Advising Roles + Responsibilities

• Students must take initiative to seek advisement and develop a close and helpful rapport with Academic Services.  
• Students are responsible for making decisions about their educational goals including selection of courses and major and navigation of their department’s credit evaluation.  
• Students should schedule an appointment with an academic advisor when questions arise about curriculum requirements, course selection and offerings and other aspects of the academic experience. The student should arrive to advising appointments on-time and prepared. Preparation includes understanding departmental and elective requirements, reviewing and bringing a copy of their credit evaluation as well as a list of any related questions.
• Students should create and maintain a file with relevant academic materials and follow through with their advisor’s recommendations and suggestions.
• Students should attend all regularly scheduled classes and consult the attendance policy, should they be ill or otherwise unable to attend class. In this case, it is the student’s responsibility to communicate this to the Director of Academic Services.
• Students are integral to the advising process, and it is important they engage in advisement from the moment they arrive on campus until they are preparing for their final semester and graduation.

Advisor Roles and Responsibilities 

• Advisors provide students with information and resources to promote their academic progress.  
• Advisors empower students to take responsibility for their academic success.
• Advisors provide regular communication and mandatory advisement for any students who are deficient in one or more classes.
• Advisors should stay informed and updated of any changing policies related to academic progress or curricular alteration. If an advisor does not know the answer to a student’s particular question, the advisor will direct the student to the appropriate resource.  
• Advisors create a welcoming environment where students feel free to communicate openly and honestly with their advisor about any academic or personal issues they may have.
• Advisors serve as a liaison between the Cleveland Institute of Art and Case Western Reserve University’s Office of University Counseling Services and may recommend students seek professional counseling in cases of varying severity.  
• Advisors are in place to help students with a range of issues and concerns.  From the Office of Academic Services, students should expect high-quality service from advisors, and there should never be any hesitation to engage in the advising process.