The GES Advising Calendar is at the bottom of this page.

Our GES Advising Team

Dr. Jeanette Simmonds

Undergraduate advisor
BSE, geography, GIS, public health
406 Social Sciences
geogadv@umn.edu

Paula Pentel

Undergraduate advisor
Urban studies
612-626-1626
pent0006@umn.edu

Peer Advisors

The GES department employs a team of student peer advisors (PAs) to support students via drop-in advising hours. Peer advisors can help you declare, coordinate your interests and classes, and plan your upcoming semester. They also serve our GES undergraduates by managing advising workshops and other undergraduate program events.

Maggie Hall and Janette Romero (BSE)

Marco Garcia and Emily Nagel (Geography, GIS, public health)

Honors Advising

Our GES honors coordinators can advise you on discipline-specific issues, and the University Honor's Program hosts general honors advising information.

Dr. Daniel Griffin

Geography Honors Coordinator
414 Social Scieces
612-625-2562
griffin9@umn.edu

Dr. Katherine Klink

BSE Honors Coordinator
573 Social Sciences
612-625-3452
klink@umn.edu

Contact an Advisor

Emails, Appointments, and Drop-in Advising

By Email: 

Urban Studies Students contact Paula Pentel

BSE, Geography, GIS, and Public Health Students contact geogadv@umn.edu

Please follow these guidelines to help us serve you as effectively as possible. 

• Use your UMN email
• Include your student ID number in the email
• Write your major/minor program in the subject line

Make an Advising Appointment with Jeanette (BSE, Geography) 

• Please allow at least 3 business days for appointment requests, include as many available times as possible, include a brief summary of the reason for the appointment. At busy times, appts are booked 1-3 weeks in advance.

Drop-In Advising

Come talk about your major, minor, accomplishments, or challenges. No appointment necessary. At busy times of the semester, students should consider arriving early or using Geog-only or BSE-only Peer Advising. During non-peak advising times, there is seldom any wait. 

Advising Calendar Key

• BSE students or Public Health minor students may come to BSE-only drop-ins
• Geography/GIS students may come to to Geography-only drop-ins

Jeanette’s GES drop-in advising
BSE, geography, GIS, and public health can stop in for a quick question or when time permits a longer session. Students seeking advising related to honors, multiple degrees, senior projects, course evaluations, and complex transfer histories should meet with Jeanette rather than a peer advisor (unless it is a general question). Students declaring a major or minor may visit Jeanette or a Peer Advisor.

GEOG-only drop-in advising
Geography and GIS advising staffed by the geography peer advisor. A great place to start! Senior project advising is not available.

BSE-only drop-in advising
BSE and public health advising staffed by the BSE peer advisors. A great place to start! Senior project and honors advising are not available.

Appointment Requests
Use recommended format (above).

No GES Advising appointments available
At peak advising times, no appointments with Jeanette are available. You must meet with Jeanette or the peer advisors during drop-in advising hours.