Student Responsibilities
Initiate and maintain contact with your academic advisor. Get to know your advisor. Your advisor is an advocate for you and is here to help you throughout your journey in the School of Technology. Upon admission and orientation, schedule a time to meet your advisor. If you are a very independent learner, check in with your advisor periodically to make sure that you are both on the same track with your degree progression.
Learn basic University, college and departmental requirements and accept responsibility for meeting them; seek assistance when needed. Read through the course catalog. Ultimately you are responsible for knowing and understanding the rules, policies and academic guidelines set forth in this document. If you have questions about any information in the catalog, contact the sponsoring department or contact your academic advisor to find out which department you should contact.
Make decisions regarding your academic, career, and personal goals. You may not know exactly what your major is, but have an understanding of your like and dislikes. Take inventory on areas that interest you. Be open-minded and try to release some preconceived notions on what it takes to earn a degree. Everyone carves their own path towards degree completion.
Discuss your plan of study and ways to achieve academic, career, and personal goals with your academic advisor. Not only discuss your major plans with your advisor, discuss your career objectives. Your advisor may solicit advice on how to combine majors/minors to make you more marketable in the future.
Comprehend graduation requirements, degree requirements, and understand how to complete all requirements. Read the online course catalog to review the requirements, outside of course completion, to graduate. Carefully review your plan of study and read through the course descriptions for your program to get a full understanding of what is required of you in the classroom. If you have questions, please contact your advisor.
Schedule and keep appointments with your academic advisor. It is effective time management and good practice that you schedule appointments to meet with your academic advisor. In the “real-world”, you will need to schedule appointments just to function in society. In order to ensure that you advisor is available to meet with you, call or email your advisor to schedule an appointment. This does not at all mean that your advisor may not be available for walk-ins, but it does mean that you take a risk of your advisor not being in the office or meeting with another student upon your arrival. After the appointment is scheduled, if you feel that you need to miss the appointment or may be running late for the appointment, out of courtesy to your advisor and your fellow students, call ahead. Lack of notice means that your fellow students may not be serviced.
Be prepared for advising appointments by bringing a list of questions and your plan of study. Bring your plan of study with you to every advising appointment so that it can be updated as you progress through the degree. If making an appointment to register for classes, come to the appointment with prepared with courses and sections you are contemplating registering for. Your advising appointment is not the time to select sections and devise your weekly schedule.
Check and read your Purdue University Calumet e-mail account for announcements and reminders from your advisor. Outside of this website, your advisor may utilize email to inform you and your fellow students of important deadlines and updates. Email may also be the most efficient means of contacting you in case phone methods are ineffective. So it is important to check your PUC email regularly and clean/purge your inbox to insure that you are able to receive incoming mail.
Discuss information that may affect your academic performance. Do not hesitate to contact your academic advisor if your have information, situations or circumstances that may cause you to perform poorly in the classroom. The advisor in no means can make decisions on behalf of the department or the professor, but can help you devise a plan to attack the situation head on and minimize the damages in the classroom.
At the first sign of a problem, seek help and follow through on advice. Whether you are ill, having family issues or work conflicts, your advisor is here to help you find viable solutions to problems inside and outside of the classroom. Your advisor may help find ways for you to rebound academically but your advisor cannot not solve your problems or act on those solutions for you. It is up to you.
Become involved. Get involved in student organizations and extracurricular activities, activities that enhance your educational experience while maintaining your academic goals. Secure an internship position to make sure that you gain valuable real-world experience in your field. Your advisor cannot secure positions for you or enlist you in organizations, but he/she can point you in the right direction.
Approach all university representatives respectfully and professionally. You must maintain a civil and cordial demeanor with all university officials. It is important in life, as well as in your academic pursuits. Respectful behavior will elicit mutual respect and make for an overall pleasant educational environment.
Communicate with appropriate university representatives to express your questions, concerns, and issues. Talk to university officials. Open up and voice your opinions/concerns, with respect, to find an equitable solution to concerns you may encounter during your journey with us. Your advisor is not the “all-knowing” by far, so it is inevitable that you will be required to speak with other university officials on your own behalf. Be prepared and confident and most of all…respectful.
Advisor Responsibilities
- Assist students with clarification of academic, career, and personal goals.
- Make appropriate referrals to other university areas so that a student may be successful in career and personal goal exploration.
- Explain major, minor, and graduation requirements.
- Be available for appointments on a regular basis.
- Return telephone calls and e-mails in a timely manner.
- Identify opportunities and resources that will be helpful for students to advance their academic and personal goals.
- Explain curricular options on an individual basis, answer registration questions, and instruct students on how to choose and schedule courses.
- Treat all students and parents with respect and professionalism.
- Listen to questions, concerns, and issues and describe university protocol for possible solutions.
- Listen and respond to students’ interests and concerns.
- Accept them as unique individuals.
- Be accessible.
- Know policies, procedures and where to find information.
- Be a personal resource for academic, career and life goals.
