there are a few simple steps you need to follow.

First of all, as a Hutchins student, you know that you need to assume responsibility not only for your own learning but also for monitoring your progress through your chosen track. This means that you are expected to invest some time reading the brochures and writing questions down when you don't understand something. These questions you take to your advisor or the Provost on an index card. (These cards are then sorted and included in a list of Frequently Asked Questions in the WEB.)

Secondly, you need to become acquainted with your file. Make sure that you are in the right track (I-49015 or II-49012). Determine what courses you have taken or received credit for, and what you still need to take in order to fulfill the three requirements: 40 units for the Major, a number of units for the Concentration and 124 units for the bachelors.

Finally, to know "where you stand" it is relatively simple to project what courses you intend to take in four semester of your upper division. You can also just write down on a piece of paper, Fall X1, Spring X2, Fall X3, Spring X4 and fill in the courses you are taking and the ones you intend to take. At the same time, compare these projections to the WORKSHEETS provided for you with the brochures for Tracks I and II.

To conclude, you may want to reflect on the fact that the difficulties you may be having in Hutchins are peculiar not just to Hutchins but to the relationships you have with other institutions (medical, financial, legal, etc.). The faculty believes that a significant part of your education in Hutchins is to gain the ability exercise self-determination, that is, to be in charge of your own progress and to monitor the bureaucracies and institutions that are ostensibly in charge of watching over you.

	Hutchins School of Liberal Studies
	Sonoma State University
	"WHERE DO I STAND?: THE ADVISING PROCESS IN HUTCHINS
	Lower division students have most of their advising accomplished within 12-unit block classes (101, 102, 201, or 202). Most upper division students in Hutchins are transfers from schools that have a variety of advising procedures. Understandably, any such adjustment may be disconcerting. But even if you are not, there is a certain complexity to the Tracks I and II that make it necessary to seek advice. The purpose of this text is to review the advising process available to you in the Hutchins School of Liberal Studies. First of all, it is important for you to be conscious of the role you, the faculty, and other offices at SSU play in the advising process. Within Hutchins, there are three levels of advising. A Hutchins faculty member is assigned to you to serve as a regular advisor. First, in LIBS 302, it is your teacher. For continuing students from the Hutchins lower division, advising begins in 202 and a faculty member is assigned as your advisor. You can find out who your advisor is by consulting the lsit available in the Hutchins Office under the dictionary. Later, to distribute the students evenly among faculty, students may be assigned to a different professor. There is also a special advisor for Track II students who have technical questions their regular advisor may not be able to answer. And as a last resort, there is the Provost who deals with special cases, petitions and policy issues. In Admissions & Records there is another advisor listed at the bottom of your Evaluation of Transfer Credits. This person will address any question having to do with your records and/or your graduation. Now that you know the WHO, let's deal with the WHEN. The faculty office hours are always available in the Office. There is also a chart on the bulletin board that tells you the weekly spread of office hours for the entire Hutchins faculty in case you need to see someone that same day. Every Orientation day, before the semester starts, and the week before registration, Hutchins faculty are available to meet with you (usually between 10-12 in CH 68). In addition to all these persons being available at the indicated times, there are brochures and other written materials in hard copy and on the Hutchins WEB page, designed to guide you through the requirements and the scheduling of your courses. These are carefully designed to address the questions you may have. All of these resources, however, are of no use without the active participation of the most important factor in the advising process: YOU, THE STUDENT. Students often come to the faculty advisors or the Provost and ask: "I want to know, where do I stand?" If you want to know "where do you stand" (in terms of what you need for your major, concentration, etc.) there are a few simple steps you need to follow. First of all, as a Hutchins student, you know that you need to assume responsibility not only for your own learning but also for monitoring your progress through your chosen track. This means that you are expected to invest some time reading the brochures and writing questions down when you don't understand something. These questions you take to your advisor or the Provost on an index card. (These cards are then sorted and included in a list of Frequently Asked Questions in the WEB.) Secondly, you need to become acquainted with your file. Make sure that you are in the right track (I-49015 or II-49012). Determine what courses you have taken or received credit for, and what you still need to take in order to fulfill the three requirements: 40 units for the Major, a number of units for the Concentration and 124 units for the bachelors. Finally, to know "where you stand" it is relatively simple to project what courses you intend to take in four semester of your upper division. You can also just write down on a piece of paper, Fall X1, Spring X2, Fall X3, Spring X4 and fill in the courses you are taking and the ones you intend to take. At the same time, compare these projections to the WORKSHEETS provided for you with the brochures for Tracks I and II. To conclude, you may want to reflect on the fact that the difficulties you may be having in Hutchins are peculiar not just to Hutchins but to the relationships you have with other institutions (medical, financial, legal, etc.). The faculty believes that a significant part of your education in Hutchins is to gain the ability exercise self-determination, that is, to be in charge of your own progress and to monitor the bureaucracies and institutions that are ostensibly in charge of watching over you.