Advising

Are you an NSA Department student with a question?  Are you looking for advice and not sure who to ask?  Nearly all information pertinent to your course of study is available on these department web pages and in the online course catalogue, but if you can’t find the answers there, the department has a number of people ready to help. 

For issues beyond those covered in these pages, student advising in NSA is organized in terms of functional areas. Where to go for advice depends on the nature of the question you need to ask.

Every curriculum in NSA is supervised by a faculty member called the Academic Associate (AA). The Academic Associate is the primary source of advice about academic planning and is the only person who can approve exceptions to published curricular requirements. The AA is also the person to see about transferring credit, validating courses, preparing for a comprehensive exam (if your program requires one), and in general any problem or issue of an academic nature.

The NSA Program Officer is available to provide advice on all service-related issues. You should keep the Program Officer informed of any circumstances that might cause you to miss class, or fall seriously behind in your work.

NSA’s Education Technician (EdTech) can assist you with the procedural and technical side of course selection and administration (paperwork, official forms, adding/dropping/moving classes in PYTHON, etc). She is also the person from whom you can obtain any required paper forms (e.g. for leave, thesis extensions, directed reading courses, etc.). The EdTech will review NSA and NPS requirements with you, and assist you in entering your initial plan of study into PYTHON.

If your program requires you to write a Master’s thesis you should look to your thesis advisor or co-advisors for guidance in its preparation. If you need assistance identifying appropriate advisors, you should consult your AA.