Advising

Advising 101

Advising is your entry point into the vast array of services the university makes available (often without your knowledge!) to maximize the likelihood of a successful undergraduate experience. Within the Politics and Policy concentration, Dr. Ken Conca is the faculty advisor and Allison Berland Kaul is the advising administrator. Politics and Policy is the largest ENSP concentration--too large for either of us to perform every advising task effectively. Our normal division of labor is that Allison handles the administrative end of advising (registration, course selection, charting a course to graduation; clearing blocks, course substitution requests, registering for internships, graduation clearance, etc.), while Dr. Conca provides 'strategic' advice (career opportunities, graduate school/law school, surviving college with your sanity and dignity intact, etc.). We work together closely to maximize advising effectiveness. You may ask either of us about anything, although you may find that we refer you to the other person depending on the nature of your question.

Get to know both of us when you enter the concentration; don't be a stranger; when in doubt, ASK. We are here when you need us, but it is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to decide when that is the case.

There are several reasons to meet with your advisor: 1) to fulfill your mandatory advising requirement each semester, without which your registration will be blocked; (2) to discuss broader questions or concerns related to college, the major, careers, graduate school, and related topics; (3) to get help with particular problems you may be confronting in or out of the classroom. Of course, you don't need a specific reason to see us--feel free to stop by to discuss the latest news, ask us about what we are working on, or just say hello. E-mail is also fine for quick questions and routine advising matters.