2008 Woodie Awards
Students are not a number
Brenden Desmond
Issue date: 4/17/07 Section: Letters to the Editor
It seems that all DU wants to do is take your money and run.
There is a strong need for better advisement throughout the school. When students come to school, they are flying blind. Professors and other advisors are here to help us along the way. But in some cases, they have failed miserably.
A friend of mine was thinking about graduate school, so naturally she went to see her advisor-the fourth assigned to her, I believe. When she mentioned it to her advisor, the advisor asked her what year she was.
Advisors should know their advisees well. A relationship and rapport needs to be developed. A student needs a stable advisor throughout their time in school, unless they change majors of course.
However, that isn't what occurs.
Most students see their advisor once a quarter, something to get a registration code. Most find out who their advisor is based on a sheet on a bulletin board. When this happens, students are treated as if they are a number.
Students are supposed to start looking at graduate schools in their junior year. Advisors that know their students would tell them this. Advisors shouldn't just be there to tell us what classes to take next quarter.
Advisors need to help prepare us for the real world after school-such as it is. They should help us with options of jobs and graduate schools. Granted we need to take the initiative many times, but advisors should be our wide-angle lens; advisors should show us all of our options.
Simply, telling us what we need next quarter (what we need while we are still in school) is not advisement. They should be concerned about what occurs after we leave. If they don't do this, they seem to just want to take your money and run.
Brenden Desmond
There is a strong need for better advisement throughout the school. When students come to school, they are flying blind. Professors and other advisors are here to help us along the way. But in some cases, they have failed miserably.
A friend of mine was thinking about graduate school, so naturally she went to see her advisor-the fourth assigned to her, I believe. When she mentioned it to her advisor, the advisor asked her what year she was.
Advisors should know their advisees well. A relationship and rapport needs to be developed. A student needs a stable advisor throughout their time in school, unless they change majors of course.
However, that isn't what occurs.
Most students see their advisor once a quarter, something to get a registration code. Most find out who their advisor is based on a sheet on a bulletin board. When this happens, students are treated as if they are a number.
Students are supposed to start looking at graduate schools in their junior year. Advisors that know their students would tell them this. Advisors shouldn't just be there to tell us what classes to take next quarter.
Advisors need to help prepare us for the real world after school-such as it is. They should help us with options of jobs and graduate schools. Granted we need to take the initiative many times, but advisors should be our wide-angle lens; advisors should show us all of our options.
Simply, telling us what we need next quarter (what we need while we are still in school) is not advisement. They should be concerned about what occurs after we leave. If they don't do this, they seem to just want to take your money and run.
Brenden Desmond
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 3
Autumn
posted 4/17/07 @ 9:13 PM MST
I completely agree with Brenden. This is a scenario that occurs all of the time. Often it is the student's choice to have a disconnected relationship with an advisor, but for those who want a relationship and guidance and serious advice, it should be there. (Continued…)
Katie
posted 4/17/07 @ 9:24 PM MST
I am going to be an incoming student in the communications and marketing field. Has anyone had a particular teacher or advisor who went out of their way to help you?
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