The English Department has an excellent drop-in system of advising for undergraduate majors. The department also permits "personal" advising for English majors who prefer to consult individual professors on a regular basis about courses and requirements.
I advise a large number of "old" students every semester on this basis. This page is an attempt to spell out, for newcomers, the understanding I have with students who prefer to meet with me rather than using the departmental drop in system.
1) In general, I prefer to act as advisor to students who have gotten a B or higher from me either in English 219 or an upper-level course. This isn't an attempt to be "exclusive." It just means that such students and I will be on the same wave length when I am advising them about teachers and courses. (For instance, they will understand from actual classroom experience why I consider "close reading" to be the basis of all higher-order literary interpretation.)2) I assume that any student I advise on this basis will have agreed to take courses in Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton, and two other courses in periods prior to 1900. I also strongly urge that one of these two courses be Anglo Saxon (Old English), including, if possible, a semester on Beowulf.
3) I assume that any student I advise will want to pursue the study of at least one foreign language -- preferably Latin, German, or French -- to the 300 level. I also assume that my advisees will be taking several specific courses outside the English major in philosophy and European history.
4) And finally, I ask students who enter into a "formal"advising arrangement with me to see me once either during preregistration or in the first week of the semester every term. I hold extra office hours during these periods. I give to all students whom I advise a checklist designed to (1) track their progress through the normal English requirements plus the "extra" expectations listed just above, and (2) serve as a record of our having consulted at the beginning of each new term.
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"WCD Office Hours"