Students, faculty approach advisement differently

With advisement starting Monday, some students and advisors have different understandings of their roles resulting in conflicting perspectives.
“Sometimes students don’t have what they need, and they can rely on advisors too much,” said Edith Duvier, director of Student Success Center. “We email tips to them before advisement week that help meetings be more beneficial.”
These tips for successful advisement meetings from the Student Success Center include make an appointment early, arrive on time, write down questions, follow through on referrals and recommendations and register for courses discussed during conferences.
“I think Tech should hire more advisors so they have a smaller amount of students to advise,” Jenny Pittman, junior, said. “I am an education major, and I was not told about a required class I had to take due to changes made in the education system. I am now taking 20 hours this semester.”
The engineering department has its own advisement approach.
“Our department is unique because we advise students in a group and then break the group down into specialized majors. We prepare slides to show to students to help them decide what major is best for them,” Dr. Kristine Craven, Basic Engineering Department, said. “We are working on a flow chart that will be posted to Banner that tells students what classes they will need along with prerequisites. It is based on a four-year plan.”
Most advisors send emails to students prior to advisement week including a schedule of advisement availability. Many advisors request that students bring a schedule, but some students expect more guidance.
“Advisors sometimes give hard schedules,” Jasman Brewster, sophomore nursing major, said. “They may give a schedule for a semester that has maybe two math or science classes, but they don’t understand taking both at the same time is very hard.”
Brett Dillard, freshman pre-dentistry major, said, “Advisors are supposed to help us with schedules and help us graduate on time.”