CLA Student Community Services

Your student community is your college advising office, but it is much more--it's made up of staff and fellow students who share your academic interest area. Keeping in touch with your student community will help you stay in touch with what's happening in CLA as well as what you need to do to graduate! Here are some services your community offers:

Online services

• CLA Advising Web
  Each student community has a website through which you can contact your college adviser and CCLC liaison. Collectively these sites are called CLA Advising Web. You will also learn what's going on in your community, link to your major department's website and find downloadable forms, fliers, and informational packets, and links to other CLA or University websites that are related to that student community. Consider bookmarking your student community's site for regular use.
• E-mail
  Use e-mail to ask your adviser a brief question. Your adviser and student community will also use e-mail to send you information you need to know about upcoming events, deadlines, and opportunities. Your University-assigned e-mail account is the University's official means of communicating with you. You are responsible for all the information sent to you via this account, so check your official University e-mail address frequently. However, do not use e-mail to schedule appointments.
• Computers for student use
  Use computers in your student community to check your e-mail and look up academic information on the web.

• One-on-one advising appointments
  Make an appointment with your college adviser to discuss your plans, decisions, and questions one-on-one, and to find out what you need to do to finish your degree and prepare for life after college. An appointment with your peer adviser can also help with your course planning. Call your student community to schedule an appointment.
  
  When you would like to meet with your major adviser, contact your major department. Your major adviser can talk with you about declaring your major, meeting major requirements, your senior project, and opportunities within the department.
• Walk-in advising
  Stop in to see the walk-in adviser in your CLA student community when you have a quick question (walk-in sessions are limited to 5-10 minutes), want a copy of your APAS report, or need help figuring out what classes to take. If the walk-in adviser can't help you with your situation, he or she will help you find a resource that can.
• Help in choosing a major
  Sometimes choosing a major can be a difficult decision. Remember that all students are required to declare a major by the time they reach 60 credits. If you are having difficulty, see your college adviser. To help you start the process, you may also want to look at our website, Choosing a Major, developed by our advising staff.
• Course planning
  Your adviser can help you plan for the next term and for the next year. Graduating in four years can take some planning ahead. If you need help deciding how to plan a course load, you may want to look at our website, Course Load Planning, developed by our advising staff.
• Planning for graduation
  To make sure that you graduate when you want to graduate, you should make regular appointments with your college adviser to go over your balance sheet. During these appointments, your adviser will talk with you about what requirements you have left in order to finish your degree and give you a balance sheet which explains what you need to do in order to fulfill the requirements for your degree.
  
  You should make at least one balance sheet appointment in both your junior and senior years. Armed with this knowledge, you should not end up having to delay your graduation for a term or more because of a requirement that you missed.
• Degree clearance
  Your college adviser is the person who reviews your academic record and clears you to earn your degree and graduate.
• Assistance dealing with academic difficulties
  If you are having trouble academically, your college adviser can help you determine the source of your difficulty, locate the assistance that you might need, and plan for academic success.
• Petitions for exemptions to deadlines and policies
  Your student community is the place to begin the petition process. If you would like to learn more about canceling and adding courses and some of the petitions related to this, you may want to visit our website, Canceling and Adding Courses.
• Group advising sessions
  Your student community and other CLA student communities offer a variety of information meetings and workshops to help you find out about programs and opportunities and to meet other students interested in the same things. Have a look at the events calendar on your student community's website to learn about upcoming group advising sessions.
• Referrals to University resources
  If you are looking for ways to get involved on campus, for help with a personal problem, for career information, or nearly anything else, your student community staff has lots of information on the many and varied resources available on campus.