At Carthage, advisors are involved with more than clerical duties. In the developmental model of advising students are assisted in clarifying their educational, career, and life goals. Ideally, a partnership between the advisor and the student is developed in which self-reliance and independence is fostered, and students are empowered to take an active role in making decisions regarding their courses, career, and lifestyle.
Advisors help students realize both their educational and personal potential.
The advisor assists students in setting academic and personal goals, aids students in making decisions, helps direct students' exploration of academic majors, collaborates with students to discuss their development, and acts as an agent of referral to campus resources. The developmental approach to advising begins with the student and advisor recognizing the student's needs. Students engage in and utilize goal-oriented tasks for academic and personal growth. Work and professional training is placed within the context of developing a life plan, rather than the more frequent tendency of preparing for a profession and constructing a life plan around it. The major, therefore, functions as a means for developing life skills such as, making critical judgements, weighing cause and effect relationships, putting cultural, social and scientific events into proper perspective, and communicating effectively in both oral and written realms.