Sample Email to Advisees “Message to Dr. Chew’s advisees about scheduling an Advising Appointment”

PLEASE READ THIS ENTIRE EMAIL EVEN IF YOU HAVE BEEN MY ADVISEE FOR MANY SEMESTERS. THERE ARE NEW THINGS FOR YOU TO DO TO PREPARE FOR YOUR ADVISING APPOINTMENT (running your WebCAPP degree audit) AND NEW FORMS FOR YOU TO FILL OUT (Degree Tracking and Degree Planning forms).

I'm sending this message to all students who are my advisees to remind you that Advising for Winter 2011 will begin next Monday, October 25th .

It is college policy that all undergraduate students, freshmen through seniors, meet with their faculty academic advisor prior to registering for the next term.

After we’ve met, I’ll give you your “ALT PIN” number which will let you use your WebOPUS account to register on-line. If you will graduate this December, I don’t need to meet with you – although I’d love to have you stop by so I can congratulate you.

If you have more than one faculty advisor, please meet first with your primary faculty advisor to review your progress and obtain your ALT PIN. Then, schedule an appointment with me for follow-up.

Officially, Advising weeks are October 25th to November 5th. This is followed by two weeks of priority registration. You can locate the registration schedule at

Starting today (Oct 21), I will have a sign up list on my office door (Room 284 EBH) for you to schedule advising appointments. My standard appointment time is 30 minutes. If you want more time, feel free to block out more than one appointment.

If you are a Senior Psychology Major planning to take Senior Seminar next term, I’ll need to fill out a form for you to give to the senior seminar instructor to certify you meet the course requirements. Please remind me to do this.

So that we can make the most effective use of our time together, prior to your advising appointment, please do the following and bring this information with you.If you show up for your appointment unprepared, we’ll have to reschedule.

See you soon!

THINGS TO DO PRIOR TO ADVISING APPOINTMENT

1. Obtain a copy of your current transcript. (Available from your WebOPUS account)

2. Analyze your completed courses with respect to Liberal Arts Core requirements (aka “general education”) and your Major requirements. Use the WebCAPP program now available to you in WebOPUS to do this. Make sure you know which catalog you are following because the “general education” requirements and the structure of the psychology major differ depending on your catalog.
Here are the directions forrunning your WebCAPP:

  1. Login to WebOPUS
  2. Select Student Services & Financial Aid
  3. Select WebCAPP (Degree Audit) icon
  4. Select Term (leave it on the default one)
  5. Click on “Generate New Evaluation” link at bottom of page to see your degree audit based on your current curriculum information. If you want to see your degree audit for a different major, minor, or catalog choice, click on “What If” link and follow the steps.

3. Fill out the attached Degree Tracking worksheet (pdf fillable file included as attachments to this email). Do your best to be as complete as possible. Bring printed copies of your forms with you to your advising appointment. We’ll go over them together.

4.Use the attached Degree Planning worksheet (pdf fillable file) to plan courses for future semesters. Make sure to consider how each proposed course moves you ahead towards graduation in terms of Liberal Arts Core, Major requirements, and Free Electives.
The next semester course schedule is available to view via your WebOPUS account. A printable version is available at . This site also has a schedule of courses planned for the summer and next Fall.

5. Have alternative classes in mind for next semester in case your first choices are full.

You also need to:

5. Have an explicit plan to obtain assistance if your midterm grades are poor. Make sure you have looked at your midterm grades via WebOPUS.

6. Clear any Holds that would prevent registration. Check your WebOPUS account to see Holds.

If you don’t know how to login to your WebOPUS account or are having trouble using WebOPUS, contact the Registrar’s Office, 160 Miller Student Services, for assistance.

List of materials to bring to your Advising Appointment

  1. Printed copy of your transcript from WebOPUS
  2. Printed copy of your WebCAPP degree audit
  3. Printed, updated, copy of your Degree Tracking worksheet
  4. Printed, updated, copy of your Degree Planning worksheet