Connecting

Staying on track as a continuing student requires starting off on the right foot: developing an ongoing working relationship with your academic advisor. This can be the same person who helped you select courses and register during New Student Orientation, or you can request another advisor. Once you declare a major, your academic advisor will be a faculty member in your department.

While your advisor can guide you, it’s ultimately up to you to take control of your education through:

• Self-discipline that involves effective study strategies and time management skills.
• Openness to trying new things so you can “find your passion.”
• Connections you build as as you reach out, get involved in student life, and make new friends.
• Awareness of the administrative ins and outs of UMass Boston. Knowing, for example, critical deadlines for course changes. And knowing the proper procedures to make those changes. Many students have been shocked by a failing grade or a bill for a course they thought they had dropped – but didn’t – because they failed to do it right.