Collegiate Times

Harry Potter has Dumbledore. James Bond has M. King Arthur has Merlin. And you, during your stay at Virginia Polytechnic Institute, have the academic adviser.

Recently, I sat down with one of these legendary advisers, Paula Van Curen of the electrical and computer engineering department, to get the scoop on what advisers can offer you.

Van Curen said that academic advisers are what you expect them to be: guides - guides through the many twists and turns of the academic maze at Tech. At first glance, course planning may seem to be cookies and gravy; but as you get past the relative cake-walk of freshman year, you may soon find yourself a little lost, "Co-requisites and pre-requisites and course overloads and core curriculum and independent study, oh my!"

Academic advisers are here to help you through all that; they are the first stop for any questions or concerns students may have. Even if an adviser can't help you directly, they will nearly always be able to point you in the right direction.

But they do have plenty of direct help to offer. Together, you can create your four-year course of study so you can avoid that last semester, "Uh oh!  I forgot a class!" An adviser can help you get into full classes that you need to advance on time.

Struggling to find a job? Advisers have a lot of practice in resume writing, cover-letter writing, and conducting interviews. They'll even sit down and discuss career goals with you.

Advisers also prove to be an invaluable resource in troubling times. In one example, Van Curen mentioned a student who came down with mono, struggling to pass a full schedule of classes. The student's adviser worked with Schiffert Health Center (located on campus) to get a few of her classes dropped without penalty. Van Curen added a warning to her story, though: "Ask early." She said that if the student had come when the semester was nearly over, there wouldn't have been much the adviser could do.

Van Curen said that the most of the problems she sees as an academic adviser stem from a lack of time management skills. Many students come here, she said, never having studied in high school. But college is "a little different, much less structured." With no one to make them come to class or turn in homework, a lot of students fall behind and then find themselves swamped. If this happens to you, Van Curen said, try not to be too embarrassed or shy to ask for help. She concluded, asking for help "means you're human."

With that said, academic advisers are a lot of things, but they are not counselors. If you're having any sort of emotional issues, be it problems adjusting or family troubles, an academic adviser will direct you to a professional (probably Cook Counseling, located near Schiffert) who will best serve your needs.

Academic advisers are easy to contact and easy to find. Your adviser will always be listed on Hokie SPA under your general student information. If for some reason you can't find your adviser, you should be able to find a list on your department's Web site.

During busy times, particularly the first week of registration or during course request, you may have to make an appointment, but most of the time you can meet with your adviser by simply walking into his or her office.