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Overview
A graduate advisor generally works with a student throughout the student's enrollment in the program—this involves a commitment to serve as advisor for the equivalent of three or four semesters (18 months to 2 years). This can involve a longer commitment when working with a student who enrolls halftime. Sometimes, when a student changes specialties or when there is a serious personal or academic incompatibility between student and advisor, it is necessary for the student to be matched with a different advisor. However, this does not happen often and it is done with consensus of the advisor and student.
Compensation for graduate advisors is as follows (per semester): $900 for a student enrolled for 12 – 15 semester hours; $750 for a student enrolled for 9 – 11 semester hours; $600 for a student enrolled for 6 – 8 semester hours, or a student on a course or thesis extension. The first half of this stipend is paid four to six weeks after the first colloquium of the term; the second half is usually paid four to six weeks after the end-of-term materials are turned in.
Responsibilities
Graduate advisors are chosen specifically as experts within their academic discipline. There are obvious academic-administrative tasks required of all advisors, such as documenting and evaluating the student’s work, but these individuals are hired first and foremost as experts in their academic disciplines. Advisors have final say regarding the content, theory, and practice of their field. As experts in their specific field or discipline, advisors make all decisions about how to teach, present the information, evaluate the curriculum and scholarship, and so on.
All advisor responsibilities are presented in our handbook with MAP’s potential model that students and advisors may choose to use or may adjust in some ways to fit their personal style and preferences. The MAP Student Handbook notes that some aspects of delivery may be negotiated between the advisor and advisee, but that if their work starts to move too far a field from MAP’s model, they should consult with their core faculty.
Primary Responsibilities
There are four primary responsibilities that advisors must carry
out:
- guide students in refining preliminary and subsequent study plans, and approve plans;
-
read and provide timely response to all student’s written work—spread out over the course of each semester—throughout the program (5 research packets for a student enrolled 12-15 semester hours; 3-5 packets for a student enrolled 9-11 hours; and 2-3 packets for a student enrolled 6-8 hours);
- meet with the student for a minimum of six hours each semester;
- and evaluate the work at the end of each semester.
Regarding these responsibilities
- Students come into the Master of Arts Program with a study plan that has been designed by the student, often in consultation with the admissions staff and the student’s core faculty. It is the student’s responsibility to design the entire program curriculum, including all individual courses and bibliographies. An advisor’s role is to ensure that the study plan covers appropriate graduate level work within a specific discipline and provide sound content expertise that will help the student refine the plan and commence with graduate study. Some advisors choose to provide reading lists, make suggestions or requirements for course ideas, provide additional resources, make requirements for additional written work or research, and so on.
- We ask that advisors respond to students’ written work within one week of receiving each of the packets or renegotiate in writing with the student when they will respond. The objective of the advisor’s response to study packets is to comprehensively challenge, encourage, support, and evaluate the student in her content learning and scholarly writing in a back-and-forth dialogue that takes place over the course of each semester. Advisors play an important role in identifying and supporting students who may need extra help honing their writing skills; either through direct feedback or by encouraging the students to find a writing tutor who can assist them. There are no specific guidelines for method or form of responding to students’ written materials; rather this is negotiated between students and advisors. Advisors and advisees are encouraged to discuss in their correspondence how they want to carry out this process. Students are to ask for the kind of feedback they need. Some advisors choose to require specific types of research papers, specific documentation, a particular style, etc. The amount of time advisors spend on this work and the structure they place on it varies greatly.
- MAP recommends that advisors and students meet for a minimum of 6 hours each semester. The advisor and student may meet in whatever form works best for them. In some cases the student and advisor live in the same geographical area and meet when and where it is convenient for them. Often these meetings take place at the colloquia in Prescott. Some will make an effort to attend the same conference and will meet there. Many advisor and student pairs never actually meet face to face, but rather carry out all meetings by phone. In some cases, such as when either the student or advisor lives outside of the United States, the core faculty may approve all work being done by email or postal mail without meetings. This process is completely negotiated by the advisor/advisee pair, but we ask that as a guideline at least 6 hours of personal meeting time be included in each semester. Although advisors are not required to attend colloquia, all advisors are invited to attend and they are paid an additional stipend if they choose to attend and present. In addition, for out of state advisors or those in the Tucson area, some reimbursement for travel is available.
- At the end of each semester the advisor will write a narrative evaluation of the student’s work and include comments when appropriate from practicum supervisors and thesis readers. This is in lieu of letter grades, which MAP does not award. This narrative evaluation must be on the form that becomes part of the student’s official Prescott College transcript. The evaluation can be done in any format the advisor chooses and multiple samples are provided in the handbook. The evaluation must be submitted by a specific deadline due to federal regulations regarding registration and federal aid.
Secondary Responsibilities
In addition to these four primary responsibilities, advisors are asked to keep in touch with the faculty member who hired them and become as familiar as is individually reasonable with the policies and procedures of MAP through reviewing the MAP Student Handbook. Although advisors have content expertise, we realize that our model of delivery and our educational philosophy are rather unique in the world of higher education. By reviewing the MAP Student Handbook, advisors will gain a fuller understanding of what it means to be a student in our graduate program. The core faculty is there as a liaison and support for the advisor in negotiating this unique model of student directed, collaborative learning.
To notify the MAP faculty of your interest in becoming a Graduate Advisor in the Master of Arts Program, please send
us your current CV or résumé, along with a cover letter that addresses the areas in which you are most qualified and most interested in serving as an advisor. Send your materials to Jody Lichtenberg, jlichtenberg@prescott.edu, or contact her at: 928-350-3211.
The mailing address is:
Jody Lichtenberg
Prescott College
220 Grove Avenue
Prescott AZ 86301
Last updated July 19, 2007.
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