Advising in the College of Arts & Sciences at Cornell
Undergraduates in the College of Arts & Sciences always have (at least) two advisors:
- one A&S Advising Dean
- one (or more) Faculty Advisor
Your A&S Advising Dean will help you to explore academic resources, curriculum, and understand the academic requirements of the College of Arts & Sciences. You can also discuss academic support resources as well as any challenges you face.
Your Faculty Advisor will help you plan your course schedules at Cornell. When you arrive at Cornell, you will be assigned a First-Year Faculty Advisor. Once you declare a major, your Faculty Advisor will switch to become you Major Advisor (and if you declare multiple majors, you will have multiple Major Advisors).
Note: Because we have so many majors, Economics faculty do almost exclusively major advising.
Your Economics Major Advisor
When you declare an Economics major, you will be assigned an advisor who is a member of the Economics Department. Your relationship with your advisor is very important and we recommend that you meet regularly with your advisor --- at least once per semester. This is your chance to develop a long-term relationship with a faculty member, who is there to provide advice, support, and potentially letters of recommendation.
You can meet with your advisor to map out a set of courses for your major and to discuss other courses at Cornell (although since Economics faculty advise only Economics majors, our knowledge of non-economics courses is limited). You can also see your advisor to discuss career planning or to discuss any issues that you are currently facing.
Choosing Your Economics Major Advisor
On the Major Application Form, you will have the opportunity to list your top three choices for an advisor. We suggest that you list faculty members with whom you have already developed a relationship, faculty from whom you have taken courses, or faculty who work in a field that interests you. For guidance in making this choice, please see the list below of available advisors along with their fields of interest.
Note: While we will do our best to meet your preferences, we also need to spread advisees relatively evenly across department faculty, and thus we cannot promise that you will get one of your top choices.
Potential Advisors for Economics Majors:
| Advisor | Fields |
|---|---|
| Barseghyan, Levon | Macroeconomics, Applied Microeconomics |
| Battaglini, Marco | Political Economy, Economic Theory, Contract Theory |
| Blume, Lawrence | Economic Theory, Game Theory |
| Chahrour, Ryan | Macroeconomics |
| Coate, Stephen | Applied Microeconomics, Public Economics, Political Economy |
| McKee, Doug | Applied Microeconomics, Econometrics |
| Molinari, Francesca | Econometrics |
| Montiel Olea, José Luis | Econometrics, Machine Learning, Statistical Decision Theory |
| Orlov, George | Applied Microeconomics, Economics of Education, Labor Economics |
| Patacchini, Eleanora | Political Economy, Econometrics, Labor Economics, Public Economics, Urban Economics, Law and Economics |
| Qiu, Chen | Econometrics |
| Taschereau-Dumouchel, Mathieu | Macroeconomics |
Please note: Faculty members of the Economics Department come from many different colleges at Cornell (Arts & Sciences, the ILR School, the Brooks School of Public Policy). Economics majors from the College of Arts & Sciences must have an advisor whose primary appointment is in the College of Arts & Sciences. However, you are welcome to get informal advice from any faculty member at Cornell, even if they are not your official advisor.
Changing Your Advisor
It is possible to change your advisor. To do so, please email the Director of Undergraduate Studies (econdus@cornell.edu) with a short explanation for why you would like to change your advisor, and your top 3 preferences for a new advisor.
Note: While we will do our best to meet your preferences, we also need to spread advisees relatively evenly across department faculty, and thus we cannot promise that you will get one of your top choices.
Note: If a specific faculty member agrees to take you on as an advisee, please have that faculty member send an email to the Director of Undergraduate Studies (econdus@cornell.edu) stating that they will accept you as their advisee.
Details of the Advisor-Advisee Relationship
Here are some general guidelines to keep in mind as you develop your relationship with your advisor.
Faculty Role
- Your faculty advisor will be available to meet with you, within reason. You should expect to be able to schedule an appointment within a reasonable timeframe via email. You should not expect your advisor to be in the office all the time, or to be able to meet if you stop by outside of office hours.
If your faculty advisor does not know the answer to one of your questions, you can expect to be referred to someone who can supply that answer. Most frequently, the A&S Office of Advising in KG17 Klarman Hall or the Director of Undergraduate Studies.
Student Role
- Make regular appointments with your faculty advisor to discuss your progress, and contact your faculty advisor when questions or problems arise.
- Prepare for meetings with your faculty advisor: have a list of questions prepared and/or (if your meeting is about pre-enroll) prepare a list of desired and alternative courses, as well as your rationale for taking each.
- Be considerate of your faculty advisor: schedule appointments and keep them; arrive promptly.
- Know the degree requirements and other relevant academic policies and procedures. Try using this worksheet to help you check off the requirements of the Economics major.
- Check DUST at least once a term to keep track of your college requirements. Contact A&S Career Development to plan with them for your future. They can critique your resume, talk with you about possible careers, and help you with internships.
- Seek help when you need it. If you are starting to fall behind or need some other kind of academic help, see your faculty advisor.