Advising

What is Advising?

There are generally two types of advising you will seek after during your study in our department. 

• Academic Advising: this refers to advising on your degree program requirements, progress, and detailed course schedules for each semester. Receiving timely advising is essential for you to stay on track. Every student admitted to our department will be assigned to a faculty advisor, which is indicated in your Fresno State student portal.  You can refer to the Faculty directory to find contact information of your assigned faculty advisor. The Lyles College of Engineering also has an Advising Center, where you can receive guidance on information such as General Education and Math/Science requirements, financial aids, campus resources, to name a few. Counslors in the Advising Center can also help you develop your graduation plan and review your academic standing.
• Professional Advising: this refers to advising on your professional and career development. One of the key objectives of our department is to prepare our students for their future professional career. Seeking professional advising from your assigned faculty advisor as well as professional mentors the department has recruited from our industry partners is very important to raise your career awareness and preparedness.

When Should I Look for Advising? 

Anytime! You can schedule appointments with your faculty advisors, industry mentors, and the college Advising Center counselors anytime you want to. The Advising Center also accommodates walk-ins. Additionally, our department also mandates that students should meet with the assigned faculty advisor at least once a semester for academic advising and course scheduling for the following semester to ensure that they stay on track. Typically, faculty advisors will send email notifications to students a few weeks before early registration starts (early April in the Spring semester and early October in the Fall semester) to schedule appointments with them. A temporary hold will be placed on student's account that prevents them from early registration unless the faculty record the advising being completed. Then the hold will be lifted and students can proceed to register for classes discussed with the faculty advisor. 

What Should I Prepare for the Advising?

Before the academic advising with your assigned faculty advisor, it will be beneficial to review the degree flowchart for your own catalogy year, which you can find it from the major program page. For example, for CM majors, you can review the current degree flowchart here. 

For professional advising, it will be a good idea to prepare and bring a copy of your resume, and a list of questions that you would like to consult with.