Chapman offers students many options when it comes to advising. First, there is the Academic Advising Center, which offers help with general ed, transfer credit, petitions, and registration. Second, there is your faculty advisor who can provide program-specific guidance. Career advising and internship support is also available, conveniently provided in-house by Heidi Swanson.

Then, there is undergraduate peer advising. These are usually juniors and seniors in your major who have taken most of the classes/labs you are now trying to pass and know most of the professors. They are a powerful asset to students yet their services are often forgotten or underutilized. For this reason, we have decided to dedicate a first-ever blog post to the many benefits of working with peer advisors.

Response time to email inquiries is faster.

If you need a quick answer to a general question, go to your peer advisor first. They will almost certainly respond quicker than all of the other advisors simply because they get less inquires and foot traffic. If they cannot answer your questions themselves, they can direct you to a person who can.

They are good students, but not intimidating.

Peer advisors are screened and hired by academic units specifically because they are both top students and personable. Students often praise their friendly, helpful demeanor. If you prefer working with a peer as opposed to faculty and administrators, they will be a good choice for you.

They have a ton of institutional knowledge.

As students themselves, peer advisor knowledge extends far beyond the major. You can ask them about things related to the major such as research, clubs, Greek organizations, and the surrounding community.

You can drop into office hours or schedule an appointment.

Office hours are kept at Crean Hall if you want to meet in-person. Alternately, you can request an appointment for a time and location on east campus that works for you.

For Psychology:

  • Natasha Hikita is available in Crean Hall, Room 102B Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm.
  • psypeeradvising@chapman.edu

For Health Sciences:

  • Emily Hickey is available in Crean Hall, Atrium: Mondays 2:30 pm – 4:30 pm and Wednesday 2:00 pm- 4:00 pm.
  • ehickey@chapman.edu

For Applied Human Physio:

  • Diana Merino is available in Crean Hall, Atrium Wednesday from 2:30pm-4:30pm and Thursday from  11:15 am- 1:15 pm
  • merin104@mail.chapman.edu