Pre-Major Advisor Training, 2011-12

Overview

Once again, thank you for being a Pre-Major Advisor.  Because of you, each of our students will have a chance to meet with someone who has set aside the time to focus on him or her as an individual during New Student Orientation or the first week of school.  You will also provide our students with crucial on-going guidance throughout the first two years of their Stanford career. We know that their education will be greatly enriched by the connection that you make with them and the opportunities to which you guide them.

This year’s training emphasizes networking and relationship building, both in providing opportunities for Pre-Major Advisors to meet colleagues around campus and in encouraging Pre-Major Advisors to think about how they would use their networks to help students get the most out of Stanford.

Because we know that not all Pre-Major Advisors can attend the training, we have included the agenda, along with references to key pages of the Pre-Major Advisor Handbook. While we cannot replicate the in-person networking opportunities online, we will be having other opportunities for you to meet with fellow advisors throughout the year with lunches at the Faculty Club.

New Elements of Pre-Major Advising Training

The most significant change is the preparation for the Pre-Major Advisors to facilitate a discussion of the First Lecture.  First Lecture is a new program in this year’s New Student Orientation (NSO) schedule.  Developed by VPUE in response to conversations within SUES and the School of Humanities and Sciences, it will instruct students about the nature, purpose, and value of a liberal education and inspire them to fashion their undergraduate years in such a manner so as to take full advantage of the liberal education provided at Stanford. The inaugural lecture will be given by Abraham Verghese, Professor for the Theory and Practice of Medicine at Stanford’s School of Medicine.

Before you hold your individual meetings, you will facilitate a discussion with your group of advisees about the themes presented in the lecture. You are invited to attend the live video simulcast of the lecture at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, September 22 in The Pigott Theater, if you are able. To help you prepare to facilitate these discussions, we have provided the following:

Training Agenda

Pre-Major Advisor Handbook

12:00 p.m. Arrive

12:15 p.m. Welcome: Julie Lythcott-Haims, Dean of Freshmen and Undergraduate Advising

12:25 p.m. Outline of the Pre-Major Advisor Program: Kirsti Copeland, Director of Residentially-Based Advising

  1. The Role of a Pre-Major Advisor (Handbook, p. 7)
  2. Online Advising Resources:
  3. New Student Orientation Schedule for Advisors (Handbook, p. 4)
  4. Advisor Enrollment Hold (ADV20) (Handbook, pp. 20, 35-38)
    • New this year: sophomores have the ADV20 hold
  5. Federal Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (Handbook, pp. 8-9)
  6. Lunch with Freshmen and Sophomores (Handbook, p. 4)
    • New this year: UAR will sponsor a Faculty Club lunch with your sophomores, in addition to the lunch with your freshmen.

12:50 p.m. Networking Exercise - new this year

  1. Take one minute to write down as many people as you know in your department
  2. Take two minutes to write down as many people as you know at the University
  3. How will you use this network to help your Pre-Major Advisees find opportunities?

1:00 p.m. Arc of the Freshman and Sophomore Years:  Koren Bakkegard, Associate Dean in UAR

  1. Improving Students' Transition to Stanford
  2. Pre-Major Years (Handbook, p. 9)
  3. Options and Opportunities (Handbook, pp. 25-31)

1:20 p.m. Break

1:35 p.m. First Lecture - new this year

1:40 p.m. Video of Harry Elam, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education and Abraham Verghese, Professor for the Theory and Practice of Medicine, Stanford School of Medicine– 20 min.

2:00 p.m. Pre-Major Advisor as Facilitator of First Lecture Discussion

  1. First Lecture Learning Outcomes

2:20 p.m. Student Perspectives on Advising: ASSU Senators: Janani Ramachandran, `14; Karl Kumodzi, `14

  1. Advising Conversations (Handbook, p. 10) - new this year

2:30 p.m. Break

2:45 p.m. Meet with your Academic Director

  1. Your Academic Director
  2. Graduation Requirements (Handbook, p. 11)
  3. General Education Requirements (Handbook, pp. 12-15)
  4. Unit load (12-20 units is full-time, incoming freshmen should take 12-16 units or 3-4 courses)
  5. Academic Deadlines (Handbook, pp. 20-21)
  6. Curricular Advising Considerations (Handbook, pp. 16-19)

3:30 p.m. Advising Student-Athletes: Austin Lee, Director of Academic Services for Student-Athletes

  1. AARC and NCAA (Handbook, p. 8)
  2. Tips for Teaching and Advising Varsity Athletes handout

3:30 p.m. Advising Transfers: Sally Mentzer, Transfer Advisor

4:00 p.m. End