The Advising Structure
Academic advising for first-year students is provided through the Dedman College Advising Center. All students are advised through the Center until they officially declare a major and are accepted into a degree program. From that point, advising is provided by the school or department into which the student has entered.
First-year students are assigned individual advisers based on their academic interests. All of the advisers enjoy working with students who are undecided and exploring majors. Students arrange individual conferences with their advisers by signing in on the advisers' office door schedules. The advisers welcome drop-in visits as well, especially during non-peak periods which are excellent times for doing long-range planning. The Advising Center is also home to SMU's Pre-law, Pre-med, and Pre-ministerial services. Students interested in these areas should be sure they are added to the pre-law, pre-med, or pre-ministerial e-mail listservs, in order to receive updates and other information.
Academic advising is an important process for each undergraduate student at SMU. All students must meet with their assigned adviser prior to enrolling for an academic term. At this time, the adviser will assist students in planning majors and minors, understanding their Degree Progress Reports and scheduling courses that will count towards their graduation requirements. After the initial required advising session students are encouraged to seek assistance from their adviser when considering adding or dropping courses. The adviser will give assistance to the student, but students have the final responsibility for the accuracy of their enrollment. Students who enroll without first meeting with their assigned adviser may be subject to sanctions including, but not limited to, the following: cancellation of the term enrollment and restriction from the self-service enrollment functions.
