Spring advising for physics majors

The process

1. Eileen Powell sends an email (week 5) to all students letting them know there is a hold on their records (which will not allow them to enroll in courses in Fall)
2. Students contact their advisers to schedule an appointment within the next 3 weeks.
3. Students submit a pre-advising survey (with their physics and math grades and other information) on EEE before they meet with their adviser. Advisers will have access to this survey and so they will know (in detail) how their advisees are progressing.
4. Before the advising meeting, students create a study plan for the following Summer, Fall,Winter and Spring quarters.
5. This plan should be discussed and finalized during the meeting with the adviser.
6. Advisers indicate through a EEE survey whether Spring advising has been satisfactorily completed for each advisee.Without adviser approval, Physics student affairs office will not remove the hold on student record.
7. Students submit the study plan survey on EEE after the meeting.
8. Physics student affairs office removes the hold on student record.

ADVISING DUTIES I

•   Physics. Convey excitement about physics! Talk about our physics courses (last page) and the topics they will see (depending on how interested students are).

•   Study habits. Get them to talk about it. Reinforce the idea strongly that they should be spending about 10 hours per week (in and out of classroom) or more on each physics or math or related course. Encourage them to form study groups and go to office hours.

•   Math. First-year advisers should talk about the importance of Math to set up a strong base for upper div physics courses. Some students may need to spend more time than others (based on their high school preparation and aptitude) on Math to ensure they are well-prepared for upper div physics.

•   Research. Encourage them to get involved with research in their third and fourth years even if they do not want to go to graduate school. Point them to the right research groups. Encourage them to email faculty or do so yourself.

•   Career. Get students to talk about career paths as early as possible even if the ideas they have are vague.The process of vocalizing these vague thoughts may spur proactive actions.

Point to Physical Sciences mentoring program to connect with industry professionals: https://ps.uci.edu/mentor/

ADVISING DUTIES II

•   Study plan. Ensure students have a study plan for the following year.

•   Recommended study plan with core physics and math courses is at the end of this file in a tabular form. Current requirements to graduate with a B.S. in Physics is at http://ps.uci.edu/stuaff/current/degrees. Use them as reference when looking through the study plan. Contact chief adviser if you have questions.

            •   Refer to 2013-14 WEBSOC for what is going to be offered next year.

•   Are students behind? If they want to graduate in 4 years, they should be able to explain to you how they are going to catch up. Students should be strongly advised to visit the PS student affairs office to see if they are on track to graduate in the time they have in mind.

•     DO NOT advise on graduation requirements, substitutions and exceptions.Tell students to contact Eileen Powell, who will forward it as appropriate.

• It may appear that the first bullet point on this page is at odds with the “do not       advise” statement above. In terms of a study plan, faculty advisers provide a sanity check and the spring advising process forces students think ahead.This is especially important if students are behind. However, creating a feasible study plan is the responsibility of the students.When in doubt they should email Eileen Powell or the PS student affairs office directly.

Who to contact?

•   Students can email Eileen Powell when in doubt and she will forward the email to the right person.

  •   Physics course offerings and scheduling: Eileen Powell epowell@uci.edu

  •   Graduation requirements and other related questions.

•   First check http://ps.uci.edu/stuaff/

•   If answer not satisfactory, then send email or call Dean’s office.

Contact information at http://ps.uci.edu/stuaff/content/about-us

•   Exceptions to usual coursework or regular tracks: chief adviser Manoj

Kaplinghat mkapling@uci.edu