New advising program to better communication

The Academic Advising Network, a new way for faculty and students to communicate, is an effort to improve overall student satisfaction with academic advising.

The Advising Enhancement Initiative, which created the network, originally was sponsored by the Student Government Association, and will provide advisers with better resources to answer a larger variety of questions, according to English professor Kayrn Sproles.

Teresa Gonzalez, administrator from the office of Academic Affairs, said the problems lie with different assumptions about what advising should consist of.

"Students assume advising should be like that of guidance counselors in high school — very directive and controlled," Gonzalez said. "Faculty assume that one-on-one interaction with students is the only way to advise."

Academic Advising encourages students to make good academic choices, as opposed to guidance counselors in high school who tell students what classes they must take.

According to Sproles the Academic Advising Network will be used as a way to connect advisers to each other via the Internet and programs, such as Blackboard. For example, a student may ask a very common question about changing his or her major, such as from chemistry to nursing. His or her adviser, who previously may have had no knowledge about the nursing program, will be able to find all the information he or she needs to correctly answer the student's question from Blackboard. This will help to end student complaints about receiving bad information from advisers.

Other facets of the new program include the development of the advising Web site and a revised mission statement. The Web site will give students access to advising at all hours of the day, not just when their advisers are in their offices. The mission statement, according to Gonzalez, will place a greater emphasis on student responsibility.

The first step in the process began in 2002 with the formation of focus groups and the distribution of surveys to undergraduates in order to determine students' concerns about advising.

The results of the survey showed that availability of advisers, which previously was thought to be a large problem, actually was not, according to Sproles, who developed the program. Only 3.1 percent of those surveyed said his or her faculty adviser was "never there."

She said throwing away these old assumptions is the only way to make this new program work.

Adviser Kate McDaniel, administrator from the office of Academic Advising, said her job primarily is to help advises navigate the JMU academic system, and to help them with the logistics of registration and policies.

There are many common problems brought to them, with which they cannot always help, Sproles said. These problems include help with what classes to take, getting into a class and deciding what major to pursue.

Students sometimes find it frustrating when advisers cannot help a student, for example, get into a class, Sproles said.

"It's not time-consuming or a big burden," Sproles said. "It will help us cope with the changing nature of JMU. We are hoping to get back to the level of communication we had when all our offices were on the Quad."

The Academic Advising Network was introduced to faculty Feb. 17.

According to Sproles, it will be a slow process, and, between 2005 and 2007, additional faculty advisers will be appointed to help with the program.

For more information or to find out about updates on the program, visit www.jmu.edu/advising.