Advising sessions set up to aid students

Registration for spring classes has started, and some students have already met with their advisers to map out their schedules.

For some students, advising is a routine experience - a way for them to make sure they are on the right track to graduation.

Mark Nelson, assistant provost for Academic Affairs and interim vice president for Student Affairs, said the University allows each college to have its own advising policies, which he said has been successful because students in each college have specific needs.

He said there are no plans to change the de-centralized advising method because it allows flexibility for each college.

"From time to time we re-evaluate what's going on with advising, to check its pulse," Nelson said. "What worked three years ago may not work today."

Anne Webb, assistant dean of student services in the College of Arts and Sciences, said A&S has a group of undergraduate coordinators who select professors to become advisers based on their experience working with students and knowledge within their department.

They don't ask new faculty members to become advisers because they need to be able to get their teaching and research going, Webb said.

To prepare professors, the college publishes academic advising guides each semester and hosts a series of workshops, she said.

Webb said they are working to implement a team approach - if department advisers are unable to thoroughly answer a student's question, she said they can send them to any of the full-time academic advisers.

She also said she suggests students use Tide Navigator, and Webb said Judy Bonner, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs, wants students to use the degree audit system.

"We want to inspire a sense of self-direction in students," Webb said. "It's very important that students think about where they're going and be more intentional in their course choices."

Dave Heggem, assistant dean of undergraduate programs in the Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration, said many students take advising for granted.

Advising for next semester began immediately after the last day students were able to add or drop a course. Heggem said he stays in constant contact with students since C&BA does year-round advising, so there is no last minute crunch when registration rolls around.

"I'm guilty of sending out way too many e-mails," Heggem said. "Students have put me on their spam list."

He said their advising plan works as long as students do their part.

Zach Gooch, a junior majoring in anthropology, said advising was easy overall, but the difficult part was actually scheduling the appointment because of conflicting schedules with his adviser.

"It was kind of half-and-half," he said. "The advising was helpful, but I had to skip class Friday to go."

Some students said they did not have much of a need for an adviser because they already know what their course requirements are.

Todd Aycock, a senior majoring in electrical and computer engineering, said advising was a breeze.

He said students in engineering usually make their schedules on their own and then simply have it approved by a faculty adviser during class.

"Advising is more or less helpful," he said. "They'll just tell me if there's a class or two I still need to take."

He said there is not much to it because students are given helpful, easy-to-read spreadsheets that list all the classes they still need to take.

"I've pretty much had my schedule planned out since freshman year," Aycock said.

Catherine Qualls, a junior majoring in chemistry, said she found advising simple, too. She said advising is always easy for her because she has had the same adviser since her freshman year.

"He knows me," she said. "And he's given me pretty good advice so far."

Qualls said she already had her classes picked out before her advising appointment, and her adviser approved it after making any necessary changes.

Katherine Johnson, a junior majoring in elementary education, said her advising appointment was a lifesaver for her after she swapped from being a business major. Because she was in a different college with a new set of requirements, Johnson said she needed more guidance than usual.

She said she knew of a couple of core classes she still needed to take, but as far as elementary education prerequisites, she was clueless.

"I had no idea where to go from where I was," Johnson said. "I wouldn't have been able to do it without advising."