Prior to Your Meeting
Consider the following questions before meeting with your faculty adviser:
- What did you come to the Humphrey to learn?
- Do you have an idea of which concentration area(s) you would like to follow?
- What do you expect from the relationship with your faculty adviser? Do you have specific goals outside of coursework that you would like input on while at the Humphrey? (e.g. landing a specific internship, professional contacts, mentoring, class selection)
Bring to Your Meeting
- A copy of your registration for the upcoming semester, as well as thoughts about future course plans.
- A copy of your Program Planning Worksheet (PPW).
At Your Initial Adviser Meeting
- Talk to your adviser about your academic goals and potential concentration area at the Humphrey.
- Share your tentative course schedule, and ask for input in terms of:
- Quality
- Quantity of credits (what’s manageable your first semester)
- Balance of Core/Concentration
- Possibility for waiving core courses (i.e., Economics, Statistics)
- Sequencing (many courses are taught only once a year & may require a prerequisite)
- Suggestions for courses outside of Public Affairs
- Do your enrollment plans allow you to accomplish all requirements within your proposed timeframe (2 years for full-time MDP/MPP/MHR/MURP/MS students)?
- Talk to your adviser about your hopes or expectations of the adviser/advisee relationship. If you have particular things you would like assistance with, feel free to discuss these.
- Finally, set a future advising meeting to take place within the semester. Because this first meeting is a short one, there are other things you will want to discuss as your program progresses. Subsequent meetings might cover:
- Continuation of class planning
- Choosing a concentration area
- Laying out a two-year plan
- Research opportunities within the Humphrey
- Ideas for summer internships
- General info on capstones
- Professional contacts and activities