Scofield Hall , Room 9
711 E. 51st Street
(816) 235-1148
http://cas.umkc.edu/advising

Our Vision:

Guiding, supporting, and inspiring students to achieve academic excellence

Our Mission:

The mission of the UMKC College of Arts and Sciences Academic Advising Office is to guide students toward academic success in higher education.

Advisers within the College are directly responsible for advising current and prospective Arts and Sciences students on general education requirements and how to apply them to their degree program. Advisers assist students with selecting majors, monitoring academic progression, and fulfilling graduation requirements while educating them on campus resources, university policies and procedures, and options for graduate or professional schools. Advisers are role models who teach students how to navigate through the educational journey encouraging students to actively engage themselves in their education. The Academic Advising Office creates an atmosphere promoting autonomous life-long learning where students accept responsibility and ownership for their personal academic progression, degree completion, and goal achievement.

Advisers within the College are committed to serve as a bridge among students, faculty, and staff. The Academic Advising Office provides training and development for professional and faculty advisers to ensure they are effectively meeting the needs of students. Advisers support the College's commitment to educate students in the arts and sciences providing them with a breadth of knowledge valuable to the intellectual and social community. Advising allows for the promotion of understanding of these general education goals which play a key role in the development of students becoming productive contributors to society. Due to the unique relationship between advisers and students, advisers play an integral role in recruitment, retention, and student success for the College of Arts and Sciences and UMKC as a whole.

As students progress through their higher education journey at UMKC, the Academic Advising Office fosters and encourages students toward achieving academic success.

Faculty and staff advisers:

• Assist students in choosing majors and planning their academic programs.
• Inform students about the general education requirements of the College and relate them to their major requirements.
• Advise students on class selection and registration.
• Offer advice on educational and career goal setting.
• Assist students in locating support services on campus.
• Perform degree audits and graduation status checks.
• Connect students with faculty on campus.
• Review academic policies and procedures with students.
• Help students with other related issues and problems of an academic nature.

Academic advising responsibilities are distributed among faculty advisers and professional advisers in the College of Arts and Sciences in the following manner:

• Undergraduate and graduate faculty advisers in each department or program:
  • Advise students in their major field of study.
  • Advise students about departmental student organizations as well as internship or undergraduate research opportunities within the department.
  • Advise students concerning graduate study requirements.
• Professional and graduate-student advisers in the Arts and Sciences Academic Advising Office:
  • Advise students for general education and overall degree requirements.
  • Advise bachelor of liberal arts students, including students in the Program for Adult College Education (PACE).
  • Advise students who have not yet declared a major or are on probation.
  • Help all undergraduates with special requests and problems.
  • Evaluate transfer courses.
  • Conduct degree audits prior to graduation on all bachelor's degree-seeking students.
  • Communicate with individual students and with the Registration and Records Office to confirm that all degree requirements will be met in the graduating semester.

While academic advising is not required for all students, it is recommended that students seek academic advising each semester to avoid problems later. Certain undergraduate majors do require academic advising each semester. Students required to secure an adviser's approval and release before enrolling include:

• All freshmen.
• All sophomores with 45 or fewer credit hours.
• General studies and undeclared students with 60 or more credit hours.
• Probationary students.
• Students requesting overloads or credit/no credit option.
• Undergraduate majors in art, chemistry, physics and theatre.
• Graduate majors in chemistry, English, geosciences, sociology, and theatre.

When the next semester's course schedule is published on the UMKC Web site, students should contact their academic adviser. Students who promptly seek academic advising have a better chance of securing their first choice of courses and times. While the Arts and Sciences Advising Office sees students on an appointment as well as walk-in basis, most faculty advisers require an appointment.

Additional Resources

Freshmen and transfer students are encouraged to enroll in Arts & Sciences 100. This course focuses on providing students with information and skills that will help them choose a major and develop numerous strategies for academic success.

The Career Services Center provides workshops for students at all levels on decision making and career connections with liberal arts majors. Student paraprofessionals offer opportunities for individual counseling as well as group sessions concerning choosing majors, finding internships and employment.

Faculty advisers in each department assist students in planning their academic programs and inform them about the degree requirements of the programs. Graduate students required to secure an adviser's approval before enrolling include majors in chemistry, English, geosciences, sociology and theatre. The Career Services Center provides workshops for students on decision making and career connections.