Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
The Daily Cardinal Est. 1892
Thursday, October 31, 2024

ASM seeks student-advising reform

Members of the Associated Students of Madison's Advising Campaign outlined their concerns and initiatives regarding the quality and availability of student advising Wednesday, while an associate dean in attendance explained the university's position on the issue. 

 

 

 

Members of the campaign outlined common problems with adviser-student relations. 

 

 

 

\A common situation for freshmen is 'who is my adviser?'"" said Scott Spector, the campaign's coordinator. ""These [freshmen] are forced to drop a course within a week or create a schedule without meeting with an adviser or knowing who their adviser is and that is unacceptable."" 

 

 

 

Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Daily Cardinal delivered to your inbox

""What we are trying to do is move beyond complaining and blaming [about advising],"" said ASM intern Lisa Streit. ""This campaign is focused on making proactive options available to students who want better advising."" 

 

 

 

The group plans to conduct an e-mail survey, in addition to promoting a petition urging Chancellor John Wiley to expand peer advising services. 

 

 

 

The survey will be sent to freshmen within a week and will ask them to evaluate the contact they have with their advisers. The results of the survey will be used by ASM and advising services to focus on specific student concerns, according to a statement by ASM campaign coordinators. 

 

 

 

The campaign cited the 1998 Student Satisfaction Survey as clear evidence of a problem. The survey said that 23.6 percent of students never saw their adviser in a given academic year and 38 percent of meetings with advisers were rated fair or poor. 

 

 

 

In response to the lack of awareness on advising issues among freshmen, Kathryn Simmons, an assistant dean in the College of Letters & Sciences, said the student-adviser relationship is a two-way street. 

 

 

 

""Students are told [about registration issues] at SOAR and in the fall,"" she said. ""It is really important for a student to take the initiative in getting in contact with their adviser."" 

 

 

 

Both sides said that steps have been taken to better advising and reiterated a continued need for change. 

 

 

 

Campaign organizers announced progress in securing new options for the Degree Audit Reporting Service. New DARS reports will allow students to request their major status without having to first declare it. 

 

 

 

""This will provide more opportunities for students to plan their future,"" Spector said. 

 

 

 

In addition to ASM's efforts, Simmons outlined the steps that the university has taken to improve advising, ranging from adding three new advisers to the Cross College Advising Service, expanding satellite advising in the residence halls and providing professional training to advisers. 

 

 

 

""Strides are being made each year, but that doesn't mean that we still don't have a ways to go,"" she said. 

 

 

 

Beyond the survey and petition, campaign organizers also mentioned a new partnership between ASM and L&S staffers which will hold monthly meetings to voice student-advising concerns. In addition, investigations into the possibilities of My UW Madison, the new university Web service, in aiding advising were discussed.  

 

 

 

""We are here to introduce a positive, proactive response to students' issues,"" Spector said.

Support your local paper
Donate Today
The Daily Cardinal has been covering the University and Madison community since 1892. Please consider giving today.

Powered by SNworks Solutions by The State News
All Content © 2024 The Daily Cardinal