Academic Advising - Academic advising facilitates students' understanding of the meaning and purpose of higher education and fosters their intellectual and personal development toward academic success and lifelong learning.

At WKU, academic advising provides students with the opportunity to build a relationship with their advisor for the purpose of gaining assistance in planning their educational career, in learning the skills needed for academic success, and in learning how to access the variety of resources and services available to them on the WKU campus.

Advising is a collaborative process whereby students and their advisors are partners in ensuring academic success and outlining the steps for achievement of the students' personal, academic, and career goals. This partnership requires involvement of both the advisor and the student and both have clear responsibilities for ensuring that the advising partnership is successful.

Advisor Responsibilities

You can expect your advisor to:

• Effectively communicate the curriculum, degree requirements, and university and departmental policies and procedures
• Encourage, guide and support students as they define and develop academic and career goals
• Effectively communicate accurate information and/or provide referrals to appropriate campus services
• Be assessable for meeting with advisees during office hours and/or scheduled appointments
• Reserve adequate time for consultation during advising appointment
• Maintain confidentiality

Student Responsibilities

The advisor expects the student to:

• Schedule and attend advising appointment at least once a semester
• Come prepared to appointment with an iCAP audit, a list of questions, or other relevent materials
• After consultation with your advisor do register for the classes you discussed
• Follow through on referrals made by your advisor (eg. The Learning Center or Career Services Center)
• Provide your advisor with accurate information about your interests and abilities
• Accept responsibility for decisions

Expected Outcomes

Through the academic advising experiences at WKU,

• Students will have developed a relationship wherein the advisee feels comfortable approaching the advisor
• Students will have selected classes in advance of priority registration
• Students will demonstrate the ability to make effective decisions concerning their academic and career goals
• Students will develop an educational plan for successfully achieving their goals

Important Advising Links

• AdvisorTrac - This program allows students to schedule advising appointments online. https://tracweb.wku.edu/advisortrac/Default.html
• TopNet - https://acsapps.wku.edu/pls/prod/twbkwbis.P_WKULogin?ret_code=5
• Undergraduate Catalog- http://www.wku.edu/coursecatalog/
• Schedule of Classes - A schedule of all Western courses with times, dates, and durations. https://acsapps.wku.edu/pls/prod/wku_hwsched.P_CrseSearch
• Academic Calendar - Important dates and locations for campus wide events http://www.wku.edu/Dept/Support/AcadAffairs/Registrar/calendar11.html
• Registration Guide - Information about Registration and academic question you may have during advising appointments. http://www.wku.edu/Dept/Support/AcadAffairs/Registrar/regguide.htm
• Transfer Credit Articulation - Undergraduate courses that have been articulated to WKU courses. https://acsapps.wku.edu/pls/prod/wkup_tar_trans_display.wkup_tar_trans_get_sbgi
• iCAP - An acronym for Interactive Curriculum and Academic Progress. Students can obtain personalized, interactive audits displaying progress toward a selected degree. An audit shows all the requirements needed to fulfill a major, minor or concentration and displays the transfer and WKU courses that have been used to satisfy those requirements. Students can run "What-If" audits to compare their coursework against other majors. http://www.wku.edu/icap/
• Tuition and Fees - http://www.wku.edu/bursar/
• Financial Aid - http://www.wku.edu/Info/FinAid/
• Blackboard—Link to Blackboard (ECourses). This site is used by faculty and staff all through campus for their classes and organizations. https://ecourses.wku.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp
• The Learning Center— A great resource for your students. TLC offers tutoring, workshops, a computer lab, and printer service. http://www.wku.edu/tlc/
• Pre-Professional Advisement Web Pages

• Medical
• Dental
• Optometric
• Podiatric

Author: Kenneth M. Crawford