Dr. Michael Hanna, Director of the Advising and Learning Assistance Center, is introducing the first step of a new academic advising program. In recent years, students have not been required to meet with their academic advisors to change their schedules or to register for classes. According to Hanna, some students may not meet with their advisors and instead look to friends and upperclassmen to find out what to do and what classes to take. This can cause some students to end up putting off requirements or forgetting some needed courses only to find out too late that they were required for graduation.
Starting this semester, the Class of 2010 will be required to meet with their academic advisor on an annual basis. This requirement is listed as the Student Advisor Meeting (SAM) procedure and is visible on the Student Information System where one views any holds on their accounts under their registration status. Freshman may complete this requirement by meeting with their advisor during a group or individual meeting, pending the advisor’s decision. There will be an additional group advisor meeting this semester prior to the advising deadline of consultation week. Upon meeting with a student, the advisor is responsible for updating SIS. After meeting with their advisor, students must meet again with their advisor before a year from that date. If they fail to do so they will be unable to register for classes until the hold on their account is lifted.
This new policy will apply to all students starting this upcoming fall. The Advising and Learning Assistance Center, which provides support and assistance to advisors and students alike, is responsible for training faculty advisors and familiarizing them with the new system. Current academic advisors to the freshman class have undergone training in order to prepare them for the required meetings, and academic advisors to upperclassmen will undergo similar training and updates later in this semester.
Prior to approval from the Faculty Senate, the recommendation for the student advisor meeting requirement was rejected by the Student Senate. Julia Leusner, Chair of the Student Senate Academic Affairs Committee, expressed that the Student Advisor Meeting requirement is a good idea to test, but feels that additional improvement and development is necessary before the system can help create “much better relationships between students and advisors.” However, she expressed that developing such a relationship is really the “commitment of both faculty and students.”
If a student has more than one academic advisor, they must meet with each advisor in order to have the hold removed from their account. Students do not need clearance from non-academic advisors in order to register. If there are any concerns or questions about the new procedures they can contact Dr. Hanna at the Advising and Learning Assistance Center, located in Sage 2106.
With the new requirement and increased training and support efforts, the Advising and Learning Center is looking to improve the current advising program to facilitate a stronger student-advisor relationship. Speaking about the recent changes, Hanna said that he hopes “students will take this as an opportunity and not see it as a painful experience.”
