Psychology at Sweet Briar

 

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ACADEMIC ADVISING IN THE PSYCHOLOGY DEPARTMENT

The psychology department uses a developmental approach to academic advising that is designed to enable students to accomplish the following tasks.

• Set realistic goals on the basis of their interests, aptitudes, and values.

• Determine the knowledge, skills, and experiences necessary to attain these goals.

• Plan classes, activities, and social experiences to accomplish these goals.

The components of this advising approach change in form (from structured and concrete to unstructured and abstract) and content (from specific classes to global postgraduate goals) as students progress through their college careers. The faculty in the Psychology Department strive to remain up-to-date in matters such as the current policies and procedures of the college; their own professional organizations and activities; and the post-graduate opportunities that exist for their advisees. Their high level of availability and willingness to work in a close personal manner allows psychology faculty to help their advisees realize the connections between the following present - future pairs.

Who am I now?……………………………...Who can I become?

What can I do now? .....................................How can I learn to do more?

Who do I know? .............................................How can they help me?

The department strives to help students understand both the sequence of the college curriculum (see the sections of this chapter entitled "Four Year Plan for a Major in Psychology" and "The Psychology Department's Curriculum Plan") and the rationale for their general education requirements (see the sections of this chapter entitled "General Education Requirements for Psychology Majors"). If students are unaware of the rationale behind their courses, they often take them just to "get them out of the way."

Psychology department advisers actively discourage this attitude in their advisees by helping them to:

  1. explore their postgraduate options (see the section of these chapter entitled "Do You Prepare for Graduate School and a Job in the Same Way?")
  2. understand how the knowledge, skills, and experiences to be gained in these courses (e.g., the ability to write and speak clearly and persuasively) can enable them to be more successful in the future.

Developmental advising is more than just keeping office hours and telling students what classes to take; it is a commitment to the facilitation of the intellectual, social, emotional, and moral growth of each individual student as he or she progresses through college. The final goal of developmental advising is to instill students with a sense that they are adult human beings who are in control of their own lives, capable of making good decisions, and ultimately responsible for their own futures.