Advising process gets advice
Andy Matarrese
Issue date: 11/19/09 Section: News
Senior Anne Carey was undeclared when she came to UP. She ended up picking a major, almost arbitrarily, just to get another adviser.
"He was a nice guy, but he had no idea how to help me," she said.
She was unable to get the second major she wanted because she was never told her AP credits could transfer.
Carey ended up taking Statistics, US History and Introduction to Literature - two of those being her least favorite classes here and all three being classes she didn't really need.
"By the time I figured it out, I didn't have time to take all the needed classes," she said.
Although Carey has found a major she enjoys - Spanish with minors in sociology and environmental science - and an adviser she likes, she said it was a bit of too little, too late.
"I feel like none of the advisers have had more of an understanding of the rules and the Bulletin than I could have myself," she said.
She recalled her advisers always calling other offices in the College of Arts and Sciences, unsure about different requirements.
Carey is not alone in having problems with the advising system.
According to a report from the National Survey of Student Engagement released earlier this month, one in three college seniors rated the quality of academic advising as fair or poor.
Advising Consortium
As part of the University's response to the recommendations made by the Task Force on Retention, UP has created an "advising consortium" where program counselors and others involved in the advising process can trade ideas with the hopes of improving the process.
Instances like Carey's are rare, either in the College of Arts and Sciences or in other colleges at the university, according to theology professor and Associate Dean of Students for CAS Matthew Baasten.
Baasten, newly appointed as associate dean for students, has plans to change the advising process to make it more fruitful, both in practical scheduling terms and in terms of guiding students through their time at UP.
"He was a nice guy, but he had no idea how to help me," she said.
She was unable to get the second major she wanted because she was never told her AP credits could transfer.
Carey ended up taking Statistics, US History and Introduction to Literature - two of those being her least favorite classes here and all three being classes she didn't really need.
"By the time I figured it out, I didn't have time to take all the needed classes," she said.
Although Carey has found a major she enjoys - Spanish with minors in sociology and environmental science - and an adviser she likes, she said it was a bit of too little, too late.
"I feel like none of the advisers have had more of an understanding of the rules and the Bulletin than I could have myself," she said.
She recalled her advisers always calling other offices in the College of Arts and Sciences, unsure about different requirements.
Carey is not alone in having problems with the advising system.
According to a report from the National Survey of Student Engagement released earlier this month, one in three college seniors rated the quality of academic advising as fair or poor.
Advising Consortium
As part of the University's response to the recommendations made by the Task Force on Retention, UP has created an "advising consortium" where program counselors and others involved in the advising process can trade ideas with the hopes of improving the process.
Instances like Carey's are rare, either in the College of Arts and Sciences or in other colleges at the university, according to theology professor and Associate Dean of Students for CAS Matthew Baasten.
Baasten, newly appointed as associate dean for students, has plans to change the advising process to make it more fruitful, both in practical scheduling terms and in terms of guiding students through their time at UP.
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