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Muir Advising Services

The Muir Academic Advising Office is available to help with your academic advising needs. At this time, we offer a hybrid format of services that are in person and remote. 

Our office is located in the Humanities and Social Sciences Building in Room 2126. Our administrative business hours are Monday to Friday from 8:00am - 12:00pm and 1:00pm - 4:30pm.  

Our advising services are always updated on the Academic Advising Services tab and we strongly advise checking our Google Calendar.  

Front Desk

  • WHAT IS IT: Muir Academic Advising and Student Affairs  have a shared in person/physical Front Desk located in HSS 2126.
  • Types of Questions best addressed by Front Desk: A staff member who will assist you in navigating your questions and refer you to the appropriate resources.  If you have a specific academic question or need to consult with an Academic Advisor, use VAC or Virtual Office Hours.

Ask a Question

  • WHAT IS IT: This is always a remote service that is available for you to use and ask questions directly to Muir Academic Advisors or any UCSD academic department. It is confidential and all information within the VAC is protected by your UCSD Sign On information.
     
  • HOW TO ACCESS:  At any time, go online to VAC.ucsd.edu. Use the “Ask a Question” button and receive a confidential response within 1-3 business days.  Once your question is addressed, you are notified via your UC San Diego email.  If you prefer to be notified by text message, update your “Preferences” button on the VAC side menu bar.

  • Types of Questions best addressed by VAC: course selection, understanding degree requirements and academic policies, transferring courses, degree audit reviews (i.e. what are my remaining courses to graduation),  updates to the degree audit (i.e.  transfer work is not clearing your GE but you were messaged that it does), how to declare or change a major, basic steps on how to get an academic plan started

  • NOTE: You can ask anything on the VAC! If a Muir Advisor thinks you might be better served by having an in person or virtual conversation or if you actually need to go to another office to get the best answer, then they will give you the appropriate referral.

All your VAC questions and responses become part of your VAC Contact Record History, which means that you can always go back and view that information.  To locate this, click on the “Contact Record” tab at vac.ucsd.edu.

Drop-in Advising

  • WHAT IS IT: Virtual advising hours are a remote service available Monday through Friday from 1:00pm - 3:00pm, unless otherwise noted.  See our Google Calendar  to view an up to date  schedule. During these hours, you can “drop in,” or show up, for advising.

  • HOW TO ACCESS: To access remote advising office hours, you will need to use your UCSD Zoom account (click this link to set your account up if you haven’t done so already). To find the Zoom Meeting information, log onto the vac.ucsd.edu and it will be posted on that first landing page under “How to Contact Us - Virtual Office Hours.” You can also find this information if you click on the “Meet with Advisor” button.

  • Types of Questions best addressed by Office Hours: navigational in nature (not sure where to start); clarification that would be better in discussion; scheduling issues and concerns for the quarter such as dropping a course or other adjustments to your schedule by the quarterly academic deadlines; academic or transition challenges and help getting to resources

NOTE:  These are group advising sessions and not confidential. Questions are screened for how to best assist you in your situation. Muir Advisors will assist in answering group advising questions and whether you need more individualized assistance.

Individual Appointments

  • WHAT IS IT:  Starting week 3 students can sign up for a 30 minute appointment via Calendly, which is a program that allows you to select an in person or Zoom appointment with a Muir Academic Advisor.

  • HOW TO ACCESS: Log onto vac.ucsd.edu and information will be posted under “How to Contact Us - Advising Appointments.” You can also click on the “Meet with Advisor” button. Keep in mind that wait times for appointments will vary throughout the quarter.

  • Types of Questions best addressed by an Appointment: things that are impacting your academic success, thinking you are not passing a course, concerns about changing your major or questioning your major choice, experiencing non-academic issues (i.e. personal, family, medical, etc) that are getting in the way of school and wanting to be informed about your academic options to help with graduation, more complex academic planning questions after you have met with your major department

TIP: double check if you made an in-person or Zoom appointment before trying to attend your appointment! Since we are hybrid, it means that not every Muir Advisor will be on campus all the time…so if you have a Zoom appointment, it will be on Zoom!