Junior Margie Beltran said she has had an overall positive experience with academic advising. However, she said she felt like she lacked guidance freshman year.

“It was extremely difficult keeping up with my peers when class sign-ups came around and I felt completely alone and confused,” she said. “I would recommend the freshman advising program get more attention because the time I really needed advising was when I felt I received the least advising.”

To ensure that student concerns like Beltran’s are heard, the Student Government Association is starting a survey so that students can give their opinion on the current advising program.

Megan Herman, director of academic affairs for the SGA, said she makes sure students are aware of academic services on campus.
“The main goal of this survey is to see how undergraduate students feel about their academic advising experiences here on campus,” she said. “Hopefully this information will help us gauge how advising can improve and become more student friendly.”

Herman said that the survey is a continuation of a project that the SGA started last semester.

“It was in the works when I came into SGA,” she said. “They wanted to carry out this survey, but it never went through. It didn’t necessarily stem from student concerns that I know of, but it’s just important that if they do have concerns, they are heard.”

Freshman Lane Walbert said she is interested in filling out the survey, because she feels that it will allow students to have their voices heard.

“I’m glad the school is giving students the opportunity to provide input, because it could steer the program toward what students need the most help with,” she said. “I might end up changing majors or adding a minor at some point, and it’s nice to know that academic advising is there to help me with that.”

Senior Paulomi Dholakia said that academic advising has always gone well because her advisers have been supportive and knowledgeable about her major, but she has heard a lot of stories about scheduling problems caused by miscommunications between students and advisers.

“The only thing I would change about advising overall is how upperclassmen still have holds on their classes,” she said. “It makes registering more difficult and I think at that point students are ready to make their own schedules or know when to schedule an appointment with their adviser if they need help.”

Different members of the SGA will be walking around campus during the second week of October, asking students to complete the survey on an iPod Touch.