About Academic Advising
The SPS academic advising team helps students navigate the school and university resources available to them, guides academic planning, explains policies and administrative procedures, and promotes a supportive environment to foster student success.
Academic advisors students in a variety of academic-related matters during their time at SPS, including:
- Orientation and recommending resources to new students
- Degree planning assistance
- Proactive communications to keep students on track
- Course selection (including alternative course options, capstone enrollment, and specialization routes)
- Assessment of progress toward graduation
- Guidance to the academic policies and procedures of the school and university
- Assistance with other university offices and resources
- Referring students in need to additional support
SPS Chatbot
In partnership with Ivy.ai, an industry leader in Artificial Intelligence for higher education, SPS is implementing a conversational agent (‘chatbot’) to provide quick and convenient access to information around the clock. The chatbot is live on this page and the SPS Information Technology page.
Access to SPS academic advisors isn’t changing- they are still available to help with program-specific questions and your individual needs. The chatbot offers real-time responses 24/7 to simple questions so that you don’t need to search through webpages to find answers to questions like, “when does registration for next term start?” or “what career resources are available?”
The chatbot learns from the SPS website and its conversations with students, and we would love for you to interact with it to help it learn and improve this as a resource for everyone.
Contact Academic Advising
Advising Email Addresses
Students in any SPS program can contact the SPS Academic Advising Inbox to connect with an academic advisor that can help.
Each academic program also has a dedicated inbox to reach the academic advisors for your program directly.
Undergraduate and Post-Baccalaureate Programs
- Advising for Undergraduate Degree students
- Advising for Professional Health Career students: For students in the Advanced Sciences, Premedicine and Professional Health Careers certificate programs
- Advising for Post-Baccalaureate Certificate students: For students in the Accounting, Business, Information Technology, Management, Marketing & Advertising, Language certificates, Pregraduate Business Administration, and Specialized Studies post-baccalaureate certificate programs
- Advising for Students at Large
Graduate, Graduate Certificate, and Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study Programs
- Advising for Data Science students: For students in the online part-time Data Science and Predictive Analytics degree and certificate programs
- Advising for Accelerated Data Science students: For students in the accelerated full-time residential Data Science program
- Advising for Writing students: For students in the Creative Writing, Poetry & Prose, and Writing programs
- Advising for Public Policy Administration students: For students in the part-time and accelerated programs in Public Policy and Administration
- Advising for Global Health students
- Advising for Health Informatics students
- Advising for Health Analytics students
- Advising for Healthcare Administration students
- Advising for Information Design & Strategy students
- Advising for Information Systems students
- Advising for Liberal Studies students
- Advising for Literature students
- Advising for Regulatory Compliance students
- Advising for Sports Administration and Sports Communication students
Compliments or concerns can be directed to the advising manager, Sean Kavanaugh
Advising Staff and Offices
Academic Advisors
Amanda John, Assistant Director of Graduate Advising
Lauren Sirota, Assistant Director of Undergraduate Advising
Tim Gaherty, Academic Advisor
Colleen Kjellberg, Academic Advisor
Scott MacPhee, Academic Advisor
Ariella Mak-Neiman, Academic Advisor
Jacob Schornak, Academic Advisor
Allyssa Schweisthal, Academic Advisor
Concerns and Complaints
While SPS strives to ensure a positive student experience at SPS, we realize that issues can arise in and out of the classroom. If you have a complaint or a concern, your adviser is an excellent first resource for resolution. Students also have the option of emailing the Associate Dean of Student Services to voice your concerns at SPSDeanForStudents@northwestern.edu.
If you are in need of assistance, please let us know.