ADVISING SERVICES

Advising services are available within the department only to current and approved Psychology majors and minors enrolled at the University of Louisville.

If you are a prospective student and need information about admission to the University or to the College of Arts and Sciences, contact the Admissions Office (http://www.louisville.edu/admissions) or Arts and Sciences Advising (http://louisville.edu/a-s/advising.)  Admission to the University is handled in the central office, not in individual academic departments. 

If you need information about how classes will transfer from another institution to UofL, please look at the transfer equivlency information available here:  http://louisville.edu/admissions/apply/transferesources.html.   Tranfer credits are not evaluated in the department for prospective students except by referral from Transfer Services.  If you need information about our degree programs, please click on Choosing your degree program.

A&S vs PSYCHOLOGY DEPARTMENT ADVISING

Departmental advising is intended for our majors and minors who have:  met criteria for the major, applied for a specific degree program in Psychology online, and received notice from the department that they have been officially admitted.  When this happens, the student transcript will no longer say "intended" regarding the major.  If you are a "declared" major, but have not applied and received notice of acceptance, you will receive advising in A&S from the Social Sciences Advisors team.  If you have not received a Program Form via University email* which welcomes you to the department, you are not yet an official Psychology major.

If you have been referred to "your unit advisor" by another University office, that means A&S, which is your academic unit.  Units are the various colleges, not the departments within colleges.

All issues pertaining to your status in the college (petitions, probation, suspension, admission, transfer, courses at another institution, graduation, etc.) are handled by A&S advisors in Gardiner Hall.  This includes obtaining visiting student letters to take classes at another institution.

PSYCHOLOGY ADVISORS

The professional staff advisor, Alison Sommers (aasomm01@louisville.edu), is a master's level clinical psychologist who holds Master Advisor Certification and has training as a career counselor.  She is available by email contact for procedural questions, academic planning, academic performance problems, transcript review and other academic issues at the departmental level. 

Dr. Pavel Zahorik (pavel.zahorik@louisville.edu) is the Undergraduate Coordinator for Psychology.  He may also provide advising services in the event that Ms. Sommers is unavailable.

Students are encouraged at all times to meet with any faculty member for questions about courses they teach, their research interests, graduate school advice and conversation about the field of psychology.   Please see the Faculty information on the People link.

Questions pertaining to College of Arts and Sciences or University issues (admission/matriculation/graduation status, transfer credits, advising prior to admission to the major, petitions for waivers, taking classes at another college, degree audits, etc.) should be referred to A&S advisors at 852-5502, walk-in at Gardiner Hall or the A&S Advising website.

NEW MAJORS
You are encouraged to set up an initial advising appointment as soon as you are notified that your application to the Psychology Department has been accepted by Arts and Sciences.  At this initial appointment, we can review your curriculum, discuss long-range plans and career goals, fine-tune your course selection and discuss any potential problems.  This is the best way to find out about opportunities within the department and to plan for future semesters.  While students in PBS are never required to receive advising, it is a good idea to meet with the advisor at least annually to check on progress and discuss changes in plans or to find out about new opportunities and classes. 

HOW DO I GET ADVISING?
The fastest and most reliable method is to send an email through your University account* to: Alison.sommers@louisville.edu. Emails are usually answered within 12-24 hours and are checked regularly throughout the day, evenings and weekends. Email contact is strongly recommended, rather than telephone.  Brief messages may be left on voice recorder, if necessary; however, they will not be checked regularly.  Advising sessions are conducted by appointment only in-person, or conducted via email. 

Most of the time: Appointments with the staff advisor can be made at your convenience, usually within 48 hours. Some students find it valuable to come for a series of appointments or to see the advisor on an annual basis. Appointments are generally 45-60 minutes long. Seeing the advisor WELL BEFORE registration gives you a chance to ask all your questions and receive maximum attention to academic, personal, and career issues. It also gives you enough time to go to other departmental advisors or university departments, if needed, and still register as early as possible.

During March/April and October/November:  In order to assist the largest number of students, only e-advising (email) is available during these months.  Of course, emergency appointments can always be accommodated.  Please plan to come for comprehensive, in-person advising prior to or after these registration periods! 

ADVISEE RESPONSBILITIES

• We should develop a long-term plan that takes you to graduation and beyond.  If you do not always have a good idea of what you need to be taking and doing during the next several semesters, you need advising NOW, not at registration.  Planning on a semester by semester basis is not optimal for pursuing career or graduate school goals.  Make an appointment with Alison Sommers to develop a long-range plan.
• You should be familiar with the information on this website.  One of our goals for you as a college student is to learn how to find information independently.  This website and the Undergraduate Catalog can answer 99% of your procedural questions.
• Request advising appointments by email well in advance of the time you will need answers.  Do not assume the advisor will be available to see you or have the answers you need at the moment you need them.  Sometimes questions will have to be referred elsewhere or you will need to bring addtional information.  As a single advisor, I do not work on a walk-in basis.  PLAN AHEAD!
• Keep a folder with all official advising and UofL information.  The advisor is not responsible for maintaining your personal notes, once they have been given to you.  You must keep all of your documents, petitions, program forms, etc. together, in one place.
• Bring this folder to every advising meeting.  You are expected to bring your notes, documents and all previous advising work to each advising  meeting.  You may be turned away without this material during the registration period.
• If you are a no-show without advance notice, you will not receive priority for rescheduled appointments.  During registration periods, students who do not attend an appointment will not have another chance until other students have been seen.
• If we have agreed on a plan of action, please follow through before returning.  If your situation has changed, we may need an new plan of action.  In other cases, please make a good faith effort to pursue the plan before we meet to review the results.
• I should not be your resource of first resort for information.  I do care about each and every Psychology major, but real learning comes from trying to solve a situation on your own first.  See the instructor, request tutoring, search the website, use campus resources or check your program form/advising notes.  You should be maintaining your own set of academic records and know how to access information on ULink.  If you truly do not know where to turn, I am here for you, however.  I am happy to explain how to use the system, in order to empower you.
• See me immediately if you are in trouble or in a new situation.  Trouble includes:  any Psychology class with a grade below C-, any F in another class, being on Probation or Warning, a major change of interests or career goals, etc.  Most problems can be handled best when handled early.  Never be reluctant to make an appointment if you have any concern about your progress, performance or future.  We will take a problem-solving, not a judgmental, approach to your situation.

*You must have and use a University email account in order to receive important official information.  Emails to the deparment must come from University email accounts.