FAQs for Academic Advising

University Advisors help students with:

  • Registration and course advisement.
    • Help students use tools to register for courses and stay on track for graduation (Schedule Planner, Smart Planner, Curriculum Roadmap, etc.).
    • Identify GE courses using the Office of the Registrar approved General Education Course List.
    • Help students review their Academic Requirements Report to confirm degree requirements that are completed, in-progress, and outstanding.
    • Help students identify courses they may want to take outside Cal Maritime and advise on process for getting transfer credit approval (Course Equivalency Request, ASSIST, etc.).
    • We cannot remove Advisor Registration Holds.
  • Holistic student support through resources.
    • Help students identify how campus resources, services, and co-curricular opportunities enrich and support their educational pathway.
    • Support the development of college skills (i.e., goal setting, organization and time management tips, conversation coaching, etc.).
    • Refer students to campus resources for support (i.e., basic needs, CAPS and health services, ADSO, etc.).
    • Manage academic related interventions and outreach (Early Support/Progress Reports, Alerts through Passport, etc.).
  • Forms and policies.
    • Help students navigate CSU and Cal Maritime policies and procedures (i.e., Leaves of Absence, Waivers of Pre-requisite, etc.)
    • Support Cal Maritime’s Academic Probation population.
    • Readmission guidance for students returning from a leave.
    • Help manage Academic Standing, Academic Probation, and Disqualification processes.

Faculty Advisors can help students with:

  • Graduation plans, registration and course advisement.
    • Help students sequence courses according to the necessary co/pre-requisites and term typically offered.
    • Partner with students to create an individual graduation plan according to their graduation goals.
    • Help students readjust graduation plans due to changing circumstances. 
    • Assist students in the registration process during advising weeks (i.e., selecting courses to fulfill degree requirements, creating a schedule that follows their grad plan, removing Advisor Registration Holds).  
  • Holistic student support through resources.
    • Refer students to campus resources for support (i.e., tutoring, basic needs, University Advising, CAPS and health services, etc.).
  • Mentorship, networking and professional preparation.
    • Share academic and industry/career experience and expertise.
    • Help students connect the work they do in their courses with their chosen program fields.
    • Help students understand how their educational pathway connects their values, skills, and abilities to their personal, academic, and professional goals.
    • Partner with department and careers services to help students explore graduate school, internship, and career options.
    • Help students identify additional research and/or relevant co-curricular opportunities.
    • Refer students to other faculty that share their educational or career interests.

Students are required to meet with their Faculty Advisor during advising weeks to review their graduation plan, classes for the upcoming semester, and get any other academic questions answered. We’ve talked with other Faculty Advisors and developed some best practices for Faculty Advising during Advising and Registration weeks. Check it out!:

 Faculty Advising Best Practices for Registration Advising

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) and CSU Maritime Academy protects the privacy of student educational records and generally limits access to these records to only the student. It is important to note that:

  • FERPA begins upon attendance at a post-secondary institution, regardless of age and minor status.
  • The student holds FERPA rights directly, and parents lose their right of access to their children's education records once they are a matriculated student.
  • Students can fill out a request to give “Authorization to Release Records” to family members or other persons if they would like.

For more information on what FERPA is, how you can check if a student has given permission to access their information, etc., check out The Passport Instruction Manual (see “FERPA: Permissions to speak to a Parent, Spouse or Named Other” and “Accessing FERPA from The Passport” sections).

To learn how to view your advisees in the PeopleSoft Advisor Center, check out our Faculty and Advising Handbook (see “PeopleSoft Advisor Center – Student Center” section).

To review your advisees in The Passport, log in and on the "Staff Home" main page you can see your advisees 

To learn more about using The Passport for advising, check out The Passport Instruction Manual.

Students may elect to take courses outside of Cal Maritime to satisfy their degree requirements as long as the course is pre-approved for transfer through the Course Equivalency Request form. For more info about this process, see our Guide to Taking Courses Outside of Cal Maritime

There are restircitons on where certain courses must be completed, due to U.S. Coast Guard or CSU requirements. These courses include, but are not limited to:

  • STCW courses - must be taken at Cal Maritime. STCW courses are indicated on each major’s Curriculum Roadmap.
  • EGL 300/301/302 Graduate Writing Assessment Requirement - must be taken at Cal Maritime (unless transferred in by a CSU post-baccalaureate student).
  • Upper division GE courses - must be taken in-residency at a CSU campus.
  • Upper division courses (300 and above) - should be taken at a baccalaureate-granting institution. 
  • HIS 100/101 U.S. History - although it is not required to be taken at Cal Maritime, we recommend this be taken here at Cal Maritime since our HIS 100 and 101 courses cover both the American Institutions I requirement and Area F Ethnic Studies requirement (required of all CSU students entering 2021 and after). If a student elects to take U.S. History elsewhere, they will need to take an Ethnic Studies course as well.
    • FYI! AP U.S. History can also be used to satisfy Area C2 of Area D lower division requirements if needed. 
  • GOV 200 American Government - must include a California state and local government component within the course, which is usually only found at California Community College or CSU campuses.
    • Please note that AP U.S. Government & Politics does not satisfy our American Institutions II/GOV 200 requirement since it is missing the CA state and local government assessment. It can be used to satify an Area D lower division requirement if needed.

Additional Resources


Articles of Interest