Opinion: Letter
Biddy’s plan to improve advising
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- A plan for better advising (April 20, 2009)
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Have you seen your adviser lately? Who are these people anyway?
Each student on campus has an assigned adviser, typically depending on whom you saw at SOAR. Unfortunately, many students fail to fully appreciate and use this important resource. The value of advising cannot be underestimated.
The truth is, there aren’t enough advisers to go around. Wouldn’t it be nice to have easy access to good advisers across campus, regardless of your major? There have been lots of questions and discussion about Chancellor Biddy Martin’s Madison Initiative for Undergraduates. Her proposal offers a creative solution to deal with a critical issue in personnel resources. Increasing the numbers of academic advisers, thereby creating more access, is one excellent way to enhance the quality of the undergraduate experience for all.
As an academic adviser on campus, I get lots of questions about what I do and how I got here. It’s easier for students to understand what faculty does: they teach. They also do research and write, but mostly students think of faculty as teachers.
Advisers are professional staff, usually trained to work in higher education. Many advisers I know, myself included, believe advising is teaching. While we may not be in front of the classroom, we’re here to teach, support and encourage students to make the most of their time here on campus.
Advisers help students weigh options and find good fits for their education and their futures. Mark Lowenstein, one of my National Academic Advising Association colleagues, wrote, “An excellent adviser does the same for the student’s entire curriculum that the excellent teacher does for one course.”
Advising is about relationships, guidance and advocacy. We help students learn to approach education from a bigger perspective and support them as they embark on new challenges in their life.
We promote the education of the whole student. While encouraging them to build on their strengths, we help them find ways to merge their academic abilities with their personal interest. On top of all this, we stimulate new ways of thinking, of ways to give back to the community and leaving the world a better place than you found it. That’s the “Wisconsin Experience.”
If you’re like a lot of students, you may wish your adviser had more time or accessibility. Some advisers have advising caseloads of more than 1,000.
The Madison Initiative for Undergraduates is an opportunity to invest in human capital.
Students who use academic advising learn early on how to maximize their academic experience. They waste less time “wandering around” and make more efficient use of course offerings. This is a win-win for all involved. It’s a proactive, financially sound investment for the university and its students.
Becky Ryan
Associate Director,
Cross College Advising Service
rjryan@wisc.edu
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My advisers have given me no help the two years I’ve been here. I have seen my advisers only twice, and the second time I went the lady seemed irritated by my presence, making me feel uncomfortable (and somehow like a loser). I haven’t been back since, despite that I’ve had many academic bumps in the road. I don’t enjoy going in to be advised when I’m treated like a burden.
I hope a way can be found to increase the amount of advisers, and (dare I say) the quality of them.
“We promote the education of the whole student.”
LOL, says the CCAS second in command. The more kids in that CCAS advising being told to take 12 credits a semester, the more 5th year seniors around to pay for another year.
Advisers are overrated. Check the course booklet.
I couldn’t agree more with the first commenter, I am graduating this semester and the advising on this campus has been a complete disaster. I understand that it’s a big school and that’s a price you play but the advisors here treat you like you are wasting their time. Thy rush you out of their office, don’t bother to care about your personal interets and goals and end up giving you the verbatim policies listed in the course pack. It’s like their students are a burden to them, this needs to be fixed.
I don’t believe it. Can you give us one example of such a person?
My advisor in CALS is great. He knows what he is talking about and has been a real help for finding a lab to work in. Just another point on the long list why CALS is the better than L&S.
My son hasn’t benefited from his advising experience. His first semester at UW-Madsion (fall 08) the SOAR advisor put him into two courses that were way over his head and he had to drop them — and we’re paying out-of-state tuition! Even though he says he’s met with his advisor, I don’t get a sense that he has a solid plan for next year. Maybe he has the same advisor as “9:43”. This initiative better deliver excellent help and academic advise because it’s costing me even more money.
I agree, this initiative is absolutely ridiculous for people paying out-of-state tuition. And while I would have to say that my advising experience has been terrible- the advisor I was assigned to has not actually be on campus all year- I can’t see how it would be beneficial for me to spend a ridiculous amount of extra money for something that will probably be in place long after I’ve graduated. A gradual increase would make more sense in this economy, not a 20% tutition increase by my senior year! CCAS has been a complete waste of my time, but how is this initiative going to help me now?
I agree with the previous comments, CCAS has been truly useless for me. I had clear plans laid out at SOAR, however I needed help choosing which path to take, but CCAS did nothing but make my decision harder. They had me sign up for a random course I had no interest in nor counted for anything, and didn’t even inform me of the Chinese course that was spread out into two semesters rather than one intense semester — this made for a difficult first semester of college. In addition, I have seen two advisors about the same question and they have given me different answers that I have found out to have both been wrong. If I’m going to be paying extra for my tuition, I expect quality over quantity for advisors. I’d rather pay extra for more training and familiarity with classes than more people who give me wrong answers. Martin should look more into what students say rather than hearing from the advisors themselves.
The quality of the advising experience is directly related to the efforts put in by the student. Students often complain about how useless their advisor was. The missing question is how much did you, as the student, offer?
Does the quality of our advising need to be improved? Absolutely. Will it cost money? Yes.
As most things in this world, quality often costs. As students investing in an education, we must e support advisors who are trained well for their jobs.
I completely agree that many adivisng offices on this campus are lacking. Complaining, however, can only get us so far.
In regards to @6:51: parents love to complain, whether it’s about paying tuition or the people advising their children. First of all, @6:51, you chose to pay out-of-state tuition when your son could have easily gone to a school in your own state and gotten a great education. Secondly, could it be that your son was placed into a required course and just couldn’t hack it? I know he’s a freshman, but he’ll eventually have to grow up and deal with the consequences for not meeting expectations. Yes, advisors have the responsibility to provide guidance, but in the end, your son is in the transition to adulthood and won’t always be able to blame someone else for his shortcomings. I don’t think you’ve quite learned that either.