For Current Students
The AARC is available as a resource for both advisors and advisees. Your advisor should be your first contact if you have needs or questions. If for some reason you are unable to reach your advisor and you have a question, we are happy to help. We are well familiar with university resources, so if we can’t answer your question, it’s likely we’ll know who can.
Unit Conversion
The schools of Arts & Sciences, Business, and Leadership Studies are moving from credit hours to units as the classification scheme for determining the transcript value of a course or other credit-bearing academic experience. You can read more about the unit conversion, as well as attend one of the general information sessions.
Peer Advising Associates
The AARC hosts a Peer Advising Associates program that works with first-year students. Peer Advising Associates are chosen each spring and assigned a group of first-year students. They interact with these students during the summer via e-mail and phone, and they work with them throughout the year answering questions and helping with adjustment to the university. If you would like more information about becoming a Peer Advising Associate, visit the Peer Advising Associates page.
Term PIN Cards/Advisor-Hold Process
One common area of confusion for students has to do with Term PIN Card distribution--and this year it's even more confusing! The Term PIN Card system was created to ensure that students meet with an academic advisor prior to registration each semester. We believe it is in your best interest as a student to spend some time talking with a knowledgeable advisor about academic concerns and choices. Advisors can help students think through their decisions, consider alternatives they may not have known were possible, and see their education as something larger than just course choices on any given occasion.
This year, the Term PIN cards have been replaced with a new "advisor-hold" process. Although you will no longer receive a Term PIN card from your advisor, you must still meet with him or her prior to registration. When you do so, your advisor will log onto BannerWeb and release the "advisor hold" on your student account. If your advisor does NOT do so, you will NOT be allowed to register. Once the advisor releases the advisor hold, no Term PIN number will be necessary--students can simply register at their assigned time.
Because we believe it is important that students meet with their advisors, the AARC staff will not release advisor holds for students except in very rare cases where something unusual has occurred to keep the student from meeting with an advisor. The advising and registration times are well advertised, and most advisors are good about contacting their advisees to remind them about setting up an advising appointment, so students who fail to meet with advisors then visit the AARC at the last minute hoping to have their advisor-hold released will be disappointed.
This policy is in place because of how important we believe advising is to students and to our university. The advisor-hold system is the best way for us to be sure students have an opportunity to see an advisor before they register each semester. Of course, we hope students and advisors will meet far more often than once a semester, creating a relationship of trust, mutual regard and value.