A plan to restructure academic advising services and hire more advisers has been finalized by a group appointed to improve academic advising.

Under the plan, which has been presented to Vice President for Undergraduate Education Randy Richardson for approval, students will meet with one adviser, who is based in their college.

That will be a significant change from the current method, in which students may need to meet with advisers from several different departments, including the Freshman Year Center, the Office of Academic Services and their college.

The restructuring of the advising system will change the nature of advisersâ work, said Roxie Catts, co-chair of the Academic Advising Task Force.

ãTo implement only part of the plan would be a disaster,ä Catts said.

The report calls for $2,112,000 to be spent on advising between this year and 2005, placing a significant focus on reducing the student-to-adviser ratio.

More than half of the money will be spent on hiring advisers.

Undergraduates without a major or students who have not been accepted into their college would continue to seek advising from the University College, where they are currently directed.

Students with a minor or second major in a separate college will need to seek advising from both colleges.

Based on surveys given to students, advisers and all of the colleges, the taskforce decided that this change is the best solution, said Sandy Garber, director of student services for the college of education.

ãStudents especially were interested in getting their advising in one place,ä Garber said. ãFor most people this will take care of that particular problem.ä

According to the final report, advising from the three different outlets is a confusing and time-consuming process for students.

ãI think whatâs happening is thereâs a bottleneck for academic studies,ä said David Williams, academic adviser for the communication department. ãThey donât have the number of advisers to see everybody on time.ä

The advising change will mean more work within the departments and colleges, said Mark Barrios, academic adviser for political science.

ãWeâll need more staffing and advisers,ä Barrios said. ãAs long as we can have appropriate staff to accommodate, we should be fine.ä

Right now, the colleges of Science, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Humanities and University College use the support of academic services and the Freshman Year Center.

According to the report, advisers must be provided with consistent information about university policies and procedures.

The advising task force is waiting for a response to the report from the financial committee.

Two years ago tuition increased with the agreement that $1.9 million would be set aside for advising.

Though advising wasnât improved this year and the advising money was used to cover state budget cuts, UA President Peter Likins vowed funding to improve advising would be restored for use next year during an Arizona Board of Regents meeting last week in Flagstaff.

Out of 30 recommendations in the report, only half require additional funding, Catts said.

Advising should be a high priority for administration funding-wise, she said.