Academic Officials Debate Merits Of NU Advising Systems

By Akhila Kolisetty The Daily Northwestern

In light of concerns about Northwestern's academic advising processes, administrators have defended the system - but said they understand the desire for change.

"The college advising office is one of the most utilized resources on campus," said Lane Fenrich, an assistant dean in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. "If you look at the logs, you see that there are hundreds of students coming in."

Currently, each school runs its own advising system - for example, the School of Education and Social Policy requires students to meet twice with advisers, while the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science and the School of Communication require quarterly meetings.

The School of Communication and SESP also hire professional advisers, while the others rely on faculty advisers. Some schools require students to meet with the same adviser for all four years, while others provide multiple advisers for students.

Issues of convenience and access to advising came to a head in the April 10 Associated Student Government elections, when advising reform - particularly in Weinberg and the Medill School of Journalism - was a major platform issue.

In Weinberg, freshman seminar professors become students' freshman advisers.

At the end of freshman year, students are assigned to new college advisers. There are 12 college advisers in Weinberg, each advising about 250 students. The student continues with this adviser for three years. Students can also easily make an appointment with major and minor advisers, said Weinberg Assistant Dean Mark Sheldon.

Hallie Fishman, a Weinberg freshman, said she would like to see some improvements to freshman advising.

"I know if I wanted, I could talk to (my freshman adviser) anytime, but I still feel like I don't have a lot of contact with her," she said. "I would recommend all freshman advisers know more about fields other than their own, and know all the requirements."

However, Fenrich said he didn't think that was a problem.

"It isn't (the advisers') job to know all the answers," Fenrich said. "Their job is to listen to students and help them figure out the answers."

Sheldon said Weinberg has attempted to address this issue. All freshman advisers have to attend a training program, and receive a packet of materials that help them answer students' questions, he said.

None of the other five undergraduate schools offer freshman seminars taught by advisers. Advising is available through other avenues to students of those schools.

In McCormick, each department looks at the majors freshmen indicated on their applications to match them up with advisers with related areas of interest, said Joe Holtgreive, assistant dean of McCormick.

After the first year, students switch from the freshman adviser to a new departmental adviser, who stays with them for the next three years, Holtgreive said.

McCormick places an academic hold barring registration for all of its students prior to each quarter's course selection. The holds are removed only after students meet with their advisers and submit a study plan signed by the adviser to the Academic Services Office, Holtgreive said.

"It is a lot of work on our part to release 1,500 holds," Holtgreive said. "It is a testament to how important advising is to McCormick."

In Medill, freshmen are matched with a faculty member with similar interests in media, said journalism Prof. Michele Bitoun.

During freshman year, students must meet with their adviser before each preregistration period. Medill students are also assigned a different faculty adviser for their quarter in the Teaching Media program, Bitoun said.

"This person often becomes the student's unofficial adviser," Bitoun said. "They often develop a close relationship with the students more than the adviser here at Northwestern."

Bitoun said the system could be improved, and that changes may be made to the advising process in the future.

"We want to make sure the student gets the best advising possible," she said. "We have heard that some students aren't getting the most out of it."

In SESP, professional advisers are responsible for advising students in each of the school's four concentrations, said Susan Olson, assistant dean for student affairs.

In the School of Music, however, there are four required meetings during freshman year with Linda Garton, the school's assistant dean of admissions and student affairs.

In addition to meeting during New Student Week and before each quarter's registration period, five-year double-degree students meet again in May to plan out a schedule of courses to take for the next four years.

"Of course we don't expect students to follow the plan exactly," Garton said. "But it gives them a rough guide."

Reach Akhila Kolisetty at a-kolisetty@northwestern.edu.