Core services and high-impact practice programs
for College of Letters & Science undergraduates
What we do:
- provide accurate, clear, and timely academic and policy information for Letters & Science students
- professional academic advising and deans’ services supporting our students’ academic planning
- welcoming events and communications about Letters & Science for prospective and admitted students
- high-impact practice programs and learning-support services
- coordination of Letters & Science scholarships
- collaboration with SuccessWorks at the College of Letters & Science, the L&S Honors Program, First-Year Interest Groups, University Housing, the Office of Admissions and Recruitment, and other campus colleagues to do good things for our students.
Student Academic Affairs units
Academic Advising Services (AAS)
Advisors help students discover courses, majors, certificates, and campus resources while developing a personalized degree plan. Starting the summer before their first semester, most Letters & Science students will have an advisor from Academic Advising Services. When students declare a major, their advisor will be in that major’s department.
Other advising teams that support L&S students include the Cross-College Advising Service, L&S Honors Program, and CAE Scholars Program.
L&S Scholarships
This team coordinates scholarships offered by the College. Letters & Science students may be eligible for other scholarships, fellowships, and grants from specific UW–Madison departments and programs.
Undergraduate Academic Deans’ Services (ADS)
Academic Deans’ Services staff provide accurate information about Letters & Science academic rules and procedures. ADS makes discretionary decisions regarding the interpretation and implementation of college policy as it relates to individual cases.
Center for Academic Excellence (CAE)
CAE is made up of three distinct initiatives that combine to support student success: CAE Scholars cohort; the Summer Collegiate Experience (SCE); L&S STEM Scholars. CAE serves undergraduate students with a particular focus on those who are first in their family to attend college, or who come from low-income or rural backgrounds.
Undergraduate Research Scholars Program (URS)
Open to about 160 first- and second-year students, this year-long program matches them with a faculty member, research staff member, post-doc, or graduate student in an ongoing research project and weekly class to learn about interdisciplinary discovery and creativity.
Academic Information Management (AIM)
Academic Information Management staff ensure that Letters & Science undergraduate curriculum and policy information is accurate, useful, and that our systems of record (the Guide, DARS) are effective and produce high-quality data for analysis, assessment, and operations. AIM is responsible for the L&S degree clearance process and provides data for program reviews.
Professional communities of practice
L&S Advisor Consortium
Collectively, the network of professional academic advisors in academic departments and programs, the L&S Honors Program, the Center for Academic Excellence, and Academic Advising Services.
2025–26 chairs: Rachel Weiss and Hernan Rodriguez
L&S High-Impact Practice Programs (HIPPs) Consortium
Staff from college-wide HIPPs collaboratively strengthen the high-impact practice options available to Letters & Science students.
- BioCore
- Center for Academic Excellence
- Chadbourne Residential College
- Constellations
- First-Year Interest Groups
- L&S Honors Program
- Spark Residential Learning Community
- SuccessWorks
- Undergraduate Research Scholars
- Writing Fellows Program
2025–26 chairs: Cal Bergman, Nathan Phelps, and Christine Evans