Internship Location: Madison, WI
Organization Type: State government
Policy Areas: Education and consulting
As a SOAR Graduate Advising Intern, I helped UW-Madison’s College of Letters & Science with their summer orientation sessions for incoming freshmen and transfer students. With 65 different undergraduate majors and 45% of the total student enrollment at UW-Madison, Letters & Science is an extremely diverse and lively college, and our summer orientation program is no exception. In this position, I facilitated advising meetings with new students, helping them build their academic schedules by recommending the right courses based on their individual interests, transfer credits, placement scores, and academic goals. I also assisted with university policy review, largely regarding academic affairs (major/graduation requirements, recommended course trajectories, F-1/J-1 visa provisions, etc.). This internship helped me develop my advising/consulting skills by seeing each student as an individual with their own particular academic needs and wants, and making sure that they are scheduled for a successful first semester at UW-Madison. This opportunity allowed me to learn more about the academic affairs side of higher education, as well as meet and be mentored by several leaders within the L&S Academic Advising Services (AAS) and Center for the First-Year Experience departments.