First Meeting Checklist

Contact Information

Make certain students know:

  • how to contact you
  • what to call you
  • how and when they should expect to hear from you
  • your availability during the term and especially during advising days

Establishing Rapport

Take a few minutes of this group time to introduce yourself. Provide some basic information—how long you’ve been at Carleton, what you teach, something about your interests. Letting your advisees get to know you a little will likely make them more comfortable sharing information with you as you begin to get to know them.

Give the students in your group a chance to introduce themselves to one another. New students are eager to get to know others, especially if they learn that they have the same interest, come from the same place, etc. This will help them make connections with one another, even if your advising group as such won’t continue to meet regularly.

Expectations

Use this time to review the expectations you have of them as advisees, as well as the ways in which you expect to support them as their adviser. You may wish to refer to the sample “Advising Syllabus” and make any adjustments.

Next Steps

Set up individual advising meetings on Thursday and Friday.  If students have registration changes to make, they can do so in Workday (and can add a course as long as the course is open) – check the Registrar’s website for details.

Adjusting to Carleton

Virtually every student experiences some adjustment to college. Issues to raise include:

  • the amount of work out of class,
  • the rapid pace of the ten-week term and the necessity of not procrastinating,
  • the importance of balancing academic and extra-curricular activities
  • the value of seeking out faculty during office hours. You can also direct them to the “Meeting with Your Professor” page.
  • the social and emotional challenges of making new friends, feeling “at home” in a new place, missing home, etc.
  • the need to take responsibility for their own lives
  • the importance of taking advantage of all the resources available to help them succeed: Academic Support Center, Student Health and Counseling (SHAC), RAs, their Class Dean, library staff, Chaplain’s office, Office of International Student Life, Office of Intercultural Life (OIIL), Career Center, etc.

Be sure to let your advisees know that you can be a key resource to them—an advocate, coach, and aide in connecting them with other sources on campus.

Friendly Advice

Use this first meeting to offer your advisees some ideas for how to launch their Carleton careers successfully. Think about what you have learned about first-years, what you know about your own expectations of students, conversations you have had with students facing academic or personal difficulties—take a few minutes to share some perspectives on how to make the most of this first year.

Registration

All students pre-registered over the summer and their registrations have been reviewed by the Registrar and the Associate Provost. They should all be registered for 18 credits, including an A&I seminar.

You will want to discuss the following issues with your advisees:

  • They should have a plan for completing the language requirement;

  • They should understand that they are not permitted to carry fewer than 12 credits in any term. Thus registering for fewer than 18 credits leaves them in a position where they would not be permitted to drop a 6 cr. course, should they find themselves in a position where they wanted to do so.

  • Suggest that they not be too narrowly focused in the choices they make, i.e., all humanities, all sciences, etc.; This first year especially is a good time to explore the curriculum and discover their interest in subjects that are new to them.

Registration for Winter and Beyond

Students are required to meet with you sometime during the term before their next registration. This does not have to be during “advising days,” if there is another time during the term that is mutually convenient. If they claim that they have had a meeting with you when they haven’t, their registration will be deleted. The ASC treats this as a question of academic integrity. Please review emails you receive from the Registrar regarding advising confirmations, and notify the Registrar if anything looks amiss.