At a first meeting with advisees, you can help with two kinds of information and advice: general and individual.  Your goal should be to strike a balance between giving necessary information and allowing time for questions or reactions.  This way, you will begin to establish a relationship with the student that may, over time, foster academic and personal growth.

The initial session should be limited to a reasonable amount of information for new students to handle.

A preliminary talk could cover:

• the advising system
• the registration process
• the core curriculum
• the Humanities Program (seminar and lecture)
• the foreign language requirement (classroom and native speaker)
• the freshman composition requirement
• the use of electives
• an overview of the requirements for the degree
• the Teacher Education Program

It could also cover:

• the grading system (the plus/minus system and grading standards)
• drop/add period
• course withdrawal
• declaring/changing a major
• class attendance
• various support services

It is important that your advisees know your office hours as well as how to contact you if they need to leave a message.