Advisement for first semester

[survivorgirl]

Hello, all. I have received a packet of information from the university I am attending, listing my advisor's name & contact information. I proceeded to email him about a week ago with no response. Today, I called the number listed on the paper, and he was completely rude to me. He told me: "No, you don't need to speak with me. I'll have my secretary call you." So, his secretary did call me right back & wanted to schedule me for classes over the phone with her. I found this odd. Shouldn't I be meeting with an advisor to discuss my courses as this is my first semester in grad school? It was all very awkward & really seemed to set up a red flag to me.

I am really not happy with how this went. Please tell me whether this is normal. Any advice is appreciated.

[MoJingly]

Hello, all. I have received a packet of information from the university I am attending, listing my advisor's name & contact information. I proceeded to email him about a week ago with no response. Today, I called the number listed on the paper, and he was completely rude to me. He told me: "No, you don't need to speak with me. I'll have my secretary call you." So, his secretary did call me right back & wanted to schedule me for classes over the phone with her. I found this odd. Shouldn't I be meeting with an advisor to discuss my courses as this is my first semester in grad school? It was all very awkward & really seemed to set up a red flag to me.

I am really not happy with how this went. Please tell me whether this is normal. Any advice is appreciated.

That seems strange to me. If he is going to treat you like a nuisance during your time there, you might want to seek another advisor. It might be awkward at first, but it's YOUR education, and there is no reason to deal with people like that unless absolutely necessary.

[repatriate]

It all really depends on what you asked and how, but I think you advisor may have been acting from two concerns. First, it's not uncommon for faculty to be completely unaware of the course requirements for graduate students (unless they are the department chair or division head). Generally, you'll get this information from a graduate secretary or other graduate students or even the handbook. Second, as a graduate student, you are expected to be very independent, so rather than approaching your advisor and asking what you should do before you have done a substantial amount of independent work (in this case, reading the handbook, talking to the grad secretary, and asking other students), you should come up with a good plan or product and bring that to your advisor for approval (in this case, a list of courses for approval).

Still, some advisors don't see courses as important and won't be at all interested in which ones you are taking; other advisors will want to approve your courses each term. I don't think it's a red flag if your advisor is not interested in your courses or that s/he took umbrage with being asked to decide on the courses for you.

[survivorgirl]

It all really depends on what you asked and how, but I think you advisor may have been acting from two concerns. First, it's not uncommon for faculty to be completely unaware of the course requirements for graduate students (unless they are the department chair or division head). Generally, you'll get this information from a graduate secretary or other graduate students or even the handbook. Second, as a graduate student, you are expected to be very independent, so rather than approaching your advisor and asking what you should do before you have done a substantial amount of independent work (in this case, reading the handbook, talking to the grad secretary, and asking other students), you should come up with a good plan or product and bring that to your advisor for approval (in this case, a list of courses for approval).

Still, some advisors don't see courses as important and won't be at all interested in which ones you are taking; other advisors will want to approve your courses each term. I don't think it's a red flag if your advisor is not interested in your courses or that s/he took umbrage with being asked to decide on the courses for you.

Actually, I didn't ask my advisor to "decide on the courses" for me. I have already perused the course listings & decided on an appropriate plan for myself. However, I would like "advisement," specifically because I have received an incredible grant that allows me to take a few elective courses. I do feel, since there are factors like prerequisites that come into play, that I should discuss this with an advisor. This is impossible to do if he won't speak with me (or answer emails). However, I do see your point about acting independently.

[survivorgirl]

Also, I was told via letter & phone to contact my advisor to schedule a meeting & acted accordingly.

[ed_psy]

I don't really go to see the advisor unless I have other questions about the program. I usually just follow the course requirement (should be listed online for the program) and register what is needed (Like core course). Unless it's a course that have a block due to pre-requisite, then I'd go to her office hours to see if she can override it, otherwised I don't see the how it's necessary.

Have you been to orientation yet? Maybe you can ask other classmates or students who are already in the program to guide you.

[robot_hamster]

If this was last week, then it is possible that he was up to his eyeballs in term papers or other things that need grading. This week was finals week at my school and most professors were insanely busy last week getting ready for the final and grading stuff. So maybe that is part of the reason why you were directed to the secretary. And if the secretary was wishing to sign you up for classes over the phone, then this person mostly likely knew what classes students in the program normally take in their first semester. Maybe there is a list of core classes that need to be taken and those were the classes that were being suggested to you. Most advisers don't have a lot of knowledge about the classes you should take. They might suggest a class here and there because they think it might be useful with your area of research, but that's about it. My adviser makes some suggestions to me, but also encourages me to talk to other professors since my school operates on a committee system. If you have questions about course prerequisites, then ask the professor teaching the course. They would know better than your adviser.

[beanbagchairs]

Hopetully, the strange/rude behavior is just a one-time thing. As others pointed out, he may be busy, had a bad day, just received rejection for his paper/grant/whatever. Although, none of these should justify his behavior. After all, it is his job to advise you in course selection. But professors are also human: they get cranky, annoyed, stressed, etc.

If the rude behavior becomes a habit, then you may want to seek another professor as an advisor.

[rising_star]

Actually, I didn't ask my advisor to "decide on the courses" for me. I have already perused the course listings & decided on an appropriate plan for myself. However, I would like "advisement," specifically because I have received an incredible grant that allows me to take a few elective courses. I do feel, since there are factors like prerequisites that come into play, that I should discuss this with an advisor. This is impossible to do if he won't speak with me (or answer emails). However, I do see your point about acting independently.

My advisor is also the dept head and he has no idea what the prerequisites for specific courses are. Consult the course catalog if you want to know, rather than expecting professors to know.

Again, this is the end of the semester. Your classes start in August or September, right? So it's not like this has to be handled right this second or things will fall apart. Wait until June then call/email again.

[juilletmercredi]

It's sort of unusual for a future student to call a professor in the beginning of May to ask about registering for courses...usually that's handled during the first weeks or so at uni. I'll also just say that early May is a prime time for grants to be due, final papers to get graded and final rades to be due for graduation, so it's entirely possible that he's really busy and unable to talk.

Also, like others have said...professors often don't know requirements anyway. Just as a personal example: my advisor is a really great guy, and I like him a lot. He's an excellent research mentor. He's also an assistant professor trying to get tenure who teaches a 1/0 load and is on a soft money schedule (which means he pays most of his own salary). He doesn't know what courses I have to take and I don't really blame him, lol. If I have a specific problem he can help me solve it by asking around, but it's generally expected that grad students (especially PhD students) are going to be reading the handbook and getting the prereqs and stuff from there. I came up with a list of courses for the semester and explained how they satisfy my requirements and how much work they entailed (assuring him that they wouldn't interfere with my research). That was it.

[ZeeMore21]

It's sort of unusual for a future student to call a professor in the beginning of May to ask about registering for courses...usually that's handled during the first weeks or so at uni. I'll also just say that early May is a prime time for grants to be due, final papers to get graded and final rades to be due for graduation, so it's entirely possible that he's really busy and unable to talk.

Also, like others have said...professors often don't know requirements anyway. Just as a personal example: my advisor is a really great guy, and I like him a lot. He's an excellent research mentor. He's also an assistant professor trying to get tenure who teaches a 1/0 load and is on a soft money schedule (which means he pays most of his own salary). He doesn't know what courses I have to take and I don't really blame him, lol. If I have a specific problem he can help me solve it by asking around, but it's generally expected that grad students (especially PhD students) are going to be reading the handbook and getting the prereqs and stuff from there. I came up with a list of courses for the semester and explained how they satisfy my requirements and how much work they entailed (assuring him that they wouldn't interfere with my research). That was it.

I second juilletmercredi, it does seem like the wrong time to be contacting a professor....perhaps this advisor's load will lighten up during the summer and he will be more available for those types of questions. But again, the secretary can also help you with courses too, they are pretty valuable.

[hbgrad]

You need to understand that this is your academic advisor and not your research advisor. He is just kind of a legal advisor so you dont really have a relationship with him.

[survivorgirl]

It's sort of unusual for a future student to call a professor in the beginning of May to ask about registering for courses...usually that's handled during the first weeks or so at uni. I'll also just say that early May is a prime time for grants to be due, final papers to get graded and final rades to be due for graduation, so it's entirely possible that he's really busy and unable to talk.

Also, like others have said...professors often don't know requirements anyway. Just as a personal example: my advisor is a really great guy, and I like him a lot. He's an excellent research mentor. He's also an assistant professor trying to get tenure who teaches a 1/0 load and is on a soft money schedule (which means he pays most of his own salary). He doesn't know what courses I have to take and I don't really blame him, lol. If I have a specific problem he can help me solve it by asking around, but it's generally expected that grad students (especially PhD students) are going to be reading the handbook and getting the prereqs and stuff from there. I came up with a list of courses for the semester and explained how they satisfy my requirements and how much work they entailed (assuring him that they wouldn't interfere with my research). That was it.

Right. I do agree with you. I did not think it would be imperative to contact him this early. However, I was called by my admissions counselor & told that I needed to call him ASAP to register for classes, this after I had received a letter stating the same thing. Yesterday, I called the admissions counselor to clarify things, and she did mention that the letter that had been sent out was in error & apologized for that. So...I hear what you all are saying, and I can see how this is a terrible time of year to contact a prof. I'm good with it now. I've got my big girl panties on.