Changes in advisement in the works at WCSU
Academic Advisement announced that there are multiple changes in the future of academic advisement at WCSU during Wednesday’s town hall meeting at the Midtown Student Theatre.
In recent years, current and past students have been unsatisfied with how WestConn handles advising and registration.
Academic Advisement has put several proposals on the table, including getting rid of the academic pin and replacing it with an advisor hold, and to change the relationships between advisors and students here at Westconn.
An advisor hold, as voiced from WCSU advisement, will have students meet with their advisor, and then the advisor will “release” them to register for classes when scheduled.
“We want to create a culture where advisement matters," a member of WCSU academic advisement said during the meeting.
The target for the changes planned are to improve communication between advisors and students to help students graduate within four to five years. In their plan, they hope that advisors will plot out an academic calendar of classes to take each semester in order to make it less stressful for students during registration and to make graduation faster to reach.
Academic Advisement also mentioned at the meeting, that "people will be held accountable on the faculty side and administrative side." They aspire that students will have an increased trust for his or her advisor.
The goal is to make all involved in advising to be deeply committed to students, and to be well informed about resources available at WCSU.
A “with you and for you” attitude is what academic advising wants to create for the future here at Westconn, where an advisor will be able to help a student find internships, through registration, and apply for graduation.
The idea of an “Advisor Certificate” was also bought up during the town hall meeting by academic advisement.
It was mentioned that with an Advisor Certificate, an advisor would be required to earn a certificate that would allow them to become an advisor. In return, one would be able to receive benefits.
They are also working on a program for transfer students coming to Westconn to make advising and registration easier for them to accomplish.
