Your child may be experiencing their first true moments of perceived freedom as they enter college. Although college is a time of great freedom, it is also a time of significantly increased personal responsibility. Often students are able to get through high school with minimal assistance and preparation, but college is a more rigorous experience that will demand more work than many of your children have had to do before.
UNL has multiple resources throughout campus to help your student. Some students may fail to reach out for assistance; they want to try to do it on their own and figure it out as they go. As you visit with your child throughout their time in college, we strongly encourage you to reiterate how it is a sign of maturity to use the resources available. To help them understand the value of advising, take a few general work examples of support we use in everyday life. If a person would like to learn how to eat healthier or develop a more effective work-out plan, they may consult a personal trainer or dietitian. A person who may be experiencing car troubles will consult a technician. A person who is looking to invest their money more responsibly may consult a financial adviser. Advisers provide a valuable resource (at no additional cost) that students should use to ensure they will stay on the path toward successful degree completion and career opportunities.
Whether this is your first, last, or only child to go to college, you will continue to play an influential role in your child’s life. The conversations you can have with your child about their college experience can help provide you comfort about the value of the education your child is getting, but also allows you to reinforce the value of your child getting involved, taking advantage of resources, and working hard to prepare for their future.
Students hesitate seeking out assistance from an adviser for any numbers of reasons. As a parent, this is where you can play an influential role in ensuring your child continues their successful journey at UNL. We recommend students visit with their academic adviser at least one time per semester. These sessions provide an opportunity to discuss upcoming classes, unique opportunities within their major or college, ways to get involved on campus, career aspirations, and more. Each college has varying advising systems. Some have faculty advisers, some have full-time professional advisers, and some use a combination of both.
An advising portal that is utilized at UNL is called MyPLAN. This is a system used by both students and advisers to help ensure students can be connected to their success network. If the student does not know who their specific adviser is, it will be listed within their success network. This network also includes program coordinators, success coaches, and services on campus to help students navigate their college journey. They can schedule an appointment on MyPLAN to meet with their adviser and see when advisers and offices are open for advising appointments. If your child has difficulties utilizing MyPLAN, they can see tutorials at myplan.unl.edu. If their adviser does not appear to be using MyPLAN, students can e-mail their adviser to find out how the person prefers to make advising appointments.
If you are looking to have a positive conversation with your child about their college experience so far, and in particular their advising experience, here are a few questions we would recommend you could ask to begin the conversation:
1. What resources have you used so far? Have you visited any of the tutoring centers? Have you attended any workshops? What kind of events has your residence hall, Greek house, or student organization put on so far?
2. What type of advisor do you have? I know some majors have faculty advisors and some have professional advisors; have you had the opportunity to meet with an advisor so far this semester?
3. When is your priority registration date? (The priority registration date is an assigned time to currently enrolled students that allows them to register for the next semester) Does your college recommend a specific time when you should come in to begin discussing courses for next semester?
4. Have you reviewed the undergraduate bulletin? Did you find any courses that seemed really interesting in your major that you are looking forward to taking?
5. Have you had an opportunity to review your degree audit? (A degree audit is an online tool that allows students to know how all of the coursework they have taken while at UNL, as well as transfer coursework and advanced credit from high school is meeting their degree requirements.)
6. Finally, what has been your more favorite part of college so far?
We put in the last question because we want students and parents to realize that advisors are focused on the whole student experience. We want to know how we can make their experience both inside and outside of the classroom more meaningful and one that they will remember.
Our promise to students is to work hard to make sure that they are provided the best advising experience possible. We will continually strive to ensure that we are knowledgeable and prepared to connect students to all opportunities that will prepare them for the journey. Advisors truly value and appreciate the role that parents and guardians will play in our students' lives during their formative years and we are always willing to work with students to make their dreams become reality. Each student's story matters and we fully believe and strive to empower students to be able to go anywhere!
Article provided by: Academic Advising Association Executive Committee Members
More details at: http://go.unl.edu/q5no