New Adviser: Getting Started
Welcome to the UW's academic advising community. This page is designed to help you settle into your role, learn about some of UW's processes and services, and access support opportunities along the way. We brought together some key resources, training materials, guidance, and tools to help you build confidence, connect with colleagues and succeed in supporting students.
During your first month
Stay connected and subscribe to
- UW Advisers email distribution list
- UW Association of Professional Advisers & Counselors (APAC) Teams Channel
- UW and WA Community College Email Distribution List
Bookmark & review
- UW’s Academic Calendar
- Adviser Information File (AIF)
- Information for faculty and staff involved in advising
- Transfer Equivalency Guide for Washington State Community Colleges
- Office of the University Registrar (OUR) Staff and Faculty Resources
- Office of the University Registrar (OUR) Advising Community Forum
- UW Student Guide
- MyPlan Help for advisers
- Undergraduate Academic Affairs (UAA) Advising
- The Husky Guide
Trainings
- Advising Basics Recordings and Materials (Note: You must be logged into your @uw.edu account to access materials)
The Advising Basics Workshop is for all new academic advisers. It provides an introduction to UW advising, an understanding of the undergraduate student’s academic path, issues and policies around struggling students, a brief introduction to key tools, and connects advisers to key resources.
*The Advising Basics Workshop is focused on undergraduate academic advisers who work directly with students at UW Seattle. It is intended to supplement primary training with supervisor and /or departmental staff.
- Student Data Base Training
The UW Student Data Base (SDB) is a university-wide system for managing student records and student data.
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FERPA (Family Education Rights and Privacy Act). The FERPA Training Course video is 11 minutes long. Watching this video provides you with recommendations for common FERPA-related issues that occur at the University. Watch the video and complete the voluntary quiz to receive a PDF certificate as a record of training completion. This online module takes approximately 15 to 20 minutes to complete.
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Take a look at AEP's Lunch and Learn recordings so you can view the trainings as needed. (Note: You must be logged into your @uw.edu account to access materials)
During your first quarter
- Review UW’s Student Systems and request access as needed.
- Get access to UW’s Electronic Academic Records System (EARS) and do the EARS training.
- Complete the Student Database (SDB) training through the Office of the University Registrar.
- Review the Time Schedule and Room assignment tools.
- Contact the Degree Audit and Reporting System (DARS) office for DARS training at dars@uw.edu.
- Contact the Credential Specialist team in the Office of the University Registrar at ugrad@uw.edu for Washington Application for Graduation (WAG) training.
- Watch the 11-minute online training for the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and take an optional quiz for a FERPA completion certificate at the end.
- Set up access to the Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW). EDW can be used to generate reports on Satisfactory Progress holds, class lists, students in major/minor, and graduation application lists.
During your first year
- For more information on Advising and Orientation (A&O), contact First Year Programs at fyp@uw.edu.
- For help with exceptions and altering graduation requirements, contact the Degree Audit and Reporting System (DARS) office at dars@uw.edu.
- For help with graduation plans beyond maximum credits, contact that college’s dean’s office for assistance with the satisfactory progress policy.
- For help with FERPA, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, contact the University Registrar at ferpa@uw.edu.
- To make changes to your major’s listing on the UW’s Degree Programs site, contact the General Catalog Office at gencat@uw.edu.
- For help with your Two-Factor Authentication (2FA), see the UW-IT 2FA article.
- For help with international students, contact International Student Services (ISS).
- Review the Office of the University Registrar website, with a special focus on grading, Current Quarter Drop, Former Quarter Drop, and Late Grading Option information.
Visit student services offices, including but not limited to
- Office of Student Financial Aid
- Student Fiscal Services (SFS)
- Well-being at the UW: Counseling Center, LiveWell: Health Promotion & Prevention, and Medical Services (Husky Health).
- Disability Resources for Students (DRS)
- Office of Minority Affairs & Diversity (OMA&D) Counseling Services: Educational Opportunity Program (EOP), TRIO SSS, College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP), and The Champions Program.
- Study Abroad
- The Career Center
- Center for Experiential Learning & Diversity (EXPD): includes a wide variety of programs.
- Honors Program
- Academic Support Programs (ASP): CLUE Tutoring and Academic Success Coaching.
Get involved with professional adviser associations
- Adviser Education Program (AEP): provides academic advising training and workshops for the advising and counseling community.
- Association of Professional Advisers and Counselors (APAC): supports the engagement and development of the advising and counseling community.
- National Academic Advising Association (NACADA)