Student/Advisor Relationship

At UNM, we believe that advisement is a partnership between students and their advisors. For the partnership to work, each person has to be an active participant.

Students can expect the following from advisors:

  • Advisors are knowledgeable: advisors at UNM complete substantial training in their area of advisement as well as continuous professional development. While your advisor may not know the answer to every question you ask, they will know how to find the answer or connect you to a resource with more information.
  • Advisors are available: advisors offer multiple ways for students to connect with them including appointments, drop-in hours, workshops, and email. Although certain times of year, particularly the start and end of each semester and the weeks leading up to registration are high-traffic times for advisement, advisors do their best to be available and responsive to their students.
  • Advisors guide, but don't decide: advisors care about you as a student and as a person. They are committed to empowering students to be the agents of their own education. They will give you information and options based on your goals and interests, but they won't make decisions for you. The more you tell your advisor about yourself, the better they can tailor their advice to you!

To get the most out of advisement, you should plan to:

  • Ask questions: we don't expect you to be an expert on UNM – that's what we're here for! If there is something you don't understand or you are concerned about, reach out to your advisor or make an appointment. Pro tip: keep a list on your phone of topics and questions you want to discuss next time you see your advisor so you don't forget.
  • Connect with advisors regularly: while not all programs have mandatory advisement meetings every semester, students should connect with their advisor once a semester to check in on how things are going and talk about their plans for the future.
  • Make use of resources: it's important that you make sure you are reading your UNM email daily, reviewing your degree planning tools, and taking prompt action on recommendations from your success team. This is your education – make the most of it!