Sometimes it’s not easy being a student. Classes can challenge students to understand complexity, and part of the challenge involves knowing when and where to ask for help.
This is where department offices come into the equation.
In the Department of Economics office, for example, students can meet with peer advisors who have taken classes and know professors not by their online biography, but by their teaching style, said Brenda Crume, economics administrative assistant for undergraduate programs.
She said the office can get students in contact with tutors and professors to answer questions and help them understand what’s going on in class.
“Students can stop by,” Crume Said. “We can help them.”
Economics, as do all department offices, also employs academic advisors for both graduate and undergraduate students.
In the Department of Sociology, Chris Blum advises undergraduate students on a variety of issues including access to internships and independent study, but mainly, he said, on requirements for graduation. Beyond the requirements within a department, students must complete general requirements through the University, and keeping track of progress can be a challenge. Individual department offices can provide those services far better that the main Office of Academic Advising, Blum said.
“I don’t personally trust the main academic advising office, so I try and do my best down here,” he said.
He said the regular staff in the main office are “great,” but they employ graduate student advisors who “don’t always know what they’re talking about.”
“You never know who you’re gonna deal with,” Blum said.
He said advising is supposed to be split with the main office giving advice on overall requirements with the department sticking to itself, but that he always gives as much advice as possible.
Academic Advising Director Hilary Gerdes said Blum’s mistrust is misplaced.
“We’re not in competition with them,” Gerdes said.
Students receive direction from advisors in the main office, Gerdes said, but are referred to departmental advisors after having declared a major.
She said their office serves students who are undeclared, have multiple majors, are pre-law and pre-med majors and also those with discipline issues – a total of 14,000 students a year.
The main office allows students to drop-in for unscheduled appointments with advisors, and serves as a central hub for advising issues. She said the office is profoundly busy at the beginning of the year, but that it calms down after the second week of classes so students who have declared a major should head to the department office to meet with an advisor there.
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