Our current freshman advising system is in its second year of operation. Previously, students were assigned advisors based on their major or interests. The new system has twenty-one advisors who work with six to twelve students each. These advisors do not necessarily correlate with the student’s major or interests. The goal is to have an added connection for incoming freshman; another point, another face for them to recognize and feel comfortable with. It is thought that the more connections a student has – especially a freshman – the more they will feel at home at Blackburn College, and the more likely that they will be successful.
Vice President and Dean of Student Affairs, Heidi Heinz gave several reasons for beginning this system including the opportunity for more student-advisor interaction, to help incoming students adjust to college life, to create an intrusive advising opportunity and to allow for more engagement opportunities for the student. Despite these reasons, I do not see why the major advisors cannot go through training for intrusive advising or why Blackburn cannot provide more opportunity for student-major advisor engagement.
As a freshman, I was assigned an advisor in the biology department because I was a biology major. Those in the department knew best what path I should take based on my interests and academic history. They understood what classes I would be most prepared for because they taught them. Now we have advisors who may not be able to do that as well. Despite their training, they have not taught these classes and may not understand which students would be best prepared to succeed or fail in them. Sophomore pre-med biology major Jakob Thornton went through the advising system and had an advisor who was not from his major. Thornton said he would have preferred a major advisor and that his relationship with his advisor was indifferent.
It is not just that. Imagine if you were assigned a student for just under a year. What kind of connection and relationship is that? You make an effort to support them and guide them and then they are assigned a new advisor by their major. How does this benefit the student? It does not. They lose a year of time that could have been spent with a major advisor and, if they happened to not take the best courses for the first year, they have to sort out scheduling conflicts with an advisor with whom they have not established a relationship. There is more benefit from an immediate connection with a major advisor.
This one year timeline could also lead to apathetic parties on both sides. Both advisors and advisees may not want to make a real effort into a relationship because it is only meant to last a year. What is the point? I just cannot see a great system developing from this. I believe students should be assigned to a major advisor right away. If we are looking for more connections for freshman we need to find them more opportunities to connect with older students. Make orientation leaders a more permanent position, have dinners or events dedicated to a major where freshman, seniors, professors and alumni are invited. Maybe ask the students what would make them feel connected before they leave the school and not after.