Academic Advising

Holistic academic advising is essential for any well-rounded undergraduate experience.

As a leading Catholic university, Dominican takes this responsibility very seriously. The university’s faculty and staff work to provide each student with the support needed to create a thoughtful, challenging and successful curriculum.

Part of the university’s advising responsibility is to ensure that students are asking the right questions.

“What courses do I have to take?” may seem like the optimal starting point of the student/advisor relationship. Ideally, the required courses question comes much later in the advising process. A skilled advisor will guide the student to ask more basic—and more meaningful—questions before focusing on course requirements. For example:

  • Why am I at Dominican?
  • What subjects excite me?
  • What subjects do I want to study? Why?
  • What subjects should I study? Why?
  • How will my coursework help me reach my academic, personal and professional goals?

Please visit the Advising and First-Year Experience page for more resources.

What We Do

Here at Dominican, we guide our students through the advising process from the moment they attend student orientation until graduation. We begin the process with:

  • Holistic academic advising during Summer Orientation, Advising and Registration (SOAR), Dominican’s new student orientation program. SOAR is offered for all incoming students, both summer and winter.
  • Multiple advising appointments throughout the year provide more opportunities for each student to make appropriate academic choices and begin formulating long-term goals.
  • Supportive Peer LEADers to help students transition to university life and develop new ways to succeed in college. Peer LEADers are embedded into the First-Year Seminar courses for all incoming first-year students.

Once the student declares a major, the major department chair assigns the student to a faculty advisor from the department. This advisor typically oversees the student’s academic growth until graduation.

International students can find more information here.