By Emily Smith, Staff Writer
In the past week, many freshmen have found themselves confused about what exactly they have to do to be advised.
“I don’t need everything spelled out for me, but they didn’t make it seem serious; like I needed to make an appointment at all. The process leading up to advisement is stressful,” freshman Spanish major Victoria Owens said.
Sophomores routinely get reassigned to advisers within their major department. However, there is not a formal notification process in place to let students, particularly freshmen, know that this change is normal.
Some students viewed the process of meeting a new adviser as disorganized. In reality, this transition is a result of students’ progress being monitored by the university.
Armstrong conducts an adviser audit every semester, looking at students’ progress and seeing if certain students need to meet with a different adviser, based on their individual case.
“My students feel abandoned by me, but really it’s a good thing to move up to your department,” academic adviser Grace Fleming said.
“I had trouble with my advisement,” commented Bradley Antonovich, a freshman criminal justice major. “An adviser called me and scheduled an appointment, even though her name wasn’t listed on my record.”
Being advised created a headache for health science major Jay-ce Heisig.
“I got advised for summer but not for fall. It would have been nice to take care of both, but I had to contact my adviser myself,” Heisig said.
Many students are not aware that when they change their major, it does not show up until the next semester. If it is officially changed in the middle of the semester, financial aid can be lost.
In an attempt to make these transitions a little bit smoother, a solution is in the works. The English and History departments have already kick-started plans to hold meet and greets for upcoming sophomores.
In the meantime, students can make sure that they are progressing on time, change their major and see their adviser’s name by checking their permanent student record on SHIP.
Students are encouraged to contact their adviser if they have any questions.
