New students require advising
By Crystal Forester
Staff Reporter

Any students who are new to the university since last summer semester must be advised by a professor before they register for classes this spring, said Pat Miller, registrar and director of enrollment management.

Students are also required to be advised for the first three semesters they are at TCU, Miller said.

“Having someone to sit down and talk to at least once a semester is the single most important thing with the advising policy,” Miller said.

Students are able to make a connection with a faculty member through advising and can have questions about needed classes in their major answered, Miller said.

Ryan Burns, a speech communication professor, said students felt they were not getting the guidance they needed when picking their classes, so implementing mandatory advising should result in those students receiving the guidance they need.

After three semesters of advising, students should be in the habit of going to and being familiar with the advising process, Burns said. Burns was also a member of a Student Government Association advising task force last spring.

The task force, made up of students, faculty and staff, was created to look at the strengths and weaknesses of the university’s advising, said Marsha Ramsey, director of center for academic services.

Students must be prepared for the session by having some idea of what they want to take, and advisers must have current advising information, said Ramsey, a task force member.

Ramsey said there is a problem with students taking the wrong classes. For example, freshmen would enroll in senior-level classes or students would take classes that would not satisfy the University Core Requirements.

However, Miller said it’s not a major problem.

“You always hear of students that don’t graduate because they took the wrong classes, but it is just an urban legend,” Miller said.

John Walls, a task force member, said mandatory advising will help students graduate on time because it will ensure they take the correct classes.

“Advising helps point students in the right direction,” said Walls, a junior advertising and public relations major. “It’s a start to slowly ease students into an advising program. Students can get used to the idea and continue taking advising in the future.”

Jennifer Steele, a senior early childhood education major, said that, overall, she really likes advising, but she has experienced some problems when professors would give her different advice about what classes she needed.

“I think it's a great way to see what classes you need to take, and you get to know some professors in your major,” Steele said. “However, I was in a program that was changing and the professors didn't know what classes I had to take. I was advised to take several classes that I didn't need at all.”

The Center for Academic Services will hold an advising workshop at 5 p.m. Wednesday in Moudy Building South, Room 155.

In some departments, each faculty member will be assigned a certain amount of students, while some will only have one or two advisors, Ramsey said. Training sessions will be given in some colleges, but training is not required, she said.

Burns said his department has advising training sessions every year that prepare the faculty for advising.

“I would not have known what is going on with the current UCR, and (the session) helps me understand the requirements,” Burns said.