If you’ve ever stepped foot into the ARC, or Adviser Resources Career Center, you know how hectic it can be. The last time I stepped into the ARC to get advised was last year after the ARC had been moved from the Culp Center to the library. It was filled with back-to-back cubicles of adviser’s offices, and everyone seemed to be very busy. The advisers in the ARC advise so many students, and some of them are even advisers for multiple majors. Do we actually have enough advisers to provide good advisement to all students?
Some students may have better experiences than others depending on the number of people in their major. Personally, I always had a positive experience when I was advised in the ARC. My adviser was always helpful and informative, and she helped me form a solid plan when I decided to become a double-major. Unfortunately, not all students are so lucky. I’ve heard several stories from friends over the years of advisers being incompetent or even causing students to postpone graduation because of misguidance.
These kinds of stories could be prevented if we had more advisers for our students. Each adviser’s workload would be lessened, and each one could have a better opportunity to get to know the student they’re advising. Advisers could use the extra time to better prepare for their smaller number of students. Students would get a better advisement experience and develop a better understanding of what’s expected of them for their degree.
Many colleges and universities have become impersonal, where all they care about is pushing as many students from semester to semester as they can to get the money and raised graduation statistics.
Luckily, ETSU, although not perfect, seems to be a place that genuinely cares about its students’ success. However, improvements could be made to our advisement system to provide a better experience for advisers and their students. If ETSU aims to be a growing university, we need to increase the number of staff that’s able to help students.
