UW student handbooks gain national recognition
Two handbooks designed to guide UW–Madison students through the sometimes complicated maze of academic life have been cited as among the best in the nation by the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA).
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View the guides online: Choose Your Own Adventure
Which Biology Major? |
“Which Biology Major?” is a booklet designed to help undergraduates select a course of study in the life sciences, and “Choose Your Own Adventure” is a general guide to campus life for students. The guides were recognized for significantly enhancing advising and student opportunities on the UW–Madison campus.
“Which Biology Major?” produced by the Center for Biology Education (CBE), introduces students to the rich array of undergraduate programs in the biological sciences. It helps students answer commonly asked questions, narrow academic choices and plug in to the advising network, according to CBE Associate Director Jane Harris Cramer.
The handbook, she noted, was the outcome of numerous student focus groups on the UW–Madison campus.
The 51-page booklet, updated and distributed annually in cooperation with undergraduate biology advisor Pat Henrikson, was selected as the 1999 Outstanding Advisee Publication Award Winner by NACADA.
“Choose Your Own Adventure: A Guide to UW–Madison for Students, by Students” goes far “beyond the bare bureaucratic essentials to describe how to get the best possible education at UW–Madison by encouraging students to take charge of their own learning,” says Bill Cronon, a professor of history, geography and environmental studies and the advisor to a group of nine undergraduates who conceived, wrote, designed and published the 180-page book.
The book contains a wealth of information on academic life such as how to get to know professors as people, study and exam tips, how to take advantage of research opportunities, and learning beyond the classroom. It also serves as a map to the UW–Madison social experience with sections on everything from exercise and sports to how to contend with alcohol at parties.
The book and its Honors Student Organization authors received the NACADA Certificate of Merit Award.