Once admitted to your major, you will work more closely with a professional staff member and/or faculty member within your major department—known as a departmental or major advisor. In this blog post, we'll break down how to connect with a departmental advisor and what areas they often assist students with.
Once admitted to your major, you will work more closely with a professional staff member and/or faculty member within your major department—known as a departmental or major advisor.
What is the role of a departmental advisor?
Once admitted to your major, you will work more closely with a professional staff member and/or faculty member within your major department—known as a departmental or major advisor—for academic planning (we call this “upper division” advising). You can learn more on the CSE Academic Advising webpage. Your departmental advisor can also often assist with questions related to research, graduate school, and general employment questions. Upper division students typically meet with their departmental advisor at least once a year. Students on probation are required to meet with their departmental advisor and their college advisor.I thought I already had an advisor(s)?
You do! Your assigned college advisor will remain with you throughout your undergraduate career in CSE. Once you have been admitted to your major, your departmental advisor will take over regarding questions related to major requirements and course planning. Your college advisor is still your primary point of contact for more general questions including questions related to academic policies, liberal education requirements, and getting connected with resources. If you aren't sure where to start with a question, always feel free to contact your college advisor.
If you are an honors student, you will still retain your honors advisor as well.
Please note, college advisors and honors advisors cannot remove Departmental Stamp (DS) holds. If you have a DS hold, please contact your departmental advisor.
How do I find out who is my departmental advisor?
If your department has assigned you a departmental advisor, their contact information will be listed on MyU, under the Academics tab. Some departments may not assign specific advisors, but instead have a team of departmental advisors, made up of either faculty or professional staff, for students to meet with.
How do I schedule an advising appointment with a departmental advisor?
If can find information below by major on how to schedule an advising appointment with a departmental advisor.
- Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics
- Astrophysics: Upon admission to the astrophysics major, students work with Undergraduate Advisor Prof. Bob Gehrz (gehrz001@umn.edu).
- Biomedical Engineering: Upon admission to the biomedical engineering major, students are assigned a faculty advisor based on their concentration area of interest. Contact bmedus@umn.edu with any questions.
- Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering
- Chemical Engineering: Contact Kacey Gregerson at kgregers@umn.edu
- Chemistry
- Civil Engineering
- Computer Engineering
- Computer Science
- Data Science
- Earth Sciences
- Electrical Engineering
- Environmental Engineering
- Environmental Geosciences
- Geoengineering
- Industrial and Systems Engineering
- Materials Science and Engineering: Contact Kacey Gregerson at kgregers@umn.edu
- Mathematics
- Mechanical Engineering
- Physics: Upon admission to the physics major, you will meet with the department's Director of Undergraduate Studies (DUS) for an initial advising session. You will then be assigned an adviser from the physics faculty who specializes in your area of interest for the remainder of your college career. You may choose an adviser other than the one assigned to you if you have established a close working connection with another physics faculty member. Should you change advisers, please notify the DUS. To schedule an advising appointment with the DUS, please contact the undergraduate office by stopping by 130 Tate or by emailing info@physics.umn.edu. To schedule an advising appointment with your faculty adviser, please contact them directly.
