It is that time of year again'registration.
As a result, one group of UW-Madison employees is facing one of its busiest times of the year. Ask a typical student on campus what he or she thinks about advising, and they will probably describe a problem they have encountered, confusing information, or if they are more fortunate, they will tell of a person or office who has played an integral and quite positive role in their college career.
The answers are just as diverse for the advisers.
\Students have expectations about advising that are unrealistic or simply not in line with what advisers expect advising to be about,"" said School of Education Assistant Dean Jeff Hamm.
The divergence in expectations and actual services the advisors provide can make it difficult to evaluate the success of advising at UW-Madison.
The different schools and colleges on campus have various systems, some that require participation while others demand students to take initiative to seek out their advisors.
Kay Simmons, assistant dean of administration and student academic affairs for the College of Letters and Science, said thousands of students are assigned each year to the various realms of advising she oversees, and the offices expect the students to seek out an advisor, although it is not required.
""It's something that's really critical to your being successful,"" she said. ""Just reading the book doesn't mean you're going to know how to navigate the system.""
According to Hamm, advising in the School of Education is in high demand'although not required'save for one group session for first-semester freshmen.
""Because our programs are mainly limited enrollment, which means we go through an admissions program that's pretty rigorous, and we turn people down, there are very high stakes,"" he said. ""People show up in our office because they want up-to-date information. They want any little edge that they can get in terms of the admissions process.""
In the College of Engineering, advising is only mandatory prior to choosing a major, although ASM Engineering representative Steve Weiss said he still meets with an adviser regularly. He added that his advising now is much more helpful than it was when he was in pre-engineering.
The School of Business, which has more than 2,000 pre-business and business students, does not require advising. However, students are encouraged to seek advice, according to Jo Meier, the School of Business' assistant dean of undergraduate programs.
The school also conducts student surveys to assess its academic advising services, which turn up similar findings to similar informal polls in Letters and Science, such as that students should seek advisors.
""Students need to be proactive and seek advising services during nonpeak times in April and November,"" she said. ""Delays in seeing advisers, or access to advising service, is directly related to when a student makes the decision to seek advice.""
Unlike other colleges on campus, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences requires students to see an adviser every semester before registration, according to ASM CALS representative and UW-Madison senior Nick Hemling.
""I think people in CALS realize that our advising is better, or at least it seems better, than the rest of university advising,"" he said. ""I guess there's better relationships and we have an opportunity to talk to people who know what's going on.""
