Tahirah Cooper and Matthew Ramsay, Co-Chairs
April 2003
Original Charge S-0302: “Per University Senate action on November 22, 2002, provide input on the Instruction, Curricula and Advising Committee’s Charge S-9912 on Student Advising, and its report and recommendations. The ICA Committee’s report was sent back to committee for review and revision pending Student Affairs Committee input.”
The Student Affairs Committee of the Rutgers University Senate wishes to thank the Instruction, Curricula and Advising (ICA) Committee for all of the hard work and research that went into the report on Advising as it went to the Senate in November of 2002. The report that ICA submitted was very thorough in explaining the current advising tools which are available to every student at Rutgers. However, the report was not able to assess the effectiveness of these advising tools and to what extent students utilized the services. Listed in this report are Student Affairs Committee suggestions which we hope will, if implemented, further enhance students’ learning through advising. The report is organized by college because each college within Rutgers University is unique and differs in its current approach to advising.
RUTGERS COLLEGE
1) A major concern expressed by graduating seniors is the “If I had
only known” syndrome. There are several advising programs offered
at Rutgers College, and those were listed in the ICA report. There
is, however, a gap between the programs and services offered and the students’
available time and knowledge of the existing programs.
2) Another complaint voiced by Rutgers College students concerns the
advisors themselves. We encountered several students that are in
their senior or junior years who have yet to meet with their advisor to
receive in-depth structure and information about their particular field
of study. This is a surprisingly serious disadvantage for both the
advisor and the student. Students need more individual and specialized
help, and more accessibility to their advisors.
3) An issue which is also of concern to Rutgers College students is their class-year dean. Every year, as students progress from first year to sophomore to junior and eventually senior, they are assigned a different advisor. Students have mentioned that this lack of continuity in advising leads to an incomplete relationship, and impedes vital two-way communication between advisor and student. If the students had the same dean throughout their college duration, a solid foundation between student and advisor would be created that would continually grow and flourish. In addition, if the students had the same advisor the entire time they are here, both the advisor and the student would have a vested interest in making sure that the advising program succeeds. In addition to having the same advisor, the students also suggested that it be mandatory that incoming first years and sophomores visit their advisors at least once each semester.
4) While the Rutgers College Advising program does offer potentially valuable programs and services, there remains a gap between the services offered and the pertinent information received by the students, as well as students’ ability to utilize those programs.
COOK COLLEGE
Throughout their time at Cook College, students select courses and develop their academic program in close consultation with an academic advisor. As soon as a student gains acceptance into Cook College, s/he is assigned to an academic advisor as well as a student orientation ambassador. Students are assigned to an advisor corresponding to the major in which they expressed interest on their college applications. As early as the Cook Open House in March, students are able to meet their advisors and discuss the curriculum of the selected major. Students meet with their advisors again during freshman testing day in early May to fill out schedule forms for their first semester at the college. The students get to meet with their advisors again during freshman orientation to discuss schedule problems, how to add/drop, and other information regarding academics at Cook College and Rutgers University.
In all subsequent years, the same faculty member advises students if they decide to stay with their original major, or a different adviser of the student's choice. Advising notwithstanding, students must assume full responsibility for meeting all curriculum and college requirements and for being sure they know and complete the proper requirements/prerequisites for any course for which they register.
Cook College uses a system of adviser codes to aid in the advising and
registration process. These codes are provided on the Academic Advisors
for First-Year Students web page at:
www.cookcollege.rutgers.edu/whoswho/firstyearadvisers.asp
DOUGLASS COLLEGE
The advising program at Douglass College is very interconnected with the Career Services program. Douglass College also has specialized deans for students in the EOF scholars program, and those deans stay involved with the students throughout their entire time at Douglass College. There are also specialized programs for women majoring in engineering, math and the sciences, and these women are also given special housing in the Bunting Cobb residence hall. In addition to the advising programs that already exist, the Douglass College Government Association Academic Affairs Committee created the “Meet your Advisors Night,” in response to the students’ expressed desire to connect with their advisors. The program is geared towards first-years and sophomores, but is open to the entire Douglass community. The event brings together a representative from each of the fields of study at Rutgers, and introduces them to the Douglass students. For the past two years the event has been highly successful and very beneficial to both students and the advisors. This past year, Dean Howard proposed a restructuring of the advising program as it currently exists at Douglass, in order to connect more of the individual services and make them more useful and accessible to Douglass students. There are problems within the Douglass Advising program, especially for transfer students, but because these issues have been recognized they are in the process of being resolved with student input.
LIVINGSTON COLLEGE
Information on advising was solicited from Livingston students, but no response has been received as of this writing. However, the original ICA report did a very thorough job of explaining the current advising policies which exist at Livingston.
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE
University College staff is dedicated to providing support for the full range of student advising needs from initial registration, declaration of major, senior review for graduation, as well as problem solving and resource referral. Students are not assigned to advisors, but rather appointments may be made to speak with advisors Monday through Friday by phone or in person. Walk-in hours are also available for brief questions. Hours are extended until 8:00 pm to ensure accessibility for University College’s adult student population. Appointments are generally scheduled for half-hour increments. Each staff member is a generalist and can provide information and direction about all aspects of college life. Students are generally referred to their respective academic department for specific questions about their majors.
University College also notes the following regarding its advising program:
RUTGERS-CAMDEN
Rutgers Camden has advising staff available full-time Monday through Friday. There is also a dean available during the weekly office hours. In response to students’ requests to meet with faculty and advisors, on April 12 all faculty will attend an open house on advising. This open house will give students the opportunity to learn about the academic advising services that are available to all students. The students are otherwise responsible for coming to the faculty to receive academic advising.
RUTGERS-NEWARK
Information on advising was solicited from Rutgers-Newark students, but no response has been received as of this writing.
IN CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the Student Affairs Committee wishes to thank the University Senate and its Instruction, Curricula and Advising Committee for the time and interest which have been devoted to student concerns with the current advising programs. A few other suggestions were made during SAC discussions of this issue, including the need for more students to be involved with development of academic advising at each individual college. Questions were also raised about the academic advising programs for students on probation, such as: What are the procedures? Are the students continually responsible for seeing someone to help them with their academic performance to ensure academic success? And how do these situations differ at each college?
Also, it is to be strongly noted that a connection needs to be made
between the services that are provided and the students need to receive
the information and services that already exists at Rutgers. Further,
a similar connection needs to be made regarding the classroom and other
services that are offered at Rutgers. For example, one of the concerns
that came from the Student Affairs Committee concerns the lack of information
offered to students on various internships. Internships that are
available for each different field of study need to be marketed in a more
visible manner to reach a broader base of students.