Information for Advisors

UCDAccess is CU Denver’s electronic portal information system. It's the system students use to complete academic, financial, and records transactions. However, the portal is also advisors’ gateway to the employee and business applications.​

The CU Student Information System (CU-SIS) is the electronic student information and record management system. CU-SIS is one of the primary tools academic advisors use in their day-to-day work with students.

Navigate is the online, walk-in, and student contact record system used by academic advising offices at CU Denver.

More information and how-to guides for using Navigate.

Log on to Navigate

The CU Denver catalog is the source for academic and programmatic requirements for students. When a student is enrolled at CU Denver, they are required to fulfill the general education and graduation requirements specified in the catalog current at that time.​

The Degree Audit Reporting System (DARS) is an electronic tool students use, in consultation with academic advisors, to track degree progress.

Singularity is the CU System’s document imaging and record system. Academic advisors use Singularity to access students’ transcripts and other documents scanned by the Admissions and Registrar's Offices.​

IBM Cognos Report is used to access student reports. The Office of the Registrar builds and prepares student reports based on IT warehouse data. It’s important to note that some reports are point-in-time reports (based on information captured at a specific date or time in the term).​​

The Transfer Evaluation System (TES®) is an online database of course information from higher education institutions. Academic advisors use TES® to access transfer course descriptions and view or manage transfer course equivalencies.​

Academic advising is integral to fulfilling the teaching and learning mission of higher education. Through academic advising, students learn to become members of their higher education community, think critically about their roles and responsibilities as students, and prepare to be educated citizens. 

• Curriculum (what advising deals with)
• Pedagogy (how advising does what it does)
• Student learning outcomes (the result of academic advising)

​Academic advising draws primarily from theories in the social sciences, humanities, and education. The curriculum of academic advising ranges from the ideals of higher education to the pragmatics of enrollment.

Academic advising, as a teaching and learning process, requires a pedagogy that incorporates the preparation, facilitation, documentation, and assessment of advising interactions. Although the specific methods, strategies, and techniques may vary, the relationship between advisors and students is fundamental and is characterized by mutual respect, trust, and ethical behavior.​

The student learning outcomes of academic advising are guided by an institution’s mission, goals, curriculum, and co-curriculum. These outcomes articulate what students will demonstrate, know, value, and do as a result of participating in academic advising.

Each institution must develop its own set of student learning outcomes and the methods to assess them. The following is a representative sample.

Students will:

• Craft a coherent educational plan based on assessment of abilities, aspirations, interests, and values
• Use complex information to set goals, reach decisions, and achieve those goals
• Assume responsibility for meeting academic program requirements
• Articulate the meaning of higher education and the intent of the institution’s curriculum
• Cultivate the intellectual habits that lead to a lifetime of learning
• Behave as citizens who engage in the wider world around them

​Academic advising is a series of intentional interactions with a curriculum, a pedagogy, and a set of student learning outcomes. Academic advising synthesizes and contextualizes students’ educational experiences within the frameworks of their aspirations, abilities, and lives to extend learning beyond campus boundaries and time frames.

Find additional academic advising resources from NACADA Clearinghouse​.​

NACADA is comprised of advisors, administrators, students, and others with a primary interest in the practice of academic advising. NACADA members advise in a variety of settings and works to promote quality academic advising within their institutions. NACADA celebrates the contributions of professional, faculty, para-professional, and peer advisors to the advising profession. They acknowledge the complex nature of higher education institutions and the role academic advising plays within them.

• Introduction
• Declaration
• Exposition, a descriptive section expanding on each of the Core Values.

The Statement of Core Values provides a framework to guide professional practice and reminds advisors of their responsibilities to students, colleagues, institutions, society, and themselves. Advisors are expected to reflect the values of the profession in their daily interactions at their institutions.

The Statement of Core Values does not attempt to dictate the manner in which academic advising takes place, nor does it advocate one particular advising philosophy or model over another. Instead, these Core Values are the reference points advisors use to consider their individual philosophies, strengths, and opportunities for professional growth.

Advisors ​are Responsible to the Individuals They Advise

Academic advisors work to strengthen the importance, dignity, potential, and unique nature of each individual within the academic setting. Advisors' work is guided by their beliefs that students:

Have diverse backgrounds and hold their own beliefs and opinions

Are responsible for their own behaviors and the outcomes for those behaviors

Can be successful based on their individual goals and efforts

Have a desire to learn

Have learning needs that vary based upon individual skills, goals, responsibilities, and experiences

Use a variety of techniques and technologies to navigate their world

​In support of these beliefs, advisors should provide accurate and timely information, communicate in useful and efficient ways, maintain regular office hours, and offer varied contact modes. 

Advisors are Responsible for Involving Others in the Advisi​ng Process

Core Value 1: Advisors are responsible to the individuals they advise.

• As advisors enhance student learning and development, advisees have the opportunity to become participants in and contributors to their own education
• Regular student contact through in-person appointments, mail, telephone, or email helps advisors gain meaningful insights into students' diverse academic, social, and personal experiences and needs. Advisors use these insights to assist students as they transition to new communities and create academic goals
• Advisors recognize and respect that students' diverse backgrounds as well as their physical, learning, and psychological abilities. Advisors help students develop and reinforce realistic self-perceptions and help them use this information in mapping out their futures
• Advisors introduce and assist students with their transition by helping them see value in the learning process, gain perspective on the college experience, become more responsible and accountable, set priorities and evaluate their progress, and uphold honesty with themselves and others about their successes and limitations
• Advisors encourage self-reliance and support students as they make informed and responsible decisions, set realistic goals, and develop lifelong learning and self-management skills
• Advisors respect students' rights to their individual beliefs and opinions
• Advisors guide and teach students to understand and apply classroom concepts to everyday life
• Advisors help students establish realistic goals and encourage them to be responsible for their own progress
• Advisors seek to modify barriers to student progress, identify ineffective and inefficient policies and procedures, and affect change. When the needs of students and the institution are in conflict, advisors seek a resolution that is in the best interest of both parties. In cases where the student finds the resolution unsatisfactory, they inform students regarding appropriate grievance procedures
• Advisors recognize the changing nature of the university environment and diversity within the student body. They are sensitive to the responsibilities and pressures placed on students to balance course loads, financial and family issues, and interpersonal demands
• Advisors are knowledgeable and sensitive regarding national, regional, local, and institutional policies and procedures, particularly those governing matters that address harassment, use of technology, personal relationships with students, privacy of student information, and equal opportunity 
• Advisors are encouraged to investigate all available avenues to help students explore academic opportunities
• Advisors respect student confidentiality rights regarding personal information. Advisors practice with an understanding of the institution's interpretation of applicable laws such as the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
• Advisors use student information only when the information is relevant to the advising process. Advisors enter or change information on students' records only with appropriate institutional authorization to do so
• Advisors document advising contacts adequately to meet institutional disclosure guidelines and aid in subsequent advising interactions
  
  

Core Value 2: Advisors are responsible for involving others, when appropriate, in the advising process.

• Academic advisors must develop relationships with personnel critical to student success including those in such diverse areas as admissions, orientation, instruction, financial aid, housing, health services, athletics, academic departments, and the registrar's office. They also must establish relationships with those who can attend to specific physical and educational needs of students, such as personnel in disability services, tutoring, psychological counseling, international study, and career development. Advisors must direct students to experts who specialize in credit transfers, co-curricular programs, and graduation clearance
• Advisors often develop a broad understanding of an institution and a detailed understanding of student needs and the resources available to help students meet those needs. Based upon this understanding:

1. Advisors can have an interpretative role with students regarding their interactions with faculty, staff, administrators, and fellow students
2. Advisors can help the institution's administrators gain a greater understanding of students' needs
3. Students involved in the advising process must be adequately trained and supervised for adherence to the same policies and practices required of the professional and faculty advisors and other specially trained staff advising in the unit/institution

Core Value 3: Advisors are responsible to their institutions.

• Advisors work in many types of higher education institutions and abide by the specific policies, procedures, and values of the department and institution in which they work. When circumstances interfere with students' learning and development, advisors advocate for change on the advisee's behalf with the institution's administration, faculty, and staff
• Advisors keep those not directly involved in the advising process informed and aware of the importance of academic advising in students' lives
• Advisors increase their collective professional strength by constructively and respectfully sharing their advising philosophies and techniques with colleagues
• Advisors respect the opinions of their colleagues, remain neutral when students express opinions about other faculty or staff, are nonjudgmental about academic programs, and do not impose their personal agendas on students
• Advisors encourage the use of models for the optimal delivery of academic advising programs within their institutions
• Advisors recognize their individual roles in the success of their institutions and accept and participate in institutional commitments that can include, but are not limited to, administrative and committee service, teaching, research, and writing

Core Value 4: Advisors are responsible to higher education in general.

• Advisors accept that one goal of education is to introduce students to the world of ideas in an environment of academic freedom. Advisors demonstrate appreciation for academic freedom
• Advisors base their work with students on the most relevant theoretical perspectives and practices drawn from the fields of social sciences, the humanities, and education
• One goal of advising is to establish a partnership that will guide students through their academic programs. They help students understand that learning can be used in day-to-day application through exploration, trial and error, challenge, and decision making
• Advisors advocate for student educational achievement to the highest attainable standards and support student goals as they uphold the educational mission of the institution
• Advisors advocate for the creation, enhancement, and strengthening of programs and services that recognize and meet student academic needs.

Core Value 5: Advisors are responsible to their educational community.

• Advisors help students understand the relationship between the institution and local, regional, national, and international communities
• Advisors advocate for students who desire to include study abroad or community service learning into their co-curricular college experience, and they make appropriate referrals to enable students to achieve these goals
• Advisors understand the intricacies of transfer between institutions and make appropriate referrals to enable students to achieve their goals

Core Value 6: Advisors are responsible for their professional practices and for themselves personally.

• Advisors use the Statement of Core Values to guide their professional actions
• They identify appropriate workshops, classes, literature, research publications, and groups, both inside and outside the institution, that can keep their interest high, hone professional skills, and advance expertise within specific areas of interest
• Advisors seek cross cultural opportunities to interact with and learn more about, as well as understanding physical, learning, and psychological abilities and disabilities found among the general student population
• Advisors engage in research and publication related to advising as well as in areas allied with their training and disciplinary backgrounds. Advisors' research agendas safeguard privacy and provide for the humane treatment of subjects
• Advisors are alert to the demands surrounding their work with students and the necessity of taking care of themselves physically, emotionally, and spiritually to best respond to high level demands. They learn how to maintain listen and provide sensitive, timely responses that teach students to accept their responsibilities