Once admitted, a student is assigned an academic advisor within their program (here forward referred to as the “advisor”), normally a full-time faculty member within engineering, and will stay with the advisor for the duration of the student’s studies.  If a request is made by the student and approved by the department chair/program director, the student can be reassigned to a different advisor.

A designated senior faculty member advises undergraduate engineering students who are undecided and have not selected a specific engineering major. Ordinarily, at the end of the first year, these students will be encouraged to designate the program in which they wish to pursue their degree, if they have not already done so. Students must select a major no later than the completion of the 4th undergraduate semester. These students will consult with the chair of their newly designated program and will be re-assigned to an advisor within that program. 

Some programs may elect to have the program chair or a graduate advisor serve as the advisor for all of the program’s graduate students. 

Students are required to meet with their advisor at least once a semester, before registering for courses.  Pre-registration advising is mandatory.  Before each semester, a “registration hold” is placed on the student’s account so that they cannot register for courses until the hold is removed.  The hold will be removed after the student meets with their  advisor for consultation and advice and submits a completed advising for to their academic department’s administrative office. Students should always consult their advisor before changing a course load (i.e. adding/dropping courses).

The University assigns students an Undergraduate Advisor from the Center for Academic and Career Success. In general, these undergraduate advisors are helpful to assist students with making the transition to Catholic U and collegiate life. However, as these advisors only understand the engineering curricula at a cursory level, students are required to meet with their faculty advisors for academic advisement and issues related to their programs of study.

The following steps apply to both undergraduate and graduate student advising.

1. Prior to registration for the upcoming semester, advisor holds are automatically placed on all student accounts in Cardinal Students restricting student access to the registration system.
2. The department will prepare/coordinate for students and advisors to meet for consultation.  This includes asking the advisors to list their appointment hours, making appointments for the meetings, and providing advisors with an updated tracking sheet.  Advisors should review the student’s tracking sheet before meeting the advisee.
3. At the meeting, the advisor and student will finalize selection of courses and document this on the Advising Form. The advisor will provide the student with a copy of the advising form and retain a departmental file of the student’s academic record.
4. After the advisor has met with the student, the department will release the advisor hold on the student’s account in Cardinal Students so that the student can register.