Advising

Division I Advisors
In your first semester at Hampshire, you take one tutorial course. The professor of your tutorial is your Division I Advisor. Their primary responsibilities are to help you transition into Hampshire, fulfill your Division I requirements, and prepare you for Division II. Your Advisor will write your Division I evaluation after you have passed. This person is your advisor until you officially file Division II, which may not be until your third or fourth semester at Hampshire (though Division II work nearly always started in the third semester). You cannot register for courses until your advisor approves you on the Hub. Your advisor can also act as a mediator if you are having problems with another professor.

Advisors vary on their level of involvement in their students’ non-academic lives. Some prefer to simply ensure that you fulfill Division I requirements successfully, while others take on more of a mentorship role. At the very least, your advisor should be able guide you to the resources and support centers you need (academic or otherwise).

It may be useful to choose a tutorial by someone working in the area of study you think you may want to go in to, but it is not necessary. Try searching for potential advisors/tutorial professors on the Hampshire website or right here on Hampedia to get a sense of what they do and what they are like.

An important thing to remember when dealing with advisors is that they all have different knowledge and approaches to sharing that knowledge. Some professors have been here for a long time and know a lot about the school, others might know about as much as you. Some professors require one-on-one meetings multiple times a semester, others have group advising sessions, and some use class time to do a little advising. If your advisor’s method isn’t working for you, say something! You can always make an appointment to meet with him or her during office hours if there’s something you need to talk about (most advisors have a sign-up sheet on their doors for this purpose). You can also just drop by to say ’’hi’’ sometimes. Remember, it may be up to you to make sure that your advisor is doing what you need them to do for you. Don’t be afraid to talk them and ask them for help; it’s what they are there for!

First-year tutorial
All first years are assigned an advisor through their tutorial. A tutorial is a required academic class that goes towards fulfilling Div I requirements and is taught by the professor who is your advisor. For the most part you tutorial is like any other class, but the idea is that by having your advisor also be one of your professors he or she will get to know you in an academic setting and see how you work in that context. Tutorials are also a way to help you adjust to Hampshire's way of teaching and learning; they will have a curriculum designed to introduce you slowly to writing papers, having class discussions, doing project-based work and getting an evaluation. Your tutorial should be the place to bring up any questions or problems you are having getting used to the way classes at Hampshire work.

Some advisors try to foster a group feeling in their tutorial by doing things outside of class and advising students together instead of individually. Others prefer to teach the tutorial as a normal class. The students usually have a lot of say in this, so you'll be able to figure out which style works best for you.

There is some conflict of interest involved in the tutorial system, in that if you are having a problem in that class, it might be difficult to talk to the professor in their role as advisor about that class. If you have problems with your advisor, it can also affect your enjoyment of the class. It can be difficult to change tutorials, but it is sometimes possible at the very beginning of the semester. If you are interested in doing this, or if you have any other concerns about your advisor/tutorial professor, talk to the people in CASA (Center for Academic Support and Advising).

Advising days
There are two advising days per semester. There are no Hampshire classes on this day because you are expected to meet with your advisor, however five college classes usually do meet. Generally advisors ask that you sign up for a time-slot to come speak with them; sometimes they will have times available on days around advising day as well, so if you have a conflict on the day itself you can still meet with them. Advising day is usually more important for Div II and Div III students than it is for Div I students (especially in the fall, when first-years are meeting regularly in tutorials), but it is still a good time to meet with your advisor, even if it’s just to say that everything is going well. It is important that both you and your advisor are on the same page about your academic goals and progress.

Advising days are also important because that is when your advisor can approve you for registration on the Hub. The advising day towards the end of each semester is for you to make sure that you are on track towards completing your Division. In order to register for the next semester’s classes you must get approved by your advisor. Therefore, it is important to come prepared to the meetings; your advisor will want to see that you have next semester's curriculum figured out, or that you are at least thinking about it. Some advisors only need to see that you have classes in mind; others will want to talk to you about which classes you will be taking and how they fit into your academic plan as a whole. This is also the time to make sure you are fulfilling all of your Division I requirements, and to clarify with your advisor anything you are confused about.

How to Change advisors
If you ever want to change advisors you have to do it through CASA. When you go it is helpful to have already talked to the person who is to become your new advisor (make sure they actually agree!). You should also talk to your current advisor and tell them that you are switching advisors for whatever reason ( "I’ve talked to this professor who has a lot more knowledge and experience in the area that I want to focus in, and I think that they’ll be able to help me get a good base in my proposed area of studies" or something like that might work well). If you want to find a new advisor (for whatever reason), but you don’t know who you want your new advisor to be, the advising office can help you come up with a list of potential professors for you to go talk to. Go to these people and tell them why you’re looking for a new advisor and why you think that that person might be a good one for you. Once you find a new advisor it is imperative that you go in person to the advising office to tell them--they have to make it official.

Changing advisors is difficult, especially because they will probably still be your tutorial leader even after you switch. If you are having problems getting along with your advisor or getting the information you need, it's best just to talk to them; they may not be aware of the problem, or they may know a way to help. But if things really are not going well, it's better to find an advisor you can work with; the advisor is an integral part of the Div I process, and you need to be able to interact with them productively.

Generally the chairperson of a Div II and Div III committee is also that student’s advisor. You can request that somebody outside of your committee be your advisor by going to CASA and talking to them. For more information on Div II and Div III advising, see those sections of the Guerilla Guide.

Advising Survey
In Spring 2007, The Re-Radicalization of Hamshire designed and distributed a survey asking students what they thought of their first-year advising experiences. It was distributed to all campus mailboxes, and 134 responses were received, almost 1/10 of Hampshire's student population. The questions in the survey focused on what advising was like, what the problems were, and what could be done to improve it, including a open comments section. After the data was analyzed in the Spring of 2008, a report was compliled, detailing the findings of the Advising Committee of Re-Rad. The original survey, along with the full report and data are all available here: 2008 Advising Survey Report. We hope this survey and report will be a useful tool for future discussions of advising, and for identifying areas of success as well as areas that need more work.