LETTER: USU advisers at head of class

Editor,

It is unfair to stereotype an entire group based on a few of the group members. I am referring directly to the April 16 Our View article. The instances cited in your editorial are more the exception than the rule.

USU has many excellent advisers. In fact, advisers at USU have received more national advising awards than advisers at any other institution in the nation. The Graduating Student Survey also suggests that students are quite satisfied with advising at USU.

Academic advisers have many resources available to them. USU has one of the most outstanding adviser handbooks in the nation and offers a quarterly New Adviser Orientation, an annual advising conference, and a monthly Advising Coordinating Committee meeting. USU has an adviser e-mail distribution list where important information is forwarded regularly to advisers. Most advisers take advantage of these resources to continually improve their advising skills.

There are many reasons why USU is hiring more academic advisers. The main reason is that the students of ASUSU voted to assess themselves additional tuition to hire more advisers. An Academic Advising Task Force was created, consisting of deans, department heads, advisers and students.

One of the recommendations by the task force was to improve the student-to-adviser ratio. Target ratios are 400 to 1 for professionals advisers, 300 to 1 for advisers of undeclared majors and 25 to 1 for faculty advisers. The Science/HASS Advising Center has a student to adviser ratio of approximately 900 to 1. Advisers hired in the new University Advising and Transfer Services Office will advise undeclared majors, students in the general registration program and students who are trying to meet the admission standards for the College of Business.

With these changes, advisers will be able to more fully focus on students who have majors within the College of HASS. Undeclared majors will not need to compete with declared majors for a time slot to meet with an adviser. Improving the student-to-adviser ratio will mean advisers will be able to meet with a higher percentage of the students they are assigned, and hopefully spend more quality time with these students as well.

John Mortensen