Cross-College Advising Service (CCAS) is a community of advisors who serves exploring and undecided undergraduate students. We work to create inclusive spaces that support the academic and personal success of UW-Madison undergraduate students. We are dedicated to helping students realize their long-term goals as they think about how they BELONG, where they want to EXPLORE, and what they want to BECOME.
CCAS and University Housing have been close partners since 1997. Across our five residence hall offices, we look forward to collaborating with Housing staff members throughout the year! This page outlines who we are, what we do, and how we can help you.
Mission & Guiding Principles
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Mission
Employing a developmental focus, CCAS is dedicated to holistic student learning. Together, we serve UW-Madison students across all eight undergraduate schools and colleges.
By promoting strategic exploration and developing partnerships with colleagues across campus, we help students:
- Seek meaningful learning experiences,
- Identify future aspirations, and
- Make informed decisions about their major.
Vision
CCAS strives to create an inclusive environment to provide exemplary advising and foster a sense of belonging for students, empowering students to realize their full personal, academic, and career potential.
Values: Belong, Explore, Become
Belong to our community. With CCAS, you belong to a large community of students who are exploring majors and careers.
Explore your college path. CCAS advisors help you explore your interests and work towards confidently deciding a major.
Become empowered. Our goal is to empower you to become who you want to be, now and after graduation.
Advising with CCAS
CCAS is one of the largest advising offices on campus with nearly 2,000 assigned students throughout the year. Our advisors are knowledgeable about every major and certificate at UW-Madison. With this knowledge, we are available to all undergraduate students regardless of major! CCAS exists to serve all undergraduate students who are undecided about their major, and who seek individualized help to explore the many academic opportunities at UW-Madison. We support students at different points in their academic journey, and everywhere in between.
Our Philosophy
At CCAS, our role is to help students find the information, self-knowledge, and experiences that will move their lives in the directions they choose. We provide tools to help students make decisions about their major and career goals.
We will not prescribe answers or programs to students. We instead help students through the process of strategic exploration to find academic areas that they enjoy and in which they can be successful.
What we talk about:
- Courses, degree requirements, majors, and certificate programs
- Applying to limited enrollment programs (namely Engineering)
- Connections between majors and careers
- Grades, GPA, and other academic policies
- Navigating challenges when things go wrong
- Getting involved on campus, study abroad, and research
- Other questions and concerns during the first year and beyond
CCAS advisors will…
- Provide judgment-free spaces with empathy and kindness
- Listen and care
- Value and support every student
- Support multi-dimensional needs
- Embrace big questions
- Refer to resources
- Help structure decision-making
- Explain expectations for degrees, majors, and certificate programs
Hours and Locations
We often say that our advising philosophy is to meet students where they’re at, and that is meant both philosophically and literally. It’s important to us to be available & accessible. We know that sometimes things can change quickly, or questions can pop into mind before a student’s next advising appointment.
We have a main office in Ingraham Hall (behind Bascom Hall), and also advising offices in five residence halls around campus:
- Chadbourne
- Dejope
- Ogg
- Sellery
- Witte
All undergraduate students are welcome to visit or meet with us in any of our locations!
Residence Hall Offices
We offer both drop-in advising and advising appointments at these locations Monday-Thursday from 12:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m. (unless noted otherwise). Drop-in advising is typically 10-minute conversations, and no appointment is needed. These offices are staffed with professional and peer advisors during the week to allow students to have convenient access to advising.
All our residence hall offices are located on the first floor of each building and have accessible entrances. Our residence hall locations are open when classes are in session each Fall and Spring semester.
Chadbourne Residential College (CRC), Room 101B
*Wednesdays & Thursdays only
Sellery, Room 145
Dejope, Room 1130
Witte, Room 124
Ogg, Room 1116
*Mondays & Tuesdays only
Not sure where to go or a student needs help right away? Start with CCAS!
All undergraduate students are welcome at our drop-in advising.
We can help students from all majors with advising questions.
10 Ingraham Hall
The CCAS main office is located at 10 Ingraham Hall. Ingraham Hall is located on the 80 bus route at the Observatory & N Charter stop. Room 10 is on the ground (G) level of Ingraham Hall. Our office is nearby multiple accessible entrances from the first floor.
Our main office is open Monday-Friday, from 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Our advisors offer both in-person appointments and online via Zoom from this location. When you arrive for an in-person appointment, please check in at our front desk.
Evenings at College Library
During the months of November and April, we hold evening drop-in advising for all undergraduate students at College Library! Our evening drop-ins at College Library are Monday-Wednesday from 5:00-7:00 p.m. during our evening drop-in days.
You can find us on the first floor behind the information desk. When you arrive, a CCAS advisor will welcome students into the space when they are available to meet.
Our evening drop-in dates for November 2024 will be finalized by October.
When to refer to CCAS
We are here to support students in many different ways during their academic journey. We welcome you to refer students to us for a variety of reasons that include, but are not limited to:
- Exploring major, certificate, and career pathways that align with their interests
- Course planning and enrollment
- Learning how to apply to a limited enrollment program
- Changing their mind about academic plans and needing guidance for what’s next
- Navigating the transition to UW-Madison
- Any student who is not sure where to go with their question or needs a listening ear
