“Am I in the right class?”

It’s not just a question for new UNC Greensboro students finding their way during their first semester. Any Spartan may wonder, “Am I taking the right classes to get my degree on time?” Hundreds of prerequisites and electives sometimes make the course catalog feel like a map to navigate towards graduation.

Fortunately, the journey comes with guides. UNCG academic advisors let students know whether they’re headed in the right direction or need to pump the brakes and get back on track.

“A lot of times, students’ perception of advising is, ‘I’m just going to go when I need to register for classes and get my advising code,'” says Anne Marie Sohler, director of undergraduate advising in biology. “But we’re really here to help you figure out your four-year plan.”

Advisors from some of UNCG’s schools and colleges share their expert thoughts and strategies to ensure students chart a clear path to degree completion. 

aN Advising Checkup

Every August, with proud faculty, friends, and family looking on, School of Nursing (SON) students take part in one of their most anticipated traditions: the Coating Ceremony. This milestone occurs in nursing schools across the United States to mark students’ transition into clinical practice. 

Given the demanding course load – with classes in biology, chemistry, human development and family studies, nutrition, and more – people like Britt Flanagan and Philip Simpson are fully invested in advising them.

“Establishing rapport with their assigned advisor is critical to a student’s success in college,” says Simpson, SON director of student success. “Advisors advocate for their students. They keep them informed of important timelines. They’re a trusted, go-to resource who can help troubleshoot and be a cheerleader throughout a student’s academic career.”

Flanagan, student success coordinator, says nursing advisors not only help students stay on track, but help them remain competitive so that they’ll be accepted into the nursing program. She says, “We jokingly tell students that their first homework assignment is to fully understand the plan of study and what options they have or do not have.”

She says advising meetings should be a two-way conversation. Students should never feel like they have to hold back questions. “As an advisor, I wish more students would come prepared with any questions,” says Flanagan. “When they don’t, I worry they do not fully understand the challenges ahead of them or the demands of the major.”

With time, money, and dreams on the line, Simpson says students can depend on their advisors to be open and honest when reviewing their options. Think of a nursing advisor, he says, as a “one-stop solution. Even if we don’t have the answer, we are quick to make the necessary connections for the student.”

Biology’s New Advising Model 

One of UNCG’s strengths is its highly connected network of professionals. Students praise the investment of their faculty mentors put into their pupils’ interests, so they can steer them to the best labs and classes to kickstart their desired career path. 

Last year, the Department of Biology surveyed faculty and students on how to improve advising. They learned that one of the negatives of the faculty-led advising model was that extra administrative work fell upon professors and lecturers already juggling full teaching schedules. If faculty had their attention constantly bouncing between two “jobs,” students were at risk of missing out.

Sohler led the launch of BioAdvise, moving those tasks from the professors’ plates to experienced staff and graduate students.  

“Our department is so incredibly large,” she explains. “We found it was overwhelming for faculty because there are so many students.” As of Fall 2025, there are almost 1100 students enrolled in biology majors.

Sohler says biology’s course sequence is more rigid in their first and second years. Juniors and seniors typically diverge to choose courses in line with their career tracks. “We have the largest number of pre-professional students in the College of Arts and Sciences,” she says. “But biology is a super broad discipline. We must be able to serve this diverse group of students.”

Additionally, many UNCG students work while earning their degrees. The advisors offer guidance on balancing jobs with good academic standing. “Students can talk to us about things like what sequence of courses to take, what to do if a situation pops up, how to withdraw for extenuating circumstances.”

She is excited about how BioAdvise might make the department run more efficiently. “This is going to allow faculty members to do what they’re good at, which is mentor students in their area of expertise,” she says.

Get in the Teaching Mindset 

School of Education (SOE) students may love their college classes, but their hearts anticipate teaching in a classroom. Advisors get them ready for the shift from student to student-teacher to a full-time teacher.

Whereas the biology track grows more flexible after the prerequisite courses, SOE class schedules start off flexible and then become more predetermined, according to Ciara Marable, associate director for the Office of Student Success.

For her, a journey with a student starts during SOAR, UNCG’s new student orientation. “I have a presentation slide that reads, ‘Academic advising equals academic success.'” she relates. “We try to drive that home from the very first day they’re on campus.”

As with nursing, education requires a second admissions process to guide students into the programming of their choice. Advisors monitor transcripts to ensure that students can qualify for program acceptance, including maintaining the GPA requirements and passing the Praxis test.

She says it’s in the best interest of a student to check in with their advisor more than once a semester. That can be done in person or via email or a remote meeting. Marable consistently reminds them to stay in the “teacher mindset.”

“Think about how you’re going to use this coursework in your future classroom,” she says. “Think of your fellow student as your future colleague. How you’re going to form relationships with parents, principals, school counselors, cafeteria staff, coaches. See yourself as a teacher.”

Marable is excited by the proactiveness of UNCG SOE students, who work with a single advisor from day one to Commencement. “They’ll come in saying, ‘I know I’m supposed to take this, this, and this,'” she says. “It’s a lot of relationship and rapport-building. We know our students really well, and they know us, and they enjoy meeting with us.”

Moreover, she says advisors help students think about thriving on campus, by working on their organizational strategies and encouraging them to form relationships with professors who can provide even more opportunities beyond coursework.

To advisors, success is more than a high GPA. Success is when a student is prepared to step into their new career.

“Drop by our office,” says Marable. “See what we’re doing and develop a relationship with us so that we can help. After all, you’re here for four years.” 

Story by Janet Imrick, University Communications 
Photography by Sean Norona, University Communications