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Academic Advising

Each student is assigned a faculty advisor. First-year students are assigned to a specifically designated freshman advisor. Following the freshman year, each student selects an advisor whose academic specialty corresponds with the student's area of academic interest.

Whitworth faculty work to help students meet these goals in academic advising:

• Clarification of life and career goals
• Creation of suitable educational plans including selection of courses and other educational experiences
• Interpretation of institutional requirements
• Increasing student awareness of educational resources available, including referral to and use of institutional and community support resources
• Development of student decision making skills
• Evaluation of student progress toward educational goals
• Reinforcement of student self-direction
• Students are required to meet with their advisor prior to registering for classes each term.  They often meet with their advisor during the term to discuss the goals listed above.  Faculty are always available to meet with students.

Whitworth faculty engage in two broad types of academic advising. Prescriptive advising is where the advisor has primary responsibility for giving information to students. This type of advising is problem oriented and the relationship is based on faculty giving advice from authority. Developmental advising is where the advisor and student share responsibility for collecting information and making wise choices. This type of advising is growth oriented (working to aid students in acquiring skills), and the relationship is based on trust and mutual respect.  

Whitworth affirms holistic advising which combines the strengths of prescriptive advising along with the strengths of developmental advising and stresses the importance of building relationships with students and promoting student responsibility for their success.

The advisor is the primary link between the student's academic program and other resources of the university and, as such, plays an important role in each student's personal and academic development. Students are encouraged to discuss educational objectives as well as personal goals and problems with their advisors. While Whitworth makes every effort to assist students through the academic advising system, the student is expected to monitor his or her own academic progress, to know the graduation requirements pertinent to his or her program, to be cognizant of his or her grade point average, to make appropriate course selections, and to add/drop courses as needed to meet his/her educational goals. Advice and information are also available to each student from both the academic affairs office and the registrar's office.