L&S Advising Center marks 40 years

You know this student will one day make a splendid trial lawyer, and she wholeheartedly agrees with you.

She is now a second-semester freshman at UW–Madison.

So: Would it be better for her to take statistics, biocore or Shakespearean drama as an elective next fall?

Where can you send your student for guidance in deciding which courses to take to best help her get into law school?

The College of Letters and Science Advising Center is a team of faculty, academic staff and students working together to help students make such crucial academic decisions.

According to Neil Richardson, professor of political science and director of the center since 1995, nearly 2,300 undergraduates take advantage of the service each academic year.

During 2004, the center celebrates a milestone, charting 40 years of dispensing good academic advice. Richardson says that the past four decades have seen academic, research and professional options open and expand for students in all majors. Nevertheless, a few things have remained constant.

“Faculty advising is an opportunity for teachers and students to see each other as multifaceted human beings, since advising sessions usually include a wider range of topics and concerns than normally come up during office hours,” he says. “For students, working with a faculty adviser affords an opportunity to explore future plans far beyond next semester’s courses. Career choices, graduate school and other subjects are all often taken up in advising sessions.”

The center serves two groups of students: those considering majoring in one of the almost 150 L&S departments or programs, and pre-health or pre-law students. The average number of L&S faculty advisers ranges between 32 and 34, Richardson says, and all receive extensive training.

“LSAC is an institutional vehicle through which a cumulatively significant number of faculty are able to intersect with and appreciate not only students, but also assistant deans and other academic staff who work behind the scenes in classroom instruction,” Richardson says. “I like to tell new advisers that academic advising can be the best part of their week.”

For information on getting involved as a faculty adviser, contact Richardson at 263-2019 or neilrich@polisci.wisc.edu.