three people at table with charts and coffee and papers

Advising

Gemstone works with the academic departments to assure that advisors are aware of curriculum updates in order to ensure that students are meeting their academic goals. The Gemstone Academic Plan (pdf) can assist students and advisors with incorporating the Gemstone requirements along with degree requirements.

Gemstone also offers several programs to support our students academically.

The Gemstone staff
is committed to ensuring
that our students succeed.

Gemstone CONNECT

CONNECT is Gemstone’s peer mentoring initiative that seeks to connect incoming students with current students during the summer and continues the relationship through a peer mentoring role in the Fall semester. During both the fall and spring semesters, CONNECT offers evening study hours in the evenings (Sunday-Wednesday) in the Gemstone Suite.

group of students at table huddled laptops Gemstone CONNECT is a peer mentorship program designed to help integrate first year students into the Gemstone Program and the University of Maryland. Prior to arrival on campus, CONNECT mentors communicate with their mentees via email to help answer any questions students have and help students feel more prepared, comfortable and engaged before the start of the Fall semester. CONNECT mentors are current Gemstone sophomores, juniors, and seniors who each mentor 5-6 students. Throughout the year, CONNECT mentors interact with their mentees and conduct a first-year check in. CONNECT mentors also provide coverage in the Gemstone Suite (located on the ground floor of Ellicott Hall) for evening study hours on Sundays-Wednesdays from 6pm-12am.

CONNECT hours take place Sunday through Wednesday evening from 6:00pm to 12:00am in the team rooms located on the ground floor of Ellicott Hall.

If you are interested in becoming a CONNECT mentor, see our see our Leadership Opportunities.

Gemstone Advising Walk-in Hours

Gemstone advising hours change each semester. These hours are established for Gemstone students seeking advice on a multitude of items:

The Gemstone curriculum
Fitting Gemstone classes into your schedule
Wanting to get more involved with Gemstone extra-curricular activities, such as the Gemstone Student Council, the Gems Camp Planning Committee, the Outreach Team, and more…
Finding out who and where your academic advisor is
Finding other academic resources on campus
Or you just have questions/concerns about the Gemstone Program in general…

Freshmen Check-In Meetings

Each Gemstone freshmen will have the opportunity to engage in a short check-in meeting with a CONNECT Mentor during the fall semester. The purpose of these meetings is foster individual relationships between the CONNECT Mentors and new students, as well as to help provide assistance with questions/concerns about the University of Maryland and the Gemstone Program. The CONNECT Mentors have valuable experience to share and will able to give advice on academic success, extra-curricular activities, and how to take advantage of the resources offered across campus. The check-in meetings take place during the CONNECT hours throughout the week. Students will be able to sign up for these meetings in the Gemstone office and will be contacted directly as well as through their 100 level classes on when the meetings begin.