INFORMATION FOR UNDERGRADUATE AND
M.ENG ACADEMIC ADVISORS

(Revised 7/07)

PURPOSE:
The purpose of this document is to describe attitudes, policies and procedures of the Department that are pertinent to advising.

STUDENT-ADVISOR RELATIONSHIP

The educational process at M.I.T. is centered around the interaction between faculty and students. Academic advising is as important to student education as classroom teaching and research supervision. In our engineering subjects, classroom time is usually focused on the technical subject matter, but discussion of broader issues is also important to students' education. Although some students and faculty interact outside the classroom, it is not uncommon for an undergraduate to go through M.I.T. without knowing any faculty member well enough to discuss non-academic issues. An advisor has an opportunity to make sure this does not occur by knowing the students well enough to discuss with them topics such as personal motivations and goals, ethics, lifestyles, etc. in addition to academic plans. Through such discussions, the advisor can make a unique input to the student's education. At the same time, the advisor will be improving his or her abilities as a teacher and advisor by learning about the concerns of students in general.

Because many students have the impression that academic advisors are interested only in the list of subjects on the registration form (and their own research), advisors must take the initiative in broadening the range of discussion to include the student's extracurricular commitments, personal habits and capabilities, and long-range plans. Students are generally interested in discussing these topics and advisors can often provide suggestions on many non-academic issues. Although no advisor can provide expert advice on all subjects, each advisor should be a person that the student regards as accessible and knowledgeable. Often the advisor will direct a student to seek information or suggestions from other people.

For your new students, it is very worthwhile to arrange a meeting for about half an hour to get acquainted. This should be done shortly after Registration Day. It is also suggested that advisors meet with all of their advisees in the two weeks before Drop Date to detect any problems while there is still a chance for improvement.

There are at least four different kinds of student advising:

1. Academic Advising: helping students develop a coherent undergraduate program within the requirements. Too many students slide through picking the easiest classes or the ones their friends are taking, rather than developing an interest and taking classes both to delve into and complement that interest. To learn about classes as students experience them, read the Underground Guide.

2. Personal Counseling: helping students with their problems outside the classroom. It's a good idea to do a little of this, but if you don't feel qualified, send them to the counseling Deans in Student Support Services, and check that they see someone. It can be hard for our students to seek help, especially of this kind. For urgent or severe problems, contact MIT Medical, or the Campus Police (dial 100).

3 . Administrative Advising: helping students deal with all the administrative procedures.

MIT's requirements are extremely complex, and each requirement is handled by different people using different forms. Some advisors get so focused on students' paperwork that there's no time for other kinds of advising. Most particularly, if you're new to undergraduate advising, be honest with your advisees that you don't know all the paperwork and procedures, and suggest that they email administrative questions to Anne Hunter at anneh@mit.edu , or Vera Sayzew at vera@mit.edu . The paperwork is ultimately the student's responsibility, not the advisor's, and students should know this. For more experienced advisors, of course, the paperwork will come more naturally. But don't let forms and signatures be the focus of your advising relationship.

4. Career Counseling: This is something that our students need from us, as the MIT Careers Office, cannot know students as their advisors do. Work with each of your students to determine what kind of career is appropriate for them and what grad school or company might help them reach their goals.

A few years ago, the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics prepared a list of the roles and responsibilities of the advisor. While we have not endorsed this list, it is still useful to provide advisors with an idea of the scope of the job.

To which we might add:

ADVISOR ASSIGNMENT AND STUDENT RECORDS

Normally, an advisor will be assigned a new batch of sophomore advisees in the late spring or summer, with the assignment to take effect on September 1st . A few will be assigned over the next three years or so for students who transfer into MIT, change course, or declare Course VI as an additional degree. When other advisors go on leave, retire or leave, we must reassign their students.

Now that advisors can see students' current academic information on WEBSIS, the paper file is much less important. For those assigned in the late spring, you will receive the student academic files along with a listing of your new advisees over the summer. If any files are missing, have the student help locate it on or near Registration Day. For those assigned later, you will receive an EECS Undergrad Report indicating you as the new advisor and listing the student's origin and contact information. Knowing the student's origin should help you to have the file sent to you. Again, the student is the best person to solve problems with missing files. The Course VI Undergraduate Office has no records of students' previous advisees outside of Course VI.

DEPARTMENT FACULTY ADVISORS MEETINGS

Fall Annual Advisor Meeting

Before Registration Day for the fall term, a Department advisors meeting is held to familiarize new advisors with old procedures, to inform “old” advisors of new procedures, and to discuss common problems. This meeting typically falls on the Friday before Labor Day weekend.

End-of-Term Meetings

After final examinations are over and term grades have been processed by the Registrar's Office, academic advisors convene to consider the cases of students whose academic performance seems unsatisfactory. In these End-of-Term Grades Meetings, the advisors sit as a committee of the Department to decide on recommendations for action in individual cases. The Department's recommendations from these meetings are presented at meetings of the C.A.P. later the same day or the next day. The C.A.P. accepts the Department's recommendations in most, but not all, cases. The Undergraduate Office represents the Department at these C.A.P. meetings. Those students who are placed on “Deferred Action” by the C.A.P. are considered again at another C.A.P. Meeting (the Deferred Action Meeting) about ten days later. During this interval, advisors must communicate with Deferred Action students so that the advisors' recommendations are based on detailed and accurate knowledge of the situation. The advisor MUST attend the C.A.P. Deferred Action Meeting to discuss the case and argue for his or her recommended action.

This system depends on the faculty advisor to review the term's grades and to present recommendations based on knowledge of the student. If an advisor cannot attend the Department's meetings at the end of the term, he or she is required to provide written information and recommendations to the Undergraduate Office.

The Institute Information System is available to all advisors at WEBSIS. You can use it to check the records of your advisees, or to get class lists and pictures of your class. MIT certificates are required for WEBSIS access. For assistance with WEBSIS, contact David McNeil, dmcneil@mit.edu . Please do not wait until Registration Day to be sure you have access to your students' online records.


PAPER SHUFFLING

Most of the administrative procedures involved in advising are covered in the C.A.P. guide. However, the Department does have a few of its own contributions to the paper mill.

Requirement Check List:

This lists the current requirements for the VI-1, VI-2, VI-3, (through the Class of 2010) and VI-P (MEng). Keep one of these forms for each student so that there is a clear record of the completion of Department requirements. We use these to understand and explain our curriculum. We also use the checklist as the “application” for the M.Eng. program. Students in the Class of 2010 may choose to follow the new curriculum; students in the Class of 2011 and beyond must complete it.

Substitutions for Department Requirements

Substitutions “in kind” – Substitutions of another subject covering approximately the same material as a required subject can be approved by the advisor and by the Undergraduate Office ( ug@eecs.mit.edu ). Substitutions are not generally made for Department introductory, foundational or header subjects (6.01, 6.02, 6.001, 6.002, 6.003, 6.004, 6.005, 6.006, 6.007, 6.011, 6.012, 6.013, 6.021, 6.033, 6.034 or 6.046). All substitutions must be submitted by email to the Undergraduate Office for entry into our database.

Substitutions “not in kind” ( http://www.eecs.mit.edu/ug/brief-guide.html#vars ) – Proposals to replace required subjects with substantially different subjects can be made if the revised program leads to a clearly defined educational objective that is appropriate for a degree in Electrical Engineering or Computer Science. After the student and advisor have agreed on proposed substitutions, they must be approved by Professor J. L. Kirtley, kirtley@mit.edu, (VI-1) or Professor George Verghese, verghese@mit.edu, (VI-3) acting for the Department. We now use an electronic email process for substitutions. The approvers will not grant a substitution without advisor support.

Degree Audit for Juniors, Seniors, and M.Eng. Students

To help advisors check student's progress, a Degree Audit is provided by the Department. In addition, the Registrar shows what Institute requirements remain to be satisfied on the WEBSIS grade report for each student. The Department Audit shows which Department Requirements are satisfied (and how they have been satisfied), which are partially satisfied, and which are not satisfied. Thus, the advisor can determine at two glances exactly what a student needs to complete the Department requirements, as well as what Institute requirements remain.

SPECIAL PROGRAMS

VI-A Internship Program and Industrial Connection Program

Please inform your juniors about VI-A and encourage them to apply. Information about VI-A is sent to all students so that they can apply and be interviewed at MIT by the member companies. Those students who are accepted start the VI-A program in the summer between the hunior and senior years. It's a great way to obtain company experience and find an M.Eng. thesis and funding for the M.Eng. year.

The Department's Industrial Connection Program can also be a source of summer/permanent employment. The program coordinator is Ms. Cynthia Skier; she may be contacted at cskier@mit.edu.

Independent Research

One of the most important roles of the advisor is to help students figure out what technical area they're interested in, especially by encouraging and assisting them in finding good research projects. Finding the first UROP, (see http://web.mit.edu/urop/resources/findaurop.html, as well as http://www.eecs.mit.edu/ug/urop.html ), can be especially difficult, as students may find approaching faculty intimidating. Phone calls of introduction and recommendation, and pep talks can be invaluable to students. Please encourage students to begin and continue UROPS, etc. continuously. UROP may be taken for credit or for pay (but not for both.) When taken for credit in Course VI, it is always Pass/Fail and, therefore, cannot be used to substitute for any Institute or Departmental requirements, including restricted electives and laboratory credit. Course VI UROP is administered by the Undergraduate Office (38-476).

Students can also be encouraged to do a project under 6.100, 6.UAP or 6.910. These subjects are also handled by the Undergraduate Office. They are graded subjects (in contrast to UROP). A proposal form must be filed in the Undergraduate Office before Add Date and a final report and grade sheet, due the last day of classes, must be submitted in order for a student to receive a grade. If a non-VI-3 student wishes to use 6.100 to satisfy the Department Laboratory Requirement, a technical proposal endorsed by the prospective supervisor must be submitted for approval to the Undergraduate Office very early in the term in which the work is to be done. A 10-page final written report on the work is required. 6.910 is used for non-laboratory research-guided independent study, i.e., a reading course, and begins with a tentative reading list and ends with an annotated bibliography.

Seniors

Advanced Project

All undergraduates must satisfy the Advanced Undergraduate Project requirement and the fourth year CI-M requirement (Communication Requirement in the major). This means taking 6.UAT, in the fall of the senior year or earlier, followed by 6.UAP.

•  M.Eng students should use the M.Eng thesis proposal as the “source project” for 6.UAT, and submit an approved, graded M.Eng thesis proposal for 6.UAP. Only when both 6-unit letter-graded classes are completed, has the student satisfied the Advanced Project and CI-M requirements. MEng students may choose to use an advanced project rather than a proposal; however, they must still complete an M.Eng thesis proposal before the end of their first term of registration for the M.Eng thesis (6.THM).

•  Bachelors students not going on directly for M.Eng. must find and complete an Advanced Project supervised by MIT faculty or research staff. They must take both 6.UAT and 6.UAP.

•  VI-A students may use a company summer assignment as the source project for 6.UAT and 6.UAP. Those going on for M.Eng. should use their M.Eng. thesis proposal if possible.

•  Students may no longer take a third lab class for the Advanced Project. This option ended with the class of 2004 and the beginning of the Communication Requirement.

Letters of Recommendation

Seniors and M.Engers require letters of recommendation for graduate applications and for jobs. This is a vital function of the advisor. Some students think they can ease the burden by giving a few letters each to several faculty members. It is worth pointing out to seniors that, after the first letter, the other ones are not much work (except for your assistant.)

Second S.B. Degree

Some students choose to obtain two S.B. degrees. Advisors can help in advising whether a second S.B. degree is a real help to a student in achieving his or her goals. Help them consider whether a minor in the other department, if available, would accomplish as much. The petitioning procedure is handled by the Undergraduate Office of the department where the degree is being added . Students with less than a 4.0 will not be permitted to pursue a second bachelor's degree. Warn students that they must petition to pursue the second degree BEFORE Add Date of the penultimate undergraduate term (i.e. the Fall Term of the senior year).

Minors

Almost every academic program at MIT, except for Course VI, Course 16, and the Media Arts and Sciences Program, offers a minor program. Students may complete two minors.

The Summer Session

Students should be referred to Anne Hunter or Vera Sayzew in the Undergraduate Office for signatures and assistance.

Pass/Fail

Subjects which are required in the Department's curricula must be taken on a graded basis to satisfy the degree requirements. This includes restricted electives. Subjects taken on freshman Pass/No Credit are accepted, however. Sophomores may use the “Exploratory Option” for Department subjects.

D/F Policy

The Department's Policies and Procedures describes the policy for students who receive D/F grades in pre-requisite subjects.

Admission to the M.Eng Program

Third-year Course VI students are invited in the spring to submit a checklist indicating their interest in the M.Eng program. Early in the summer following their junior year, they are notified whether they are admitted, rejected, or placed on hold until we see the Fall Term grades. Students interested in pursuing the Ph.D may apply to that program during the fall term of the senior year or the M.Eng year. . The M.Eng program is administered in the Undergraduate Office. The doctoral program is administered in the Graduate Office, Room 38-444, 253-4603.

The Communication Requirement

Students who entered M.I.T. on or after September 2001 must complete the Communication Requirement, and information about the Department's CI-M classes can be obtained.

REFERRING STUDENTS WHO NEED HELP

Advisors cannot know the answer to every problem or question students have, but advisors should be able to direct students appropriately. Students must learn to be responsible for their own paperwork: MIT's bureaucracy is relatively friendly and forgiving.

MIT students with academic or personal problems are often extremely reluctant to seek help. Advisors who sense that a student is having difficulties should be aggressive in encouraging the student to communicate openly. It is much easier to fix problems when they begin rather than much later, such as after the end of a disastrous term. If you feel that a student needs more support than you can offer, refer them to one or more resources, and then check back to be sure that the student did follow through and is receiving help.