Southwestern College Collegian

Issue date: 3/12/08 Section: Collegian Front Page

Freshmen sit down with a stranger to make decisions about the next four years of the life. These strangers are faculty on campus who have been assigned to be general advisers. As a freshman, students are assigned a faculty member who is not in their field of study to help advise them about which classes they should take. There are about 30 general advisers on campus. Phil Schmidt, professor of history, is the general advising coordinator. He said, "There are two groups of faculty who alternate. There is a limit of 12 general advisees per general adviser." The purpose of having a general adviser is so students can get an idea of what they want to do for the rest of their lives. George Gangwere, professor of physics, said, "Students are assigned somebody outside of their major so they are comfortable discussing major changes." The advising process has been in effect for more than 10 years. Tami Pullins, associate academic vice president for advising and student success, said there is a group of faculty looking at changing the process. She said, "Basically if you look at the advising literature there's about seven different ways you can chop it up. They all have to do with whether the control lies with the faculty or if it's shared." The college is looking at three different advising models. First is a faculty only model. This is what is in act right now. The second is an advising center model with professional advisers, and the third is a shared model where a music major would go directly to a music adviser and undecided students would go to the advising center. "It's easy to identify the different models, but the research isn't really clear," said Pullins. "It doesn't say anywhere that 'if you're this size of college you should have this kind of model.'" Gangwere said the current model is technically called the Total Intake Model. He said, "Most schools using this model use professional advisers for the first two years. Then they're handed over to faculty. We weren't big enough to hire professional advisers so faculty handles that." Pullins said the second method, an advising center, is more amped up than we need. "It's like havin' a Cadillac when having a bicycle will get the job done. It's more expensive and we're too small to justify the extra expense." Pullins said the decision will most likely be to remain with the current model. "It seems like it's a pretty simple decision to make but when you start slicing it down it becomes difficult." There are positives and negatives to the faculty only model, or the Total Intake Model. Gangwere said, "I think from the school's point of view the advantage is that they can control how many advisees each adviser can get. Students have a chance to get to know faculty members in their major and select who they want their major adviser to be. Students feel more comfortable about talking to their general adviser about changing their major and going their separate ways. A downside of the system-as far as I'm concerned- is many students and many parents just don't understand the system. General advisers can't know what is involved with all of the programs so that is a downside." After their first year with the current system, students work with an adviser in their major. Schmidt said the reason for this process is so students have someone to talk to. He said, "We don't want to leave any freshman who feels the need to have some discussion about their course load hanging in the wind without anybody to talk with. It's a strong expectation and encouragement of the general adviser that he or she shall talk with his or her general advisees about what they're going to be taking." According to MonsterTRAK, two out of three students will change their major at least once during their college career. Gangwere said that if a student has an adviser in their field of study, the relationship between the adviser and student may become rocky when the student tells the adviser they don't want to major in their particular field anymore. Pullins said, "From a retention standpoint, one of the advantages to having a major adviser model is that you get to make a connection with someone in your major immediately. Academic integration is really important for students. Another thing that is specific to SC is that we have a bit of a sophomore slump. We lose more students their sophomore year than we would like. This could help with that because students are immediately making connections with someone in your major so that could tie you in a little bit tighter." There are benefits and downfalls to all of the models. Gangwere said, "It's tough being small. It limits us." Technology has also had an impact on the situation. Pullins said, "Another thing that has changed since we looked at it before is the IQ.Web piece. Students can take care of their courses better now. Because of that it has the potential of changing the role of the adviser and has the ability to do more of the adviser in a 'mentor' role." Pullins also said this approach would give advisers more time to help students find internships and help them network with opportunities in their field of study. Pullins said, "It seems as students are as varied about it as the faculty is. Not everybody loves the model we have now. Not everybody wants to make a switch to another one. There's no one thing where everybody says we have got to do this." Jessica Bernhardt is a junior majoring in journalism. You may e-mail her at jessica.bernhardt@sckans.edu.

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