Introducing STEP by Step, a new advising tool for undergraduates

By Genevieve Shiffrar, March 19, 2004

STEP by Step, a new advising tool for undergraduates in the Arts & Humanities and Social Sciences, launched today in both print and web forms. The resource is a brainchild of Josephine Moreno, the Graduate Diversity Outreach Coordinator in the Arts & Humanities, who saw a need for advice at all class levels to prepare Berkeley undergraduates for graduate school.

Designed as an attractive poster, the print version of STEP by Step is a tool that students can use to identify key action items by class level or by topic. These topics include academics, building skills, networking, and getting accepted. The poster directs students to the online version of STEP by Step, where they can navigate from cell to cell to receive further detailed advice, along with many links to important units and services across the Berkeley campus.

The intent of STEP by Step is to offer information so that students may begin thinking about and preparing for graduate school from their first years at Berkeley. However, all students may benefit from the information, whether or not they plan to attend graduate school. According to Josephine, "the advice offered by STEP by Step is designed to enrich the undergraduate experience of all students in the arts & humanities and social sciences divisions. It provides valuable information that students may not have considered or may not have known about. So many individuals and units across campus provided input to STEP by Step that I am sure every student in these two divisions will learn something new."

Contributors to STEP by Step include not only staff and faculty in the College of Letters & Science, but also many units across campus, such as Academic Achievement Programs, Career Center, Centers for Transfer, Reentry and Student Parents, Graduate Division's Graduate Opportunity Program, Counseling and Psychological Services and Student Life Advising Services. A talented team in University Communications designed the poster. 

STEP by Step is intended as a companion to Smart Start, another L&S publication that focuses on guiding undergraduates through their first two years at Berkeley.

Josephine will introduce STEP by Step at the annual Berkeley Conference on Advising, Counseling, and Mentoring held during Spring Break and she has plans to conduct many workshops and classes for advising units and students in April.

Whether referencing the poster or the expanded web version of STEP by Step, students likely will keep the resource handy through all of their undergraduate years at Berkeley.