Advising

In Campus Connection, your academic advisor is listed on the right side of your “Student Center” page. In Starfish, your academic advisor is listed under “My Success Network.” If an academic advisor is not listed, please contact the College of Arts & Sciences Advising Office at UND.casadvising@UND.edu.

Because getting the help and support you need is so important to your success at UND, every student is assigned an advisor who specializes in advising students, known as a “professional” or “academic” advisor. Departments also assign faculty advisors to their majors because they are specialists in that academic field. Faculty (another word for professors) advise students but also teach classes and engage in scholarship and service to the university.

If you have a second major, you will be assigned a professional and a faculty advisor in that major as well. In addition to a primary professional advisor and a faculty advisor, pre-health students who are not Biology majors will have a secondary professional advisor focused on pre-health programming.

Faculty advisors will be listed under a particular department’s web page as “faculty.”  You can also tell by searching the online UND Faculty and Staff Directory. When you enter the advisor’s name, a professional advisor’s title will include “advisor” whereas a faculty advisor’s title will include “professor.” A few departments have faculty who also serve as the professional advisor for that area.

Any advisor is ready to help, but certain types of questions and issues may be better suited to either your professional or faculty advisor.

Professional Advisors

Professional advisors are experts in academic advising. They can help you with:

• Selecting classes in your major
• The department's curriculum, timing or sequencing, and offerings
• Academic planning and registration
• UND technologies, processes, and policies
• Forms, petitions, permissions, approvals, and substitutions
• Dates and deadlines
• Anything that you need to get done quickly
• Academic probation
• Exploring different majors
• Changing majors
• Second majors, minor(s), and certificate(s)
• GPA, credit, and transcript questions
• Degree progress and graduation requirements
• Essential Studies requirements and appeals
• Campus support services
• Referrals to resources and offices

Faculty Advisors

Faculty advisors are experts in their academic fields. They are mentors who can help you with:

• Ways to pursue your intellectual interests
• Selecting classes in your major
• Areas within the academic discipline (such as subfields, scholarly specializations, tracks)
• The department’s curriculum, timing or sequencing, and offerings
• Departmental roles and faculty backgrounds
• Faculty areas of interest and expertise
• Complementary coursework or credentials in other fields
• Specialized opportunities like research or internships
• Student groups or events
• Alumni networking
• Applications, recommendations, personal statements
• Graduate school
• Career planning and development

Campus Connection and the UND Faculty and Staff Directory will both provide you with your advisor’s office phone and email address (in Campus Connection, click on the advisor’s name).

You can also call the Student Academic Success & Career Engagement Office at 701.777.2117 to contact a professional advisor. To contact a faculty advisor, call the main office of the academic department or send an email to your faculty advisor.

Use Starfish to schedule an appointment with your professional advisor, or call the Student Academic Success & Career Engagement Office at 701.777.2117. If you click on the advisor’s name in the online Faculty and Staff Directory, the advisor’s contact and office information will be displayed. Most professional advisors in the College of Arts & Sciences have offices in McCannel Hall.

You may not be able to use Starfish to schedule an appointment with your faculty advisor. Call the main office of the department to learn the professor’s office hours, or contact the professor directly. If you click on the faculty member’s name in the online Faculty and Staff Directory, the professor’s email and office phone as well as the department phone will be displayed along with the professor’s office, which will depend on the department’s location on campus.

When you declare a major, you will automatically be assigned the professional advisor for that major. Professional advisors work with all of the students in one or more particular major(s) based on the advisor’s area(s) of responsibility.

Departments may vary in how they assign faculty advisors, but in general students majoring in that area are divided up and assigned across the faculty of the department. In other words, the professional advisor of every student in a given major will be the same, but the faculty advisor may vary between different students with the same major.

If you change majors, your professional advisor will automatically change unless your professional advisor happens to be responsible for both your old and new departments. Your faculty advisor will also change because professors only advise students in their departments. If you add a second major, you will be assigned an additional professional advisor and faculty advisor whom you should consult for help with that major.

Your professional advisor will not change unless you change majors. You may choose a different faculty advisor through the College of Arts & Sciences Advising Office at UND.casadvising@UND.edu.

Students often select a faculty advisor based on their experience with a professor in coursework or on that professor’s area of academic specialization.

Your professional advisor can either answer your questions or direct you to the right person. You can also contact the professional advisor assigned to the department that offers the minor or the certificate, or contact that department by calling the department’s main office or contacting the department Chairperson (listed on the department’s web page).

The College of Arts & Sciences has a Lead Advisor, Kayla Hotvedt, with broad knowledge of different majors and policies and procedures. Each College has an Academic Core Advisor (ACA), who helps to coordinate advising across Colleges. Katie Meyer is the ACA for the College of Arts & Sciences. Yvette Koepke is the College of Arts & Sciences Associate Dean for Academic Success.