A variety of on-campus advising is available when students need answers, guidance or support.

Choosing the appropriate service will provide optimal results, though all advisers generally strive for the same objective, said Mary Lynn Pozniak, assistant director of Advising Services.

“We all serve students on campus,” she said. “We need to be open, non-judgmental and have a caring attitude toward students as we share information and help them through any problems that may arise.”

The University’s advising process is decentralized and college-specific, Pozniak said, but is generally divided into three categories: pre-major advisers, faculty advisers and college office advisers.

Pre-major advisers

Students who have not determined a major are assigned a pre-major adviser through University Advising Services.

“We’re hired specifically to advise on majors, so we have to know a little bit about all the areas,” Pozniak said. “Pre-major advisers need to work through complicated situations and help students that are considering a wide variety of options based on their interests.”

Typically, between 500 and 600 students enroll undecided at the University each year. These students, as well as students in the University Program for Academic Success and Post-Secondary Enrollment Options Program, utilize Advising Services’ resources.

In fall 2010, more than 1,300 students were assigned pre-major advisers, Pozniak said.

“Students can feel a lot of stress if they haven’t chosen a major yet, but they’re not alone,” she said. “We help them with what they’re ready for at the time. Our goal is to help students decide a major, as well as graduate as soon as possible — hopefully on time.”

Faculty advisers

All students are assigned a faculty adviser — a “go-to” consultant within their department — when they have declared a major.

However, for some students, advising only includes the mandatory sessions with an assigned faculty member at the beginning of their academic career.

“This is a problem because it’s very hard to advise a student who walks in for the first time after a year or two, or sometimes three,” said Daniel Brahier, a math professor and faculty adviser. “I would recommend seeing your adviser often, because it makes it much easier to have a relationship and to be able to track things for graduation. Making that contact is important.”

Faculty adviser selection policies are department-specific.

Brahier currently advises about 60 students in his department, where advising is mandatory for all faculty members. In his 17 years at the University, his most common office visits are for scheduling advice, major and minor decisions and personal conversations, he said.

“I’m used to talking to people just about everything,” Brahier said. “I enjoy it and I know it makes a huge difference. It’s one of my favorite parts of my job.”

College office advisers

When students seek clarification of college-wide policies or extra assistance, college office advisers are there to help.

“We help students with policy issues, rules and regulations, changing majors and all levels of academic planning,” said Matt Webb, director of the advising center for the College of Health and Human Services. “We’re very service-oriented in our office. We can sit down and intervene when a faculty adviser may not have all the answers.”

College office advisers may also educate and train faculty advisers, he said.

And generally, the duties of college advisers are specific to their college. For example, in the College of Arts and Sciences, college office advisers have a significant role, Associate Director of Student Services Diana Carpenter said.

“We require a junior audit, where a student makes an appointment and sits down with a college adviser well ahead of time to plan what they need to graduate,” she said. “We’re the only college that requires that. We think it’s a proactive way of helping students know exactly what they need.”

Overall, advising is a collaborative, multi-faceted effort, Carpenter said.

“All advisers work closely together, in conjunction,” she said. “Because there are so many students, it’s good to have faculty, college office and pre-major advisers all working together for their good.”<</p>