Advising & Student Services

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.

Contacts

UW-Madison Pre-Nursing Advising

Molly Censky

Position title: Pre-Nursing Advisor, Assistant Director of Advising and Student Success

Email: molly.censky@wisc.edu

Click here to schedule an appointment.

Maisee Her

Position title: Pre-Nursing Advisor

Email: maisee.her@wisc.edu

Click here to schedule an appointment.

Admitted Nursing Advising

Tracey Maloney

Position title: Advisor for Admitted Nursing Students

Email: tmmaloney@wisc.edu

Click here to schedule an appointment.

Kelli Richards

Position title: Career Development & Learning Support Manager

Email: kelli.richards@wisc.edu

Click here to schedule an appointment.

Prospective and Incoming Students

Judy Christensen

Position title: Recruitment & Awards Specialist

Email: judy.christensen@wisc.edu

Jin Jin

Position title: Admissions & Recruitment Coordinator

Email: jjin68@wisc.edu

Anne Jozwiak

Position title: Admissions & Recruitment Coordinator

Email: ajozwiak@wisc.edu

Ann Larget

Position title: Admissions & Recruitment Coordinator

Email: alarget@wisc.edu

Patrick Stevens

Position title: Director of Admissions & Recruitment

Email: patrick.stevens@wisc.edu

Additional Contacts

Ross Beattie

Position title: Embedded Mental Health Provider: School of Nursing Provider & Generalist Provider

Katie Bleier

Position title: Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs

Email: katie.bleier@wisc.edu

Morgan Lewis

Position title: Student Services & Events Coordinator

Email: mlewis7@wisc.edu

Darby Sugar

Position title: Director of Advising and Student Services

Email: darby.sugar@wisc.edu

Click here to schedule an appointment.