WORKING WITH YOUR
FACULTY ADVISER
Human Biology, Health & Society (HBHS)
Nutritional Sciences - CHE (NS-CHE)
Nutritional Sciences - CALS (NS-CALS)
Establishing a good relationship with your faculty adviser is one of the most important things you can do at Cornell. Your faculty adviser can help you make decisions about your course schedule each term and give you critical guidance about your overall academic program. Advisers also suggest ways to enrich your program with courses you have not considered, individual projects, research, or internships. You will want your faculty adviser to get to know you quite well because in your junior or senior years you may wish to ask your adviser to write a letter of reference as you apply for jobs, internships or graduate programs.
Faculty members in the Division of Nutritional Sciences advise students in the HBHS, NS-CALS, NS-CHE majors. Students are assigned to a faculty adviser by Dr. Cha-Sook You (Assistant Director of Undergraduate Studies at the Division of Nutritional Sciences, B17 Savage) & Ms. Brandy Reeves (Student Service Associate, B21 Savage). Students are expected to work with their assigned adviser for the first year. Students may request a change in adviser after the first year by contacting Brandy Reeves. When a student’s faculty adviser is on sabbatic, the student will be notified about which faculty member will serve as the substitute adviser during that time.
HBHS, NS-CALS and NS-CHE majors are always welcome to come to the Division’s Academic Affairs Office (B21 Savage) if they have questions or cannot contact their faculty advisers. Brandy Reeves or Dr. Cha-Sook You will help you.
Additional help is always available in the college counseling and advising offices:
- Human Ecology Office of Student Services and Career Services (MVR 170 and 162)
- Agriculture and Life Sciences Counseling and Advising (Roberts 140)
Seven Tips for Working with your Faculty Adviser
1. Make an appointment by phone, e-mail, or the sign-up sheets outside his/her office. An appointment is the best way to see your faculty adviser. If you try to see him/her by just “stopping by”, you may be disappointed. Faculty members are involved in many different types of teaching, research, and outreach activities. They may be in class, at a meeting, in the lab, out-of-town, or busy with another student.
2. Be courteous, responsible, and use your adviser’s time well. Set an appointment for enough time to cover the topics that concern you. Be on time, and remember to cancel or change the appointment if you have to change your schedule.
3. Be prepared and organized for course planning meetings. Review course requirements, your progress toward them, and course offerings before your appointment. Bring your course and career-planning folder with you.
4. Develop a course and career-planning folder and keep it up to date. Get a sturdy folder to hold your course and career planning materials and your credentials, such as grades, progress toward degree requirements, and recent resume. This folder will hold your ideas and draft plans for your 4-year course program as well as important reference materials for programs that interest you.
5. Be sure you understand all rules and requirements. It is the student’s responsibility to understand the course requirements for your major, the graduation requirements for your college, and academic rules and polices for your college. Read the college handbooks and catalog information for the rules that apply to your program. If you do not understand them, ask your faculty adviser, the DNS Academic Affairs Office, or your college’s academic office for clarification. Rules and requirements vary across the colleges and by year of matriculation. Do not assume that your friend knows the rules that apply to you!
6. Check your mailfolder in MVR 164 and your e-mail for updates and announcements from DNS and your college. Students in the College of Human Ecology will receive "Communecology”, the Colleges weekly e-bulletin. Develop a habit of checking these important sources of information for critical news about any changes in course offerings, college policies, and special opportunities that may interest you.
7. Keep your adviser informed about your Cornell experiences. Your faculty adviser needs to know about your extracurricular activities, interests, and responsibilities. Through these experiences you will develop and demonstrate other important qualities such as leadership, initiative, creativity, commitment, judgment, and interpersonal skills. With some understanding of your extracurricular life, your faculty adviser will be better able to help you develop your academic and career plans.
Meet with your faculty adviser when
You are thinking about changing your major or college
You are developing new career interests
You want to explore courses in a certain area and need help in finding them
You need some direction in considering career interests
You want to know about research opportunities
You need to plan your courses for next term
Take emergency action & contact your faculty adviser within a
few days when:
How can you get extra help?
Is it possible to drop it?
How will your course plans for other terms be affected?
Illness, family issues, or personal problems prevent you from
attending or concentrating on your classes
Should you adjust your schedule?
Can you arrange to get an incomplete?
Who on campus can assist you?
Can you arrange to take leave of absence?
You feel so overwhelmed by courses and other commitments (work, athletics, family) that you are constantly exhausted and cannot concentrate
Should you adjust your program?
Is there anyone who can help you deal with this stress?
You are so worried about your grades that you are not performing at your best and feel constantly tired.
How can I deal with self-imposed pressure or pressure from peers or family members?
Summary of Advising Assistance for HBHS and NS Students
Faculty Adviser
- Provides counsel for your academic program throughout your Cornell career
- Meets with you at least once each term to help plan courses for next term
- Follows your progress toward degree requirements
- Helps you think about specialized academic opportunities
- Gives you guidance if special issues or problems arise related to academics
- Knows you well enough to serve as reference
DNS Academic Affairs Office, B21 Savage, 5-4410
- Place to go when you do not know whom else to ask!
- Advises HBHS, NS-CALS, and NS-CHE students when regular faculty adviser is not available
- Coordinates faculty adviser assignments
- Assists students with complex course scheduling, e.g. study abroad, urban semester
- Approves courses taken at other universities toward requirements for the major
- Acts on petitions to deviate from requirements for the major
- Signs special study forms (NS 400-402)
- Keeps students informed of course changes and special seminars and opportunities
College Advising Offices
- Another place to go when you do not know whom to ask!
- Provides professional counseling and referral services to students who have academic, personal, family problems
- Helps students who are undecided or changing their majors
- Provides general career planning services
Shy about talking to your faculty adviser? (It doesn’t take much to get them talking.)
- Ask your adviser about his/her interests, research program, or the courses s/he teaches.
- Find out where s/he attended college and graduate school and the path that led him/her to Cornell.
- Ask him/her to tell you some of the things in Ithaca you should take advantage of while at Cornell.
- If you cannot reach your faculty adviser, contact the DNS Academic Affairs Office (B21 Savage, 5-4410, aadns@cornell.edu)
or contact the counseling and advising office in your college. Someone in these offices is always available to help you.