Advising

Academic advising is key to a successful undergraduate experience. Stanford offers a wealth of intellectual opportunities, both in and outside the classroom. The central role of advisors is to help you take full advantage of all that’s available as you create your unique path through your undergraduate career.

No one path is right or recommended. An advisor’s role is to challenge you to stretch your mind and question your assumptions. They help provide a compass for you, not a roadmap, and encourage you to take intellectual risks. They can also help you create relationships with faculty and staff mentors who can support you as you pursue opportunities.

It is in your best interest to seek advising early and often from many different sources. Even the most common academic concern can relate to your deepest aspirations. This is why the relationships you form with multiple mentors - Pre- Major Advisors, Academic Directors, and other UAR advisors in the AARC and Sweet Hall - are an essential element of your undergraduate experience.

Advising Freshman Year

Undergraduate Advising and Research (UAR) is dedicated to introducing you to the full intellectual richness of undergraduate study at Stanford, supporting you in your academic and intellectual pursuits, and instilling within you a deep sense of identity within and belonging to the community of scholars at Stanford.

This process begins with the paring of each freshman with two advisors: a Pre-Major Advisor and an Academic Director.

• Pre-Major Advisor. Your Pre-Major Advisor (PMA) is a faculty member, staff person, or local alumnus who volunteers to mentor you and a handful of other freshmen from the point of your arrival on campus until you declare your major. PMAs are matched to students based upon common interests such as the advisor's area of disciplinary expertise (broadly defined) or extracurricular interests. PMAs serve in a variety of professional roles on campus and are the first of many mentors we expect you will find at Stanford. The PMA understands the building blocks and framework for an undergraduate degree regardless of discipline. PMAs can assist you in selecting courses within her/his milleau, deciding among equally compelling options, exposing you to her/his field of expertise, and preparing for graduate or professional studies. You will meet with your Pre-Major Advisor during New Student Orientation (NSO) and at least once per quarter until you declare a major (by the end of your sophomore year), after which you will be advised by a faculty member in your chosen department.

• UAR Academic Director. The Academic Director, or AD, is a full-time, professional staff advisor with UAR.  The AD is part of an undergraduate residential community with an office in the residence, and follows the academic progress of approximately 450 freshmen and sophomores living in a particular residential complex or complexes.  The AD stays current on curricular and other academic offerings across the University, regardless of her/his own field, and helps students synthesize a set of academic requirements, opportunities, policies, and deadlines so that you can construct a rich and coherent undergraduate experience.  ADs can also assist you investigating opportunities beyond a major,  including research, fellowships, and post-graduate study. ADs also support students who face difficulty with academic performance/progress, and those who seek an exception from academic deadlines and policies.
  
  In 2011-2012, there are Academic Directors for all freshmen residences, including  Florence Moore, Freshman Sophomore College, Lagunita, Muwekma-Tah-Ruk, Roble, Stern, and Wilbur. Here is a list of Academic Directors, their office location, and their contact information.

An additional set of advisors in UAR are located on the first floor of Sweet Hall. UAR Advisors are available during daily drop-in hours or by appointment, in the event that your Pre-Major Advisor or Academic Director is unavailable or if you seek specialized advice regarding research, fellowships, or pre-professional interests (e.g., pre-law, pre-health, pre-business).

Varsity athletes are served by UAR Academic Advisors whose offices are located in the Athletic Academic Resources Center (AARC) located in the Arrillaga Center for Sports and Recreation. The AARC Advisors are uniquely qualified and trained to evaluate student-athletes’ academic eligibility requirements.

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Advising Sophomore Year

Seeking out multiple perspectives is particularly helpful when thinking through the choices that ultimately lead to major declaration. In the sophomore year, UAR continues to connect you with multiple advisors, each of whom is interested in discussing your interests and goals.

• Pre-Major Advisor:  Your Pre-Major Advisor continues to be available to discuss the development of your intellectual interests and can help you identify supplementary sources of information.   You are required to have a quarterly check-in with your Pre-Major Advisor until you declare a major.

• Academic Director: There is an Academic Director associated with every residence that houses sophomores, and we encourage you to seek her/him out.  You may also continue to work with the Academic Director from your freshman residence, if you wish.  They can provide information about the curriculum, major declaration processes, academic rules and regulations, research, fellowships and scholarships, academic standing, petitions, and preparation for graduate and professional school.

Sophomores may also utilize the additional set of advisors in UAR , who are located on the first floor of Sweet Hall. UAR Academic Advisors are available during daily drop-in hours or by appointment, in the event that your Pre-Major Advisor or Academic Director is unavailable or if you seek specialized advice regarding research, fellowships, and pre-professional interests (e.g., pre-law, pre-health, pre-business).  Student athletes continue to work with the UAR Academic Advisors in the AARC.

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Advising After Declaring a Major

Once you declare a major you will choose (or have assigned to you) an academic advisor in your chosen field.  Declared Majors may seek additional advising as well.

• Honors Advising. If you pursue Honors, you will also work with an Honors Thesis Advisor who may or may not be your departmental academic advisor.
• Faculty Research Advisors. Throughout your time as an undergraduate, you will have a variety of opportunities to be involved with research. In all cases, your research will be supervised by a faculty member. Students who apply for a Student Research grant through the Office of Undergraduate Advising and Research will be required to have a faculty advisor. Students may have to seek them out to request their guidance.

• UAR Academic Advisors: Professional advisors are centrally located in Sweet Hall and include specialists in preparation for the research, fellowships, health professions (for example, pre-medical advising), law school, and teaching. As with the Academic Directors, these advisors provide information about all undergraduate requirements and considerations, including petitions, as well as the resources and opportunities that Stanford offers you.  In addition to appointments, they hold walk-in hours every afternoon, when you can have quick questions answered. You can make an appointment with a UAR Advisor by calling (650) 723-2426 or by coming to first floor Sweet Hall, Monday - Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m

For more information about working with faculty advisors and mentors, see Working with Faculty.

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