JOSH FIELDS/Arizona Daily Wildcat Art advisor Derek Shank takes notes during a meeting with art history junior Morgan Schrider. A new policy is being put in place that will make notes from advising appointments available to students online.

Academic advisers are urged to take notes on every interaction with a student, but most students do not know advisers document them and are unaware of their right to see the notes by request.

The Associated Students of the University of Arizona are working to better inform students about advisers' notes so miscommunication can be eliminated and advisers can be held accountable for what they say.

Emily Upstill, ASUA academic affairs, said a new system would allow each student to view their advisers' notes via Student Link.

For months, advisers from each college have a representative from the Center of Computing and Information Technology who designs a system that is time efficient and easily manageable for both students and advisers.

The system began running Feb. 1, which advisers are supposed to be using and students do not yet have access to, but will in the near future, said Alistair Chapman, ASUA president.

Upstill said the notes would be easily accessible and hopefully bring attention to the fact that advisers do take notes.

She said although she has not received feedback from advisers yet, the system has been helpful to colleges that did not have a previous note-taking system.

Lisa Abel, an environmental water resource junior, said she had no idea advisers take notes, knowledge that would have been helpful in past meetings.

Abel said with all of the information that her adviser gives, it would be helpful to view a hard copy of what was said.

"If somehow I lose my notebook, I wouldn't be completely destroyed," she said.

Damon Andrews, a business management sophomore, said he has never seen his adviser take notes after a meeting and did not know some advisers kept such records.

Regardless, he said it would be helpful to see the notes online.

"It would be in writing where you stand as opposed to just out of the adviser's mouth," Andrews said.

Jon Dennis, academic adviser for the College of Social and Behavior Sciences, said no student has ever asked him to see the notes he takes.

"They can see them because they are part of their academic record," Dennis said.

Dennis just began the new system that allows advisers to enter notes into the computer, he said.

Dennis said he records all meetings and appointments directly after a student leaves his office, a habit he got into so no one gets confused.

"The notes are a tool for students and advisers to look and see what we discussed," Dennis said.

Last semester, advisers were supposed to record on carbon copy paper any phone call, meeting, and any scheduled or unscheduled appointment. However, paper can easily be lost or misplaced, Upstill said.

The new online system would allow advisers to write about student interactions so students can pinpoint any mistakes in a time-efficient manner, Upstill said.

To access the notes, students would have to enter their student identification number and personal identification number to ensure privacy.

Chapman said documenting the notes largely serves as a reminder for students about advising appointments, suggestions the adviser made during a meeting and graduation requirements.

Jason Matteson, philosophy advisor and graduate student, said he keeps folders with information about every student he sees and enters new information into a database on the computer.

Matteson said he has never taken carbon copy notes during advisement meetings and said his system works best for philosophy majors.

"Our major is pretty straightforward," he said.

If confusion about graduation requirements comes up, Matteson said he uses the folders and database to keep students knowledgeable about the advice he gives.

"If a student has a problem, we'll have record of it," Matteson said.

When the system is available for student use, only notes about academic or UA-related issues will be available for students to see online.

An adviser can take additional private notes during a meeting that contain personal information about a student. Private notes would not be available to be viewed on Student Link.