As students prepare to register for their upcoming fall semester classes, academic advising resources remain underutilized. Students undertake the process without talking to professors, FYP advisors or other resources on campus. In an attempt to provide students with better guidance, the Office of Academic Advising has taken steps to increase the accessibility of advisors and other resources.
Registration for classes is a competitive process, and many courses are filled within the opening minutes of the first day of registration. In order to stay on track for graduation in their preferred major, many students plan multiple back up courses in case their first choice is filled early.
To assist students in planning well for registration, St. Lawrence offers a variety of academic advising resources. The first stop for many first-years and undeclared sophomores is their First Year Program (FYP) advisor, who is often the faculty member most familiar with each student and their academic plans.
One of these such FYP advisors is Professor Karen Johnson, who taught the course Great Debates in Physics. While it was easy for her to maintain a connection with her students during the first semester, when it comes time to meet with her second semester First-Years, she has found that far fewer of her students reach out to find a time to meet. Johnson attributes this drop in participation to the lack of daily contact with her students after the end of the FYP course. “In the fall, you saw me every day, you couldn’t get away from me, you could not evade me if it was time to sign up,” she said.
Students who have declared their major receive academic advice from a professor in that department, at which point Johnson tends to see an increase in participation, but she notes that her experience is limited to the relatively small physics department. “I don’t have as much trouble getting majors to come in, but if you’re in a big department where courses are taught all over the schedule and people aren’t all in one place at one time it might be more difficult.”
Associate Dean for Academic Advising Programs, Professor Elun Gabriel, found that while his personal FYP advisees were much more engaged in the process, surveys of First-Year students largely reflected Johnson’s experiences with advising. “We do know that as many as a quarter of First-Year students don’t go back to their FYP advisor in the spring semester” he said.
In an effort to spur participation in the advising process, the Office of Academic Advising has introduced a card allowing students to change advisors, simplifying what was previously a more intimidating process involving a major declaration form. “We’re trying to do everything we can to make sure that students are making those relationships, because those are the people who are going to be writing letters of recommendation” said Gabriel.
In addition to allowing students to switch advisors to an adult with whom they feel more comfortable, the Academic Advising Office has attempted to bolster student use of advising resources by making advisors more accessible, including implementing drop-in advising in the Sullivan Student Center, making the office more visible and helping to reach out to students who might be uncomfortable going to an academic advising office.
Gabriel believes that it is important for students to receive academic advice from professors and other faculty members who are familiar with the process, and warns about taking advice from friends or teammates without also consulting an advisor.