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Understanding Your Role at USM
Understanding Your Role at USM
Students have a role and responsibility in their college education. This Advising Guide will help you to understand these responsibilities as they relate to advising and our partnership.
What are my responsibilities as a student?
What are my responsibilities as a student?
Communicate and Meet with Your Advisor
Communicate and Meet with Your Advisor
USM's Primary Form of communication is email. Be sure to check your maine.edu email often and utilize this platform to email your advisors with questions or important updates!
All Professional Academic Advisors have Appointment Scheduling Websites that you can schedule a 1-on-1 meeting to review questions, graduation planning, course planning, and more!
Faculty Academic Advisors may have their own preferred mode of scheduling meetings with students including via email, their own scheduling links, office hours, etc. Again, our primary form of communication with students is via email, so always feel free to reach out to learn more about how to schedule time with your advisor.
Explore and Share Your Interests and Goals
Explore and Share Your Interests and Goals
USM has amazing resources for exploring your interests and goals both personally and academically. Whether you know what you want to major in or not, your advisors can help you with expanding on your interests and goals by identifying opportunities on campus related to them! Even if it seems like your interests are unrelated to a career path, knowing these interests and talking about them with your advisor can help you make connections with students groups, research/internship opportunities, and create an overall plan for your education.
Prepare For Your Meetings with Ideas and Questions
Prepare For Your Meetings with Ideas and Questions
On that note, be sure to come to your advising meeting prepared with questions and ideas! This could be as straightforward as wanting to take a specific course related to your interests or questions about how different minors or electives can be directed to align with your educational goals. These meetings aren't limited to discussing coursework either. We can talk about on campus or off-campus opportunities to be involved in the community or connect you with appropriate campus resources (e.g. tutoring, disability services, counseling, etc.)
Know Your Major and Degree Requirements
Know Your Major and Degree Requirements
Every student follows the requirements of the academic year they enter USM for the first time. We refer to this as your catalog year. So, for example, if you start your first semester at USM in the Fall of 2023, your catalog year would be 2023-2024. The same would be said for those starting in Spring 2024.
You can find your catalog year requirements in your MaineStreet Student Center under Academics > Degree Progress Report or by going to the USM Website Here.
Familiarize Yourself with Academic Policies and Deadlines
Familiarize Yourself with Academic Policies and Deadlines
Knowing Academic Policies and Deadlines are quintessential to navigating your degree in college. It's important to keep these in mind as you make decisions about coursework and planning your degree path.
Stay Up to Date With USM Communications
Stay Up to Date With USM Communications
As we mentioned, email is the main form of communication and updates at USM. We send all important updates (including email updates to check your MaineStreet Student Center Message Center) there. Your professors, advisors, integral staff members, and student groups will primarily use this platform. You may also see updates in the undergraduate Navigate Student App or in Brightspace for your courses, though those will come as updates to your maine.edu email as well.
Ask For Help When You Need It!
Ask For Help When You Need It!
Please always ask for help when you need it. This could include academic and career development strategies, building USM community and wellness!
We are here to help you succeed.
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