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The Daily Tar Heel

Changes to Advising System Draw Praise

The survey, conducted by the Office of Institutional Research, found that nearly 90 percent of freshmen said their needs were adequately met by the system during the spring semester's preregistration in fall 2000.

Officials tallied the responses of freshmen who filled out an anonymous survey online or in written form and calculated a margin of error of plus or minus 2.38 percentage points with a 95 percent confidence level. "I think that now some of the major issues with student satisfaction with advising have been addressed, and that was a high priority for us to improve the system," said Risa Palm, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. "It has been a goal of mine since I arrived (at UNC) in 1997."

The advising system began to undergo changes a year and a half ago to accommodate more students and expedite the advising process.

Advising hours were increased by 30 percent this fall when eight full-time advisers were added to the staff. In addition, a Web site was created to allow students of the College of Arts and Sciences to check their advising history online.

"I think (the site) relieves a little anxiety because at anytime -- anytime of night -- students can check their records," said Dee Reid, director of communications at the College of Arts and Sciences.

According to the survey, 80 percent of freshmen said the site was useful and helpful.

The survey asked 11 specific questions regarding students' satisfaction with issues such as advisers' clear explanation of requirements and knowledge of students' academic areas. Ninety-three percent of the surveyed freshmen said they were able to reach an adviser by telephone or e-mail, 96 percent said they were able to schedule an appointment with an adviser, and 87 percent said the information received from their advisers was useful.

An earlier survey of sophomores and seniors was conducted last spring that showed 42.4 percent and 62.4 percent satisfaction rates, respectively.

But Palm said Arts and Sciences was interested in surveying the opinions of freshmen who were experiencing the advising system for the first time.

Palm said Arts and Sciences might increase advisers' salaries and institute a step-system to boost salaries over time to encourage advisers to stay in the advising system.

She also said Chancellor James Moeser recently approved the hiring of five more advisers for the 2001-02 academic year. "We're not there yet, but we're making important strides to make sure there are students' needs being met," Palm said.

Part-time adviser and journalism Professor Bill Cloud said students need to spend more personal time with their advisers to make the advising system more effective. "Maybe we need to do more to encourage students to come by to talk to their advisers," he said, adding that communication over e-mail and the telephone offers limited benefits to students.

But Cloud said he generally receives positive feedback about the advising changes. "I think people are very satisfied with the new system."

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.

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