THERE comes a time in the summer before first year that the prospective economics major logs onto ISIS, clicks on "majors and advisors" and is faced with the harsh reality that he has been paired with a chemistry professor. The current system of advising in the College is problematic and in need of reform.
Interestingly, the status quo is an intentional creation of the administration. Their rationale, which was indeed formed with careful consideration, warrants examination. According to College Dean Edward Ayers, there are two main reasons behind coupling advisors and advisees randomly. First, most students do not end up declaring the major they come in with. Second, incoming first years do not have a grasp of the myriad opportunities the University has to offer; assigning them to a professor in a disparate field acts to expand their intellectual horizons. As Dean Ayers put it, "The virtue of our liberal arts program is that it exposes students to a wide range of disciplines and ways of thinking."
This is a fair argument, but one that requires scrutiny. While it is true that many students change their majors at least once, having an advisor in the initial field of interest would afford the student a number of advantages. Primarily, the student would have the ability to quickly determine whether or not the discipline is right for him. A professor of environmental science cannot easily tell a prospective politics major what the best courses are to take first semester. Additionally, since first years tend to take numerous courses in their prospective fields, it is important that they have an advisor who is able to stop them from taking courses that are too advanced. A certain 200-level history course might be exceptionally challenging; an anthropology professor may not know that.
The second point raised by the administration has more merit.It is too simple for a politics major simply to take politics courses, with no thought to other fields such as psychobiology, comparative literature or music theory. A randomly assigned advisor can push a student out of his comfort zone. However, considering that interaction with advisors is wholly optional -- many simply e-mail out the course registration codes -- there is little motivation for students to go to an advisor whom they think is useless. Further, a good advisor will not let an advisee get one-tracked, but instead will expect and urge the student to dabble in other fields.
A final aspect that needs to be fixed is advising during summer orientation. As things stand, incoming first years get all of ten minutes with a random professor whose job it is to make sure students aren't taking too many credits or too many 300-level classes. There is little to no advice given during these sessions. It would be a definite boon to students already bombarded by the newness of college if they had a resource available to help them with course selection, and not just a pen to sign off on a little green form. Having that resource would be especially helpful to international students.
In addressing the issue of advising, the administration is focusing mostly on improving the quality of professors' advising, which is a laudable goal. However, a re-examination of the system itself is in order. If logistically feasible, students should always be matched up with an advisor in their prospective field or a related discipline. At the very least, students should be given the ability to decide whether or not they want to be randomly assigned -- this can be accomplished when first years register for their summer orientation session.
The College has a cogent and coherent policy regarding advising. However, that policy is flawed in several respects, and it would do the administration well to sit down with students and discuss ways to improve the current system. Collaboratively and cooperatively, reforms can be made that will make academic life at the University even better.
(Elliot Haspel is a Cavalier Daily viewpoint writer.)
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