Academic Services

Getting the Help You Need

Issues or problems sometimes arise, whether in your academic department or not, that need addressing. Here are descriptions of some campus resources available to you.

The Graduate Advisor is the most important source of information and assistance for graduate students. Graduate Advisors are faculty members nominated by department chairs and appointed by the Dean of the Graduate Division.

In many departments, the Graduate Advisor counsels enrolled students; leads recruitment and admission selection efforts; and guides departmental decision-making concerning fellowship nominations and allocation of funding for academic apprentice appointments. Graduate Advisors also help ensure that departmental norms, expectations, and requirements are clearly communicated to students.

The Graduate Advisor must approve the study program of every student seeking an advanced degree (Academic Senate regulation 280). Some departments require students to develop, with faculty, a study plan for the degree during the first quarter of residency. Faculty and students alike rely heavily on Graduate Program Assistants for information, but ultimately faculty must be responsible for academic advising. An advising system in which faculty sit down with a student, examine the student's transcript, ask questions about research interests, and suggest coursework maximizes the student's time, money, and energy.

Graduate Council requires departments to prepare handbooks or guidelines to help their students - particularly first-year students - understand what the department and the University expects of them as graduate students.

The departmental Graduate Program Assistant maintains up-to-date information on matters affecting graduate students. Like the Graduate Advisor, the Graduate Program Assistant is a crucial liaison to the Graduate Division who ensures that University and departmental requirements are met.