Undergraduate advising

Your departmental (major) academic advisor can answer questions and advise students on major degree requirements, department procedures, engagement opportunities, and general questions about your experience as an undergraduate student.

Students who are admitted to a computer science degree program, prospective students, lower division students, and students pursuing the computer science minor are welcome to meet with any of our advisors.

Schedule an appointment online

Current University students should schedule their advising appointment online. We do not offer drop-in advising. Quick or time-sensitive questions can always be sent to your assigned departmental advisor if you're in the major or email csciug@umn.edu if you are not admitted to our major programs.

Advising appointments will be offered both virtually and limited in-person (by request). Please communicate directly with your assigned Departmental (major) Advisor for more details about their appointment offerings and modality. All advising appointments can be scheduled online through csci.appointments.umn.edu.

Our department will not be hosting drop-in advising hours. Questions can always be directed via email to your assigned Departmental Advisor or this email address if you have not yet been assigned a Departmental Advisor.

Meet the advisors

Jacquelyn Burt

Jacquelyn (she/her/hers) earned her B.S. in business marketing education from the University of Minnesota in 2014, spent a few years in higher education administration work in the UMN Global Programs office and UMN Law School, then made the leap to advising and completed her M.Ed. in Leadership Education in 2019 while working as an advisor at the Law School. During her 10 years (and counting!) on campus, she participated in the UMN marching band on the drumline, served as a TA in the leadership minor, studied abroad on multiple short-term experiences, conducted undergraduate research, and was heavily involved (get it?) in the weightlifting club. Her favorite thing about advising is helping facilitate connection, inclusion, and belonging for CSCI students within such a big campus, and she is a passionate advocate for all UMN students. When she's not advising, you can find her cheering on the Gophers (in all sports!), running with her rescued Bernese mountain dog mix, Maverick, coaching running with Girls on the Run, or lifting heavy things in the campus gym.

Dametrius Coleman

Dametrius (he/him/his) earned his B.A in Sociology, as well as a Master’s in Public Administration with a focus in Higher Education Administration, at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). During his time at UIC, Dametrius participated in several sports clubs including basketball, flag football, weightlifting & softball. Outside of sports clubs, he participated heavily in a Pokémon trading card student group! Dametrius also worked at UIC for a number of years within admissions and the urban planning department as a Recruitment Coordinator & Advisor. He enjoys helping students find what he calls their “Authentic Swing” (meaning their true selves). When he is not working, you can find him rooting for his hometown Chicago Bears and Cubbies, biking on Minnesota trails, collecting sneakers, hanging with his Black Labrador Tucker, and passionately debating if Batman with prep-time beats any superhero in DC and/or Marvel.

Daliya Jokondo

Daliya is a multimedia artist who earned their B.F.A. in Painting and Drawing from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, and their M.F.A. at Virginia Commonwealth University with a focus on Painting. As an artist, they are committed to the use of technology to make the visual arts more accessible. Their career path has included museum work (making visitor experiences more culturally inclusive and accessible), teaching an arts-integrated curriculum to school aged students, and using art for storytelling within collaborative spaces and as a therapeutic tool to navigate traumatic experiences. Daliya loves cats (has two!), enjoys cooking, lounging, books, live music, horror films, and is partially attached to their Nintendo Switch. Their current obsession is Stardew Valley (Expanded!) and is perpetually adding modifications.

Kelly Thomas

Kelly (she/her/hers) earned her B.A. in Sociology and Anthropology from Carleton College, where she also played club rugby, intramural ultimate frisbee, and broomball. Her senior thesis was on Batman! She earned her M.Ed. in Adult Education from the University of Minnesota and has been at the University of Minnesota since 2013. Kelly is a dedicated volunteer teacher at the English Learning Center, where adult immigrants and refugees learn math and English. She loves cats (her cat's name is Keller), sushi, and anything that is peacock colored. She also enjoys fantasy football, card games like cribbage and spades, going to concerts, and books. Feel free to ask her what she’s currently reading!

*If you're a student admitted to one of our Computer Science major programs and you haven't been assigned a Departmental Academic Advisor or you wish to change your Departmental Academic Advisor you can use this form to request an update.

Undergraduate advising and mandated reporting

In the Computer Science & Engineering (CS&E) department, confidentiality is important to us, and most of your conversations (including email) with CS&E staff are protected by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). However, University policy, state, and federal laws place some limits on confidentiality and may require CS&E staff to release information, without your permission, to designated authorities.

We are required to report if you:

• Report a credible and imminent threat of danger to yourself or another person(s)
• Report or describe, or we suspect, any physical abuse, neglect, mental injury, or sexual abuse of children within the last three years (this includes the occurrence of abuse or neglect to yourself if you were under age 18 at the time of the abuse)
• Report sexual harassment, sexual assault, stalking, relationship violence, and/or related retaliation. In this case, a report will be made to the Office for Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action, which will reach out to you to share resources for personal support and information about how to initiate an investigation process or other responsive action if you choose.

In the case that we must report, our practice is to notify you either in-person or through email that the information you shared with your advisor has been reported to the EOAA office. If you have any questions, please contactcsciug@umn.edu.