Student Responsibilities in Advising

Here are some suggestions for a productive advising appointment:

• Schedule appointments with your advisor as soon as possible and keep the appointment. Be courteous – if you cannot keep the scheduled appointment, notify your advisor BEFORE the appointed time.
• Write down the name and office number of your advisor in your calendar or organizer.
• Remember – it’s your responsibility to fulfill your program requirements. Review these requirements as well as college policies and procedures in the BCC course catalog and student handbook.
• Clarify your personal values and goals so you can discuss them with your advisor.
• Consult the course brochure and prepare a tentative schedule of courses for the semester as well as a list of alternative courses that fulfill your program requirements. Please keep in mind your work schedule and other responsibilities when creating your schedule.
• If you plan to transfer to a senior institution, you should also examine the catalogs of the colleges that interest you or consult a transfer counselor.
• Take responsibility for the decisions you have made. Your advisor’s job is to assist you with making sound decisions, not to make the decisions for you.
• After consulting with your advisor, follow through with appropriate action – sooner rather than later.
• If you have transfer credits from another institution, request that the institution send a transcript to the Office of Student Records (Enrollment Center, G Building), so that your courses can be evaluated and recorded on your BCC transcript. This will help your advisor assist you with course selection based on transfer credit.

Reasons to Meet With Your Advisor:

• An advisor can help you choose your academic program (degree plan).
• Consult with your advisor on a regular basis, for course selection, when in academic difficulty, prior to changing majors, prior to making changes in an approved schedule, prior to transferring to another college, or withdrawing from college.
• You may request to meet with your advisor as often as needed to help plan for and achieve your overall goals. You should contact your advisor with any questions and concerns that come up at any point in the semester.
• You should consult with your advisor when any course adjustments must be made such as:
• Adding or dropping a course during the first week of the semester.
• Withdrawing from a course after the first week of the semester.
• You should contact your advisor if you are experiencing any academic problems. Your advisor can connect you with the other services on campus such as the Tutoring and Academic Support Center, the Writing Lab, the Counseling Center, etc.