Faculty/Advisors
In order to support and assist the critical work of Le Moyne College’s academic advisors, The Academic Advisement Center, with contributions from numerous offices, departments and programs on campus, produced a comprehensive Academic Advisor Handbook. The Handbook exemplifies one of the College’s objectives to prepare students for their professional lives. Advisors will be notified via e-mail regarding updates of the Handbook and will be able to easily access updated items from the website for inclusion in their Advisor binders.
Both faculty advisors and students benefit from a strong student/advisor relationship. The College acknowledges and supports the integral role you play in our students’ success.
Linda M. LeMura
Acting Provost & Academic Vice President
In a ten-year research study of college students at more than 90 institutions of higher education, Harvard professor Richard J. Light (2001, 81) found that “good academic advising may be the single most underestimated characteristic of a successful college experience.”
Advisement Process
Academic advisors are assigned to all Le Moyne students upon entrance into the College. These faculty members advise students regarding degree requirements, majors and minors, grades, academic progress and opportunities for personal and academic growth. Throughout their time at Le Moyne, students are encouraged to seek guidance from their advisors and to rely on them as mentors. While at a minimum, students must meet with their academic advisor at least once each semester in order to review their course schedule and be cleared for registration, a beneficial advisor/advisee relationship should develop far beyond this meeting.
A successful academic advisor will:
- Be available to the student as a resource for advice and accurate information regarding degree requirements, policies, and procedures;
- Advise the student regarding degree requirements and curricular choices in such a way as to promote the student’s individual needs and interests;
- Make the student comfortable with seeking the advice of a professional in his/her area of study; and
- Be informed about the resources available to meet the student’s needs outside of the classroom and encourage students to take advantage of these resources
How the Advising Process Builds at Le Moyne
First-year Advisors and the Advisement Seminar: AVS 101
The First-year Advisement Seminar, or AVS 101, is a one-credit, graded course required of all first-year, first-semester students at Le Moyne College. It enables our newest students to develop the skills necessary to make valuable decisions regarding their transition to college and throughout their academic career. It also encourages them to explore new scholarly interests, define their needs and talents, and increase their awareness of, and commitment to, the mission of Le Moyne College.
AVS 101 gives first-year students a structure in which to meet regularly with their first-year advisor and to attend an 8:30 a.m. advising class on either Mondays and Wednesdays or Tuesdays and Thursdays throughout the fall semester. As part of the AVS 101 syllabus, students also choose one “short course” to attend from a variety of topics ranging from life skills and current events to academic subjects.
Each fall, about 30 AVS 101 sections are offered to accommodate our first-year student population. Students are placed in a seminar section based on their major. Department chairs are responsible for identifying faculty to serve as first-year advisors who will meet with these students on an individual basis at strategic times during the semester and who will also teach this one-credit course.
First-year advisors play an integral role in the successful transition of our newest students. However, there are many resources available to assist them in their responsibilities. First-year advisors attend a one-day orientation in the summer that explains the fundamentals of the First-year Advisement Program. All first-year advisors are also provided with the AVS 101: Advisement Seminar Handbook, an extensive binder of resource material that outlines a typical AVS 101 syllabus and related activities for each class session. In addition, resources and worksheets are provided on a CD to enable faculty to make changes.
Faculty interested in learning more about AVS 101 and serving as an academic advisor or teaching a short course should contact Anne Herron, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and Director of Advising.
Departmental Advising for Sophomores, Juniors, Seniors and Recent Transfers
Once students complete their first year at Le Moyne, they transition into our Departmental Advising Program. Students who have declared a major will be advised by the Department Chair or her/his designee. Students who remain undeclared after the first year as well as new transfer students will be advised by the Director of Advising or her designee.
We encourage our students to have individual meetings with their advisor several times during the semester. These meetings are particularly important prior to registration for the following semester, since academic advisors at Le Moyne must review each advisee’s proposed schedule before the advisee can be cleared to register for classes. We also encourage students to follow their e-mails from their departments since some departments schedule group advising to inform students about activities and new classes in their major, while others offer special programming and events on major-related topics such as research opportunities and departmental internships.