General Advising

Most Financial Aid and Housing statuses require students to be registered full-time

Full-time students are enrolled in 12-18 credit hours

Part-time students are enrolled in 1-11 credit hours

The maximum amount of credit hours a student can be registered for is 18.5, anything over that and the student must pay the difference of tuition out of pocket and gain approval from their major department

Within the week after add/drop week, students can request a late registration form to add a course to their schedule from the Registrar's office

This form must be approved by the professor of the course, the department chair of the course, the dean of the course, and the Registrar

Students also have the option to add a Session 2 course to their schedule

Session 2 courses last for about 8 weeks and begin at the midpoint of the semester (check the Academic Calendar for details)

Students are recommended to speak with Financial Aid when adding courses to determine if it will impact their current aid, or if they will owe additional fees for the course

Majors and minors can be added and changed via the Major/Minor/Advisor Change Request (Online Green Card) on MyLander

Students should meet with their primary advisor or a representative from the future major for major change information regarding academic planning

Primary advisors can review the requirements of new majors and minors with the student to help them make an effective academic plan

Lander Summer Courses

Register like normal semester

Separate Financial Aid form (student may or may not qualify)

Session 1 & Session 2

Other Institution Summer Courses

Apply as a non-degree seeking student to other institution

Fill out Coursework Approval Form

Send official transcript to Lander's registrar's office after course completion

Transfer Credits

Send official transcript to Lander's registrar's office

Have no idea where to start in your appointments? Here are some tips:

Advising Model

The goal during advising meetings is to build rapport and trust with your students while correctly advising them. Below are strategies and suggestions to guide your conversations in order to support your students. The guidelines listed below are from personal experience and not an extensive list of strategies that can be used to support students during advising meetings. Advising meetings should last around 30 minutes.  

Building Rapport 

In order to initially build rapport with students, begin with asking about their hometown or other questions about their personal life. Then proceed to ask about their major and why they are interested in that particular area of study. Most of the time students do not have a clear reason for why they selected their major. At this point, you chat about what majors Lander offers and can encourage them to visit Career Services.  

Academic Concerns 

Identify the reason the student is meeting with an advisor. Assist the student in navigating the concern, direct the student to correct campus resources, and provide the student with clear next steps.  

If you detect or the student expresses an item of concern (feeling depressed, loss of a family member, unusual changes to appearance or behavior), an official Care Report should be filed and documented in your personal advising notes (not SZANOTE).  

During the semester, tutoring, coaching and Writing Center services will be available for students. During advising meetings, ask the student what academic assistance they use to help them understand course content. As always, encourage them to reach out to their professor through email and/or office hours so they can directly connect with their professors.  

REMINDER: Make notes during your conversation to be able to document things accurately.  

Assessment 

Use Banner (SZANOTE) to keep track of your advising notes. Be sure to consistently update your advising notes each time that you meet with a student for advisement. It allows you to keep track of your interactions, note anything that you may need to, and make sure that information is available to everyone with access.