Student Guidelines and Responsibilities
Image: Advising students and professor
Student Guidelines & Responsibilities
Attending Advising
Typically, advising sessions for all students begin around the eighth week of each semester. Students and their advisors will get into contact with each other to go over plans for the upcoming semester. This often includes discussing and choosing which classes a student will be registering for and going over what requirements a student has yet to complete regarding their course of study.
While some students may wish or need to meet with their advisor more frequently than others, it is important that all students are in contact with their advisors, especially as advising for fall or spring rolls around.
Meeting With Your Advisor
Be Prepared
- Bring something you can take notes with. Often there will be things you’ll want to make sure you remember, so it’s important to be able to make note of those things. This makes it easier to reflect on what next steps you and your advisor have discussed, and to remember important tasks you may need to complete.
- Prepare your questions beforehand. If you are making an appointment with your advisor for a specific reason, it can be helpful to write down what you’d like to discuss before attending. This way you can help yourself to stay focused during the meeting and help make sure you don’t forget to ask something important.
- Make sure to arrive on time. If you’ve never visited your advisor in their office before, it might be beneficial to leave for your meeting early as to guarantee you’ll be able to find the office and arrive on time. It’s often better to arrive five minutes early, so that you can take a few minutes to review and prepare for the meeting.
Helpful Tools: The Catalog & The Schedule
Before meeting with your advisor to pick classes for the next semester, it is best to have a few classes in mind ahead of time. Think about what requirements you have yet to fulfill, both within your major and within the core requirements. Then search through the catalog to see what your options might be. Then reference those options with what will be available next semester on the schedule. Pick out the ones you feel are the best options for you and bring them with you to the meeting with your advisor. Together, both of you can discuss what classes would be the best choice as you move forward.
The Catalog vs The Schedule
While both tools are available for students to look at possible class options, the two systems function in different ways.
The Catalog
The catalog shows students the classes that they may take to satisfy requirements associated with their major. It shows the major pathway options, along with a recommended order in which the classes could be taken. Not every class listed in the catalog is guaranteed to appear on the schedule, though many of the required major courses will appear during their recommended semester. It is important to speak with your advisor and to plan ahead so that you have ample opportunities to take required classes as they appear on the schedule.
The other important feature of the catalog is that it grants students the option to search within it for certain identifiers. For example, if a student was interested in seeing only classes with a history identifier, the student could search for that. Even more importantly a student can search for the Hiram core requirement codes, for example, “MM,” “UD,” or “CM,” and see classes that would satisfy that requirement.
How Do I Find the Catalog?
The current catalog is easily accessed by going to my.hiram.edu and clicking the drop-down “General.” Under General, click the third option down labeled “College Catalog.”
To do an advanced search of the catalog, first choose the option “Current Hiram College Catalog.” Then, on the right-hand side pick the option “Search Courses.” Once there you can search by keyword or do an advanced search by subject.
The Schedule
The schedule shows classes currently being offered during a specific term. It works to show all classes available for registration for the ongoing or upcoming term. Filters allow for more selective searching with options to separate classes by part of term, subject, and core. It is important to note down the names, times, and class number of the classes you are considering before meeting with your advisor.
The schedule is a useful tool in that it shows only classes being offered in an upcoming term. Unlike the catalog which shows all classes needed to satisfy a major’s requirement, the schedule only shows classes you currently have the option to take. It is also useful by providing the available open spots in a course, the instructor teaching the class, and the time and location of the course. This is also where you will find the CRN number for the course. The CRN number is important as it is the number you will need to register for the class.
How Do I Find the Schedule?
The schedule is easily located by going to my.hiram.edu and selecting “Class Schedules” at the top of the page. From there, select the term that you are looking to register or take classes in. You can sort by part of term (12-week Traditional College, 3-week Traditional College, 1st 8-week, 2nd 8-week), course subjects, core requirements, instructor, and credit hours.
Guide to Registration
After meeting with your advisor, discussing your plans for the upcoming semester, and picking out your classes, you’re ready to prepare for registration. There are a handful of things you’ll need to keep in mind while preparing to register for your classes.