Published: March 26, 2018

New welcome videos help you choose the right faculty advisor for you.

You’re bound to have questions as you navigate through your program at the School of Information. Thankfully, the iSchool has plenty of resources to help you along the way. One of those is the faculty advisor team, who are available to answer your questions about course selections and career pathways based on their areas of expertise. Now you can watch a quick one to two minute welcome video to get to know each advisor and determine the right person to reach out to for assistance. With 50 advisors to choose from, you are sure to find your perfect match.

The introductory videos created by each advisor offer a brief snapshot of their background and experiences, what courses they teach at the iSchool and their research interests. Interested in academic librarianship? You might want to reach out to Vicki Steiner or Dr. Johanna Tunon. Or perhaps your interests are more aligned with web development, in which case I recommend you contact Raymond Dean. This nifty tool allows you to filter the list of advisors by career pathway. If you aren’t sure what career direction you are leaning towards yet, that’s okay too, reach out to any of the advisors to learn more about their specialty field. Alternatively, several faculty members are designated as generalist advisors with a broad knowledge of the MLIS curriculum and offerings including Dr. Linda Main, Debbie Faires, Dr. Debbie Hansen, Beth Wren-Estes and Dr. Sue Alman. 

There are many reasons why you would seek the guidance of a faculty advisor. They can discuss what skill sets are needed to move into a particular area of LIS, as well as suggest courses you might take to develop those skills. You might also ask for help deciding between classes or just ask for more information about what they do. Don’t be afraid to ask! The faculty advisors welcome your questions. You don’t have to wait to be assigned someone, you can immediately send them an email as soon as you need help. You can reach out anytime and to as many advisors as you like.

You’ll probably want to reach out to faculty advisors multiple times throughout your program, and that’s perfectly normal. They are here to assist you in narrowing down your career interests and building a customized class schedule to help you get the most out of your time at the iSchool. You also have access to the student services team for any administrative related questions. This video will give you an idea of the types of questions you can ask the student services team, separate from what you might ask your advisor. Check out the Advising Toolkit to explore all the support resources available to you including the iSchool Student Success Planner and Unit Planning Tool. Here’s another neat tool that points you to the right resource for your advising question. Enjoy getting to know your friendly faculty advisors a little better by watching their welcome videos and don’t hesitate to contact any of them with your questions.