Advising

Nicole Merola, Dean of Faculty
nmerola@risd.edu
401-709-8586

The Dean of Faculty leads RISD's efforts to advance advising. Please contact the Dean with any questions and concerns regarding resources and best practices. Detailed information on advising, digital tools to facilitate it appear in the "Teaching, Students and Advising" section of the Faculty Handbook. 

Advising basics
Full-time faculty are required by the Bargaining Agreement to provide academic advising for students. Advising should be an ongoing process but good practice should include advising meetings prior to registration for the Fall and Spring semesters. The basics of academic advising are

• Review of the Program Evaluation (student progress towards earning their degree)

• Help in the selection Liberal Arts and Non-major elective courses

• Making sure advisees are on track for all major requirements

• Make sure they are meeting the Liberal Arts requirements for graduations

Before each advising meeting it is recommended that faculty advisors:

1. Log on to Workday and review their advisee's Program Evaluation prior to or during an advising session. (It lists all courses by distribution requirements and identifies what has been completed, is “in progress” and what courses are still needed.)

2. Help advisees select the appropriate department electives as well as appropriate non-major studio electives. In many departments, the Department specialist/coordinator will pre-register all department majors in their required major studios.

3. Send students to the Liberal Arts Office with any problems with their Liberal Arts distributions, advanced placement credits, transfer credits in Liberal Arts, or unmet requirements. (Read the Liberal Arts advising guide which is posted to the Advising Handbooks section of this website)

4. Do not minimize or diminish in any way the importance of their Liberal Arts requirements and their importance to providing context and depth to their studios and their graduation requirements.

BEYOND THE BASICS
Brown RISD Dual Degree Advising is provided by professional staff at Brown dedicated to providing in depth guidance for the student enrolled in the program. Click here to read more about the program.