Overview
The nursing academic and career advisors at UW-Madison are dedicated to fostering a high-impact, relationship-based student experience that cultivates a strong sense of belonging, supports well-being, empowers academic success, and prepares students for a successful and meaningful career in the nursing profession.
The Advising & Student Services Team consists of pre-nursing advisors, admitted student advisors, and career advisors. Advisors are available to meet in-person, virtually, or via phone.

Who is Your Advisor?
UW-Madison Pre-Nursing Students
Make an appointment with Maisee Her, or Molly Censky.
Email: advising@nursing.wisc.edu
BSN@Home Students
Make an appointment with Molly Censky through Starfish.
Email: molly.censky@wisc.edu
Admitted Traditional Nursing Students
Make an appointment with Tracey Maloney through Starfish.
Email: tmmaloney@wisc.edu
Career Advising & Student Success
Make an appointment with Kelli Richards through Starfish.
Email: kelli.richards@wisc.edu
Admitted Accelerated Nursing Students
Make an appointment with Tracey Maloney through Starfish.
Email: tmmaloney@wisc.edu
Prospective Students Not Enrolled at UW-Madison
Make an appointment with the Admissions Team via email.
Email: admissions@nursing.wisc.edu
Pre-Nursing Students
All pre-nursing students should join the Pre-Nursing 101 Canvas Course, review the pre-nursing handbook, and run and review their DARS report.
First-year pre-nursing students should attend one group advising session to discuss next semester coursework and parallel planning. Dates for group advising sessions will be shared via email/Canvas.
Second year pre-nursing students who plan to apply to the School of Nursing should attend an admissions info session.
Prospective nursing students, please view the prospective nursing student information below.
This is an accordion element with a series of buttons that open and close related content panels.
Can I just email a question?
If you have a single question that can be easily answered with a yes or no response, you can begin by sending an email describing your question or situation. Your advisor will either answer you by return email or ask that you schedule an appointment.
When you email your advisor, always include your name and campus ID.
What can I expect from my advisor?
You can expect your advisor to:
- Understand and effectively communicate curriculum, graduation requirements, and university policies and procedures
- Listen to your concerns and respect your individual values and choices
- Assist you in defining your academic, career, and personal goals, and assist you in creating an educational plan that is consistent with those goals
- Answer your questions through scheduled meetings, phone calls, or emails
- Provide you with information about campus and community resources
- Refer you to other campus offices as appropriate
- Maintain confidentiality
What does my advisor expect from me?
Your advisor expects you to:
- Read all email sent from Academic Affairs
- Use resources (handbooks, web, DARS) to find answers to questions you may have
- Come prepared to each appointment with questions and topics for discussion
- Ask questions if you do not understand an issue or have a specific concern
- Be open and willing to consider advice from faculty, advisors and other mentors
- Review your DARS report each semester and track your progress towards completing your graduation requirements
- Keep a personal record of your progress toward meeting your goals
- Organize official documents in a way that enables you to access them when needed
- Become knowledgeable about campus programs, policies, and procedures
- Accept responsibility for decisions
- Include your ID number in emails
Can I speak with a current admitted nursing student?
Yes! We are excited to offer peer mentoring for enrolled UW-Madison pre-nursing students. Peer mentors are current admitted Nursing students who are available to meet with you throughout the semester. They are your student life experts!
*Note – peer mentors are NOT academic advisors and will not be doing course planning. Please continue to see a pre-nursing advisor for academic course planning.
It only takes two easy steps to make an appointment with a peer mentor:
- Choose a peer mentor whose availability times work for you.
- Send them an email to set up an appointment! For the subject line, use “Peer Mentor Appointment”
Check the Pre-Nursing 101 Canvas course to view peer mentor availability and contact information.
How do I declare the pre-nursing major?
Students should meet with a pre-nursing advisor to discuss the pre-nursing major. After meeting with an advisor, submit a Request to Transfer to Pre-Nursing Classification Form.
Tips for Pre-Nursing Students
Schedule now—don’t wait. You don’t need to wait until the Schedule of Classes is released on the Web to schedule an appointment.
Keep your appointment. Re-scheduling appointments during peak registration can be very difficult. If you will not be able to keep your appointment, login to Starfish to cancel or reschedule.
FERPA is a federal law that governs the privacy of student education records, access to those records, and disclosure of information from them. If anyone else will be attending your advising appointment, you will need to grant the School of Nursing permission to share your education information which can be given at the beginning of your advising appointment.
Admitted Nursing Students
Admitted nursing students are supported by the director of advising, an academic advisor, and a career advisor. Advisors support students with everything from course enrollment processes to navigating challenging times. Students are encouraged to reach out via email, make an appointment on Starfish, and/or stop by the Academic Affairs office.
Nursing students should utilize the School of Nursing student website for all program information.
Academic support for nursing courses is available through Career & Student Success.
This is an accordion element with a series of buttons that open and close related content panels.
Advising Appointment Expectations
Your advisor expects you to:
- Read all emails sent from Academic Affairs and your nursing advisors
- Use resources (handbooks, web, DARS) to find answers to questions you may have
- Come prepared to each appointment with questions and topics for discussion
- Be open and willing to consider advice
- Review your DARS report each semester and track your progress towards completing your graduation requirements
- Keep a personal record of your progress toward meeting your goals
- Organize official documents in a way that enables you to access them when needed
- Become knowledgeable about campus programs, policies, and procedures
- Accept responsibility for decisions
You can expect your advisor to:
- Understand and effectively communicate curriculum, graduation requirements, and university policies and procedures
- Listen to your concerns and respect your individual values and choices
- Assist you in defining your academic, career, and personal goals, and assist you in creating an educational plan that is consistent with those goals
- Provide you with information about campus and community resources, and refer you to other campus offices as appropriate
- Maintain confidentiality
FERPA is a federal law that governs the privacy of student education records, access to those records, and disclosure of information from them. If anyone else will be attending your advising appointment, you will need to grant the School of Nursing permission to share your education information which can be given at the beginning of your advising appointment.
Advisor Assignments
Academic advisors for admitted nursing students are assigned based on nursing program. Advising appointments should be scheduled with your assigned advisor through Starfish.
Accelerated Nursing Students: Tracey Maloney
BSN@Home Students: Molly Censky
Traditional Nursing Students: Tracey Maloney
DARS
A DARS (Degree Audit Reporting System) report shows which courses you have taken as well as which courses you still need for your degree.
Enrollment
Access to nursing courses is controlled by the School of Nursing. Each admitted student is guaranteed a seat in every required nursing course.
Enrollment information will be communicated with students before the beginning of each semester.
The School of Nursing lists all of their course offerings with a brief course description through the University of Wisconsin-Madison Course Guide. Additional course information can be found through the Office of the Registrar: Course Search and Enroll.
Policies & Procedures
Visit the School of Nursing’s Undergraduate Guide for information on academic policies and procedures.
Student Evaluation of Instruction
Student evaluation of instruction is a very important part of your role as a student. It provides the opportunity to evaluate your instructors and serves as a means to evaluate teaching effectiveness.
Evaluation takes place at the end of each semester using the online evaluation tool AEFIS. Results are placed in a faculty member’s record and reviewed by a faculty committee as one of the criteria for awarding merit and promoting faculty. Students are urged to complete the evaluation forms carefully and thoughtfully. Responses are anonymous and reviewed by instructors only after students have completed the course and grades have been submitted.
Student evaluation of instruction is an open system. If you do not wish to use AEFIS, students are free to evaluate a course and/or instructor outside of the formal evaluation process. Students who wish to do this are encouraged to talk with the course professor or to come in and discuss evaluation with the Associate Dean for Academic Programs or Dean of the School of Nursing.
Prospective Students
On-Campus
Enrolled UW-Madison students who are interested in declaring pre-nursing as a major or who are considering applying to a UW-Madison nursing program can meet with a pre-nursing student advisor. Refer to the Pre-Nursing Students section above for more information.
Off-Campus
Prospective students who are not currently enrolled at UW-Madison can meet with a School of Nursing Admissions team member. Questions and advising appointment requests can be emailed to admissions@nursing.wisc.edu.