Students Share Thoughts on Needs for Advising

The following are the responses of ten students who were asked about their opinions and experiences with advising on campus:

“Peer advisers are not helpful. Peer advisers never helped me look into minors or look into stuff that could have helped me at school. I think, in general, that advisers can be helpful because they are supportive, but in my experience they haven’t necessarily advised me. My current adviser is more helpful than ones that I have had in the past.”

Ava Barr, junior health promotion major

 

“I just had my adviser meeting two weeks ago, and my adviser helped me figure out everything. Every single question that I had she had an answer to. Being in the biology major, there are so many requirements, and I think its super helpful to be able to talk to my adviser.”

Alyssa Bethke, freshman pre-mortuary biology major

 

“I find adviser meetings to be helpful. When I switched my major, my adviser was really helpful in helping me pick out different classes for my degree. I think they’re necessary. I can’t be the only kid that is lost, and they are a good resource for people who don’t know what they are doing.”

Ethan Heinecke, sophomore forest management major

 

“For me, I find an adviser to be incredibly helpful and very necessary. It’s nice to have someone that understands to talk to about classes and about your future. I know not everybody has had the best experience with advisers, and that’s kind of sad, but most of the people I know have had good experiences. I absolutely love my adviser. I think she’s awesome and very helpful.”

Klayton Fritz, junior psychology major

 

“I feel like advisers give you a lot of helpful information when you need help, but I also feel like it can be difficult to get an appointment to see them. I know some of the general advisers have too many students. I’ve seen students packed outside of the hallways waiting for their advisers. I feel like having the requirement to go see an adviser can be more time consuming than helpful.”

Julia Trzebiatowski, senior biology major

 

“I think that having an adviser is helpful to offer guidance in academic advising. I have had student advisers in the past that were not good. Faculty advisers are definitely more helpful than student advisers because they actually know what they are doing.”

Jacob Richmond, senior dietetics major

 

“I am completely clueless when it comes to what I need to take and how I am going to fit it all into a semester. It’s helpful to have someone give me tips, and my adviser has been really good with helping me with internships. Depending on what you need help with, a peer adviser can be helpful too.”

Sam Cook, sophomore business major

 

“Historically people have liked CNR advisers. I think they’ve been helpful. I think being required to meet with advisers gives me a lot of information that I wouldn’t know otherwise. There are certain classes that I have taken that are only offered in the spring or fall, and it’s helpful to have an adviser help me figure my schedule out.”

Kelley Harkins, sophomore wild land fire science and forest restoration management major

 

“My experience with my advisers have been really positive because they have been able to direct me in the right path and alleviate some of my stress. My adviser really helped me figure out what major I wanted to be in, I switched from dietetics to health promotion. If I didn’t have an adviser I had to meet with I’d probably mess something up or be here for an extra year.”

Stephanie Carey, senior health promotion major

 

“I actually feel like, for the most part, advisers are very helpful because figuring out DPR’s can be confusing. I want to graduate in four years, and advisers tell me what to do and what classes to take in order to graduate on time. There was one time that I had a bad experience with my adviser because I felt that my adviser did not want to be there helping me. Overall I do think they are helpful, but I don’t think some of the professors want to do it sometimes.”

Sarah Burkard, junior communication major

 

Caroline Chalk

Reporter

cchal845@uwsp.edu