Training and professional development for all George Mason advisors is a priority and essential in providing our students with quality and consistent advising experiences across all academic units and promoting opportunities for professional growth and advancement for our advisors. Advisors must be knowledgeable on policies, procedures, curriculum requirements, extracurricular activities, advisor self-care, and advising best practices. Our advisors must also have a high level of interpersonal and cultural competency and create a welcoming and equitable space where all students’ voices are heard.
How to Enroll
The Fundamentals of Advising at Mason (FOAM) is for any staff, faculty, or graduate assistant with a new undergraduate academic advising role or new undergraduate academic advising responsibilities at George Mason. If you are new to advising at George Mason and have not yet filled out the New Academic Advisor Onboarding form, please do so to be added to the Canvas course as well as the MAAN listserv and teams group.
If you do not have undergraduate academic advising roles or responsibilities but want to learn about academic advising and are faculty/staff, you may complete the curriculum as well. Please submit the FOAM Enrollment Request form to be enrolled.
Content Overview
Topics included within the FOAM curriculum were developed based on an assessment of specific needs for academic advisors at George Mason as well as guidance provided by the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA).
The modules in the course include:
- Academic Advising Foundations
- The Academic Advising Meeting
- Academic Planning
- Special Populations and Programs
- Registration, Policies, and More
You will learn about the structure of academic advising at George Mason, all about the Mason degree, different technology platforms you will need as an advisor, and more. The course is completely asynchronous, so you may complete it at your own pace. You will also remain in the course even after you finish and can use the resources and information provided as a reference to go back to when needed. At the end of the course, you will submit the Completion of FOAM form and receive a certificate.
Questions?
For any questions about FOAM, please contact the academic advisor coordinator at [email protected].