By
Mindy Jones
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Shift from department heads to centralized advising could ease strain
While some UA advisers make students a priority, others who are understaffed spend a minimal amount of time helping students.
Wendy Davis, an adviser in the animal sciences department, said that she advises approximately 55 students a semester and is managing them very well.
"We are really lucky that our program has a hold on its advising priorities," Davis said. "I have an open door policy where the students know my name and I know theirs."
Davis attributes the majority of her success to having their department broken down into specific majors which allows each adviser quality time with a smaller amount of students.
The University of Arizona College of Architecture is in the process of centralizing its advising efforts in order to create a more efficient process for students.
Linda Erasmus, a College of Architecture adviser, said she hasn't experienced any significant problems with her students.
"While I will admit having one adviser for over 450 students doesn't seem like adequate staffing," Erasmus said. "I think the college is still in the faculty advising state of mind."
The College of Architecture is shifting the majority of the advising responsibility from the department heads to a centralized adviser, Erasmus said.
Since taking the position as the college's sole undergraduate adviser nine months ago, Erasmus has found the University of Professional Advising Council an effective forum for advising problems.
Uwe Hilgert, co-chair of UPAC said the decade-old program meets monthly so advisers, counselors and professors can share information among departments.
"We are trying to strengthen the lines of communication between Arizona school advisers in order to benefit our students," Hilgert said. "It is important to learn from each other's successes and mistakes when it comes to our students."
Advising is an on-going learning process for students as well, says Hilgert, who frequently allows students to participate in group advising sessions where they can share ideas about classes and other school experiences.
However, Hilgert said he does not think this is the optimum advising environment and said that increasing the number of advisers is a constant issue for UPAC.
"There are currently not enough advisers available to students," Hilgert said. "The answer is to hire more people who don't strictly advise, but can share their experience with the classroom as well."
Hilgert also notes that not all advisers make advising their top priority.
"Advising is kind of seen as an auxiliary or off to the side job when really we are there for students from beginning to end," he said. "Some faculty see it like that because some of them only can see students for 12 to 15 minutes."
William Schurg, a professor and adviser in the animal sciences department, said that isolating an adviser from the classroom can be a great disservice to students.
"It is very beneficial for students if their adviser knows at least a little bit about the classes they are considering taking," Schurg said. "It is a valid argument that isolated advisers cannot offer the same type of knowledge about certain classes."
Schurg admits that time and availability can be a problem for students, but added it's the responsibility of the advisers to do everything they can to make it work.
"There is no real easy solution to this problem," Schurg said. "The students are our clients, and the bottom line is it is our job to make them happy."
