Andrea Haag was in her final semester at the U when she found out that the graduation plan she had created with her adviser was missing some classes.
Haag said the adviser was sorry for the mistake, but it would still prevent her from graduating on time.
“Because of that, it took me an extra semester to graduate,” said Haag, who graduated last year in psychology.
Hagg is not alone in having problems with advising. Other students have said problems with advisers are forcing them to extend their time at the U.
Pierce Chadburn, a senior English and Asian Studies major, said time scheduling problems with an adviser has forced him to extend his Honors Thesis, which he needs for graduation, to another semester.
Sharon Aiken-Wisniewski, associate dean of University College, said the relationship between advisers can be flawed. Advisers need to listen to students, and students need to communicate graduation issues with advisers and follow that advice.
“The key is for the student to understand the choices and the possible short and long-term options,” she said. “Sometimes the quickest or easiest option is not going to be the best option in the long term.”
U Human Resources hires advisers that have a bachelor’s or master’s degree, experience in advising, and effective communication skills, said Liz Leckie, assistant dean of Undergraduate Affairs for the College of Humanities..
“The ideal candidate has experience in an educational system of some kind or has worked in some kind of academic advising,” Leckie said.
After being hired, advisers go through a six-week training course.
Advisers for specific majors are not required to have a degree in the field they cover but are taught the requirements for the major, requirements for the university and anything else students might need to graduate.
Despite the trainings and precautions carried out by different departments, students have said that advisers are still making mistakes, and students affected by the errors want to know why.
Ellen Stemle said that her meetings with advisers feel unproductive.
“I go in with hope of learning something and I leave empty handed,” said Stemle, a sophomore in English. “I feel like I might as well do nothing.”
She said she believes it’s the adviser’s job to guide her through her degree.
Aiken-Wisniewski said advisers offer useful information, but it is the student’s responsibility to make their own decisions. She said advisers and students need to work together to help students achieve their full potential.
The U is also taking action to avoid some problems between students and advisers. The Degree Completion Plan is a program that was developed to help students and advisers map out graduation, said Ed Barbanell, associate dean of Undergraduate Studies.
Another program, sponsored by the Associated Students of the University of Utah and called Graduation Guarantee, encourages students to meet with their advisers once a semester to map out a plan to help students graduate on time, Barbanell said. The U also recently implemented a mandatory advising plan that requires all undergraduate students to meet with an adviser during their first year, Aiken-Wisniewski said.
“As freshmen, we need to be advised because we don’t know what we are doing,” said Ivana Micic, a freshman in psychology. “It could be a bad thing because some already know what they need.”