The Advising Process
How do I choose an advisor?
If you are a major, until you finish 13 of the 16 hours of the English Core (saving Shakespeare for later is okay!), you will be the advisee of the Coordinator of Undergraduate Advising, whose office is located in 329-C Shanks Hall (231-6212; lskinner@vt.edu). Actually, all new majors will see the coordinator as well, at least until their careers in the department are established.
Once you finish those 13 hours or are near to finishing them, you will begin working with an advisor/mentor drawn from the option you have chosen to pursue: Professional Writing, Creative Writing, or Literature, Language, and Culture. This advisor will be assigned to you, and you will be notified via email regarding the change.
How do I find out who my advisor is?
To determine the name of your advisor, please go to the Student Information section of Hokie SPA. Your advisor's name should be listed there. If you do not find any name listed there, please contact the Coordinator of Undergraduate Advising .
How do I change advisors?
To begin seeing a new advisor, simply let the Coordinator of Undergraduate Advising know with whom you'd like to work, and this advisor will be assigned to you. Don't feel weird about requesting a new advisor. It's your RIGHT as a student to have an advisor with whom you feel comfortable working! However, that advisor should be someone who can help you move effectively through the major! And a basic word of caution: ask the person you'd like to advise you if he or she has the time and is willing!
I have a checksheet for my particular option in the major. Really, how important is it to keep it around? What do I do with it?
English Department check sheets were designed to cover all areas pertinent to your degree: major requirements, Liberal Education requirements, free electives. As you take courses each semester, update your copy of the form. This way, you can keep track of whether you are completing all requirements as necessary. It might seem like a pain to do this, but filling out a checksheet ensures that you're on track for graduation, so it's actually very, very important.
You can download .pdf versions of the various checksheets by visiting the Forms section of this site.
Why should I see an advisor before I can register, when I already know which classes I want to take?
Seeing an advisor on a regular basis forestalls any problems you might have in fulfilling departmental, college, and university requirements as you near graduation. Imagine how much fun it would be (even better, what your parents would say!) if the first time you checked with your advisor is March of the spring semester you plan to graduate, and you find that you still need X number of courses in Y areas!
Okay, I didn't ask anyone's advice, but I enrolled in one English course when I really needed another to complete my major requirements. Is there anything I can do to fix this?
Since the English major requirements are very clearly spelled out on the check sheets, if the course you took doesn't meet one of them, then there really isn't anything that you can do to make it "count." This is another reason you should pay attention to the check sheet.
However, in emergency situations -- you need one final course to fulfill requirements, but it isn't being offered that semester; you need a course and it has been cancelled; and the like -- you should contact the Coordinator of Undergraduate Advising so you can discuss the situation.