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>> My name is [Inaudible] Brown, and I'm an
academic advisor at the USC Annenberg School

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for Communication and Journalism.

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What goes into the day of an academic advisor?

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Well, basically we start off, and we are
working with the students to make sure

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that they're going to do a couple of things.

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One, to ensure that they graduate
by their targeted degree date; two,

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to make sure that they meet their
goals and establish realistic goals

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for the time they graduate from college, and
this can include anything from studying abroad

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to incorporating internships to core
curricular opportunities to meeting mentors

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and just the types of things; and three, we make
sure that all of their questions are answered

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by the university so they have someone
they can talk to and run ideas by

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or get their questions addressed,
interpret policies and procedures,

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or connecting with the services or people
that they need to be connected with and to.

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Well, during our peak period, we can
see up to about 15 students a day.

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When we're in our [inaudible] period,
we see at minimum about eight students

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for half hour each, for each appointment.

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So that's what we do most of the days.

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On a slow day, we can see anywhere from two to
no students, but we're working on other projects

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in terms of keeping up with students' records,

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contacting them if they need anything
outstanding, doing reports for the university

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and making sure that our students are on
track to graduate, and identifying services

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and scholarships that students can apply for.

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To be a good academic advisor, you must
really care for your students and care

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about the service that you provide
for them because it is a service,

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and one of the best things about
being an academic advisor is you get

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to see how students develop from the time
they're freshmen or their first semester

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at the university until they graduate, and
we're fortunate in our department that we work

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with the same students for the entire
time that they're at the university.

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So I still keep in touch with students
that I first advised maybe ten years ago

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when I first became an academic advisor.

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We still keep in touch.

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They keep me aware of what's
going on in their lives,

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and it's a good relationship
that we're able to maintain.