How to Declare Anthropology as Your Major:
Declaring anthropology as your major (or minor) is easy:
1. When you register for your classes on Broncoweb, make sure you indicate that anthropology is your major. To do this, once you have signed in to Broncoweb, follow these steps: My Academics, View/Change My Major/Minor Plans. You can also follow this procedure to change your major from something else to Anthropology.
2. Send an email, call, or stop by the department office in the Hemingway Western Studies Center (here’s how to get there) and tell the department secretary, Faith Brigham, that you wish to become a major (or minor). She will need your current mailing address and preferred email address so that you can be kept apprised of departmental activities.
The Hemingway Western Studies Center |
Contact InformationDepartment of Anthropology Phone: (208 ) 426-3023 Fax: (208) 426-4329 Mark Plew, Chair |
Whom should you see for advising?
You will need to select one of the department’s regular faculty members (Christopher Hill, Mark Plew, Margaret Streeter, or John Ziker) as your academic advisor. It is often helpful to choose someone with interests similar to yours, so by going to the faculty web page you can see the interests of our faculty members. Or, you may choose your advisor based on taking one of his/her classes and finding him/her very helpful. Make your selected advisor aware of your decision and discuss with him/her your academic plans. He/she will help you understand the requirements for obtaining the degree and will assist you in registering for the appropriate courses. If you meet with an advisor and don’t really get along, then try someone else!
You can have an advisor assigned to you in several ways:
1) by contacting the department and letting the department administrative assistant know which faculty member you would like to have as your advisor;
2) by completing a Student Information Update Form. Complete the form, print it, and take the signed form to the Bronco Web Help Center, Administration Building 110 (A110). You can also get a copy of the Student Information Update Form in the Anthropology Department office.
3) if you do not choose an advisor, the department will assign an advisor to you. You are always free to change advisors at any time–just complete step 1 or 2 above.
How do you contact an advisor to set up an appointment?
You can email or phone your advisor to set up an appointment. As you get to know your advisor, you’ll probably end up feeling comfortable just dropping by for a quick bit of advice now and again. Office hours are posted on the faculty web pages. It is very important that if you make an appointment, you keep it. Your advisor will not be impressed by a person who doesn’t take appointments seriously.
Why should you see an advisor?
The Department of Anthropology strongly recommends that you meet with your anthropology advisor at least once a semester to discuss your degree. It’s the smart thing to do!
- Advisors help you to choose appropriate courses to take. Many anthropology courses have prerequisites, and it is important to get started on those courses early.
- Advisors can help you find internships. Internships are an important way to learn new skills. Internships are also important in helping you to know whether or not you really want to pursue a particular career path. Although an advisor can provide suggestions as to possible internship opportunities, it is important to realize that it is the student’s responsibility to actually go out, make the contact, and arrange the internship experience. Your advisor can then help you to sign up so that you can receive college credit for your internship experience.
- Advisors can help with preparation of applications for graduate school. Such applications are much more complex than applications to attend as an undergraduate, and an advisor can help you to navigate the complexities.
- Advisors often help by writing letters of reference for jobs, for applications, for academic appeals, etc. However, don’t expect an advisor to write a letter of any substance unless you’ve invested the time to let your advisor get to know you: your ambitions, your qualifications, your history, etc.
- An advisor can help a transfer student determine which courses from the previous institution count towards a degree at Boise State.
When should you see your advisor?
It is very important to see an advisor as early in your college career as possible. Students who wait often don’t take key courses, and therefore end up delaying their progress towards an anthropology degree. It is a good idea to meet with your advisor every semester to get help with selecting courses for the next semester. Don’t wait until the last minute before your registration appointment to seek out your advisor; he/she may not be able to see you promptly and then either you’d need to register without the advice of your advisor or you’d need to delay your registration until later, potentially missing out on open courses. The department has developed a suggested “Finish in Four” Graduation Plan to help you plan what courses you should take, and when. Additional advising information can be found at
http://sspa.boisestate.edu/advising/
Transfer students:
If you are a transfer student from another college or university, please bring a copy of your transcript with you when you come to the department for your first advising session. In this way your advisor can assist you in determining what courses can/will apply towards your anthropology degree here at Boise State, and which courses won’t. In some cases you may be required to fill out an Adjustment of Academic Requirements Form in order to transfer an equivalent course from another college/university. Don’t wait until you are about to graduate before doing this! It may come as a huge surprise when you try to transfer a course you thought would fulfill a requirement towards your major, and when you find out it won’t, you are short credits for graduation.