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Academic Advising Council

Welcome！

Welcome to advising at WVU! We’re excited to have you as part of the Mountaineer team. Your work is critical to the success of our students. Advising bridges many efforts across the university, from retention and completion projects to curriculum and registration, financial aid and more.

We want you to be as successful as possible, because when you succeed, so do your students. Here you will find the basics you need to get started in your new role.

If you have questions at any point, please contact your direct supervisor, or you can contact advisinghelp@mail.wvu.edu for additional resources, questions and support.

We recommend you proceed in the order of the modules and take advantage of all the suggested next steps to be fully prepared.

A Welcome from Director of Advising, Joy Carr

Onboarding Module - Welcome

Hear from Joy Carr, Director of University Advising at West Virginia University.

The Start of Your Journey (our assessment)

Before you get started, click here to check in with your advising comfort and confidence levels. This should take under 2 minutes!

Check in

Getting Connected: Your Advising Communities

Why is being connected so important?

Being connected is important for many reasons. By getting involved with the advising community, you build valuable networking connections that can help you answer questions and resolve tricky situations quickly and more effectively. While basic answers can always be found in the university catalog and through other resources, the nuances of applying policy or offering advice in a student’s particular situation are not always so obvious. Relying on a network of experienced advisers across all WVU campuses can help you get the responses you need now while also enabling you to grow professionally. WVU participates in two advising communities open to you at any time.

Getting Connected

Logistics: Tools You’ll Need

You will need to gain access to several systems to do your job effectively. Training is provided on all the tools advisers will use. The permissions you will need can sometimes take time to go through workflow, so it is recommended you request access to these systems as soon as possible. Please consult with your supervisor to determine which of these tools you will need to access and to alert them that a workflow request is forthcoming.

Tools You’ll Need

Centering the Core Competencies in Your Practice

Overview

Our competencies as advisers are centered around concepts we must understand (Conceptual), skills we must demonstrate (Relational) and knowledge we must master (Informational). We build these competencies over time and with practice. While your unit may have additional goals for you to master, at WVU academic advisers are expected to continue to work toward the following competency tactics, as outlined by NACADA.

Core Competencies

Supplemental Material

There is always so much more to know! In this section you will find some of our favorite ways to stay on top of trends happening in academic advising at WVU and at the national level. You will also find helpful information for talking to students about a wide variety of issues they may be experiencing academically and great tips for yourself!

Find Out More