Advising in the Patrick Leahy Honors College (PLHC)
As an PLHC student, you are a dual citizen at UVM with academic ties to your home undergraduate college and to the Patrick Leahy Honors College. Together with your assigned advisor in your degree-granting college, the PLHC academic advising team helps you to navigate HCOL course requirements and will refer you to university resources that will enable you to thrive and enjoy a successful UVM experience. Your PLHC advising relationship lasts as long as you are a student in the Patrick Leahy Honors College.
Patrick Leahy Honors College Advising Mission Statement
The mission of the Patrick Leahy Honors College advising team is to holistically support students as the multifaceted people they are and to offer strengths-based support that fosters intellectual curiosity, engagement, and growth.
We listen to and empower students to take the necessary steps toward the goals they define for themselves, and also help them to reevaluate those goals, as needed, throughout their UVM careers. Recognizing that students are most successful when their overall wellbeing is valued as much as their academic achievement, we promote wellness and strive to put anti-oppressive frameworks at the center of our advising practices. We are committed as a team to dismantling internalized bias both in ourselves and in our community.
How to reach out
To reach the team with quick questions email Honors.College@uvm.edu and the appropriate member of the team will respond. They will provide information, refer you to helpful services, or request that you schedule an advising appointment.
To make an appointment with an PLHC advisor at a time convenient for you, simply use Navigate (see instructions on the side bar).
Spring 2024 Drop-in Hours held in the PLHC Advising Suite, 034 University Heights North:
Tuesday 10:15 – 12:15
Wednesday 10:30 – 12:30
Thursday 12:00 – 2:00
Friday 12:00 – 2:00
Who is on my advising Team?
Your advising team includes:
• Professional advisors
• Experts in research experiences, funding, and student fellowships (the FOUR office)
• Honors College peer mentors
• Your faculty academic advisor in your home college who specializes in your field of study
What does the advising relationship look like?
During your first year, the advising team will work with you as you navigate the transition from high school to college and begin an ongoing conversation with you about your academic interests and future career goals. You will receive frequent information from the team and will be invited to important programming around requirements, interests, and responsibilities. You can also stop by drop-in hours to chat with an advisor or request an individual meeting with a member of the team as needed!
In your second year, these conversations continue as you affirm your choice of major, career goals, and plans for study abroad when appropriate. This is also the time to build mentoring relationships with faculty in their home colleges early in their second year; those faculty relationships form the basis of a great deal of PLHC-related Junior and Senior-year advising when the focus is on preparation for and then execution of the Senior Thesis project. Students in the Honors College will often find that advisors in the Fellowships, Opportunities, and Undergraduate Research office are enormously valuable throughout their career at UVM, but in particular during the final two years. And students are, of course, welcome to seek advice from PLHC staff at any time during their time in the Honors College.
In addition to guiding you to academic support resources, the Honors College team can direct you to opportunities across the University including clubs and organizations, community partnerships, study abroad, undergraduate research, competitive fellowships, and work related to career and professional development.
During the last two years of your undergraduate degree, you will be working closely with your faculty academic advisor assigned to you in your home college, who specializes in your area of interest. This faculty advisor will be supporting and guiding you through the development of your research interests and your Honors Thesis project. We encourage you to continue to engage with peer advising and the PLHCadvising team as needed (especially around research funding and fellowship opportunities) even while your primary academic support is increasingly focused in your major.
Your Advising Team in the Patrick Leahy Honors College:
- Facilitates communication, helps you to coordinate learning experiences, reviews your academic progress, and provides referrals. We want you to be cognizant of the many opportunities UVM affords for personal and academic growth. We are here to help you achieve your academic and personal goals.
- Helps you make informed decisions throughout your UVM career. We want you to have a rich and rewarding college experience and will refer you to appropriate resources on campus.
- Operates within a holistic vision of advising; we know that impediments to academic success are often complex.
- Listens to you and helps you clarify academic and career goals.
- Helps you interpret academic requirements and policies, and complements the advice you receive from your formal, undergraduate advisor.
- Connects you with opportunities for undergraduate research.
- Directs you to experiential and career development opportunities across the university.
- Reviews your academic performance and GPA (3.40 is required to remain in PLHC) and helps you work out an academic plan for success.
Your faculty advisor in your Home College:
- Helps you to navigate requirements in your major(s) and to plan for academic success in your field of study
- Provides you with mentoring and support as you consider areas of research focus and refine your proposal for your research project leading to the Honors College Thesis
- Helps you make appropriate progress toward thesis completion and provides feedback on the thesis as it develops
- Serves as a resource to discuss future career or graduate education plans, especially in your field of study
As an Advisee in the Patrick Leahy Honors College:
- You accept responsibility for your own decisions.
- Keep your advising team informed if you encounter issues that hinder your academic success. We can help you find necessary supports, both personal and academic.
- Come prepared for advising programming, drop-in advising, and individual meetings with your faculty advisor or with members of the honors college advising team.
- Seek advising from your home college advisor for specific degree requirements.
Your Patrick Leahy Honors College Advising Team
MARTHA LANCE, Academic Advisor
DANA MITCHELL, Academic Advisor
MIRIAM MUKURAZITA, Graduate Assistant
ANN KROLL LERNER, Director Office of Fellowships, Opportunities and Undergraduate Research (FOUR)
Peer Mentors
Peer Mentors are current Honors College upperclass students who work closely with first years as they navigate the transition to college and life in Honors College. First year Honors College students are assigned a peer mentor as a person that they can go to during their first semester on campus with any questions about finding their "niche" on campus. In addition to advising groups of students, Honors College Peer Mentors organize events for all PLHC students including drop-in advising socials, de-stressing events during finals, and other activities in the College that build connections and camaraderie. Read more about the peer mentors here.
Other Advising Resources
Fellowships, Opportunities and Undergraduate Research (FOUR)
Student Accessibility Services
Patrick Leahy Honors College Faculty
The faculty who teach PLHC courses are carefully selected and also provide academic mentoring to students.