Student Body Vice President Lerissa Rentas pitched the idea of the Student Academic Advisory Board to Student Congress last Tuesday night, where it was approved unanimously.
The committee will propose possible improvements in academic advising to senior administrators in the advising department.
Rentas said the board most likely will come into existence before the end of the school year, although the details are still in the planning stages. "Our purpose is to maintain open lines of communication to the advising department by providing student feedback, soliciting student input and enabling students to openly discuss their concerns," she said.
Rentas said she hopes the board will be composed of two students from each undergraduate class. "We want to make sure that the board is not stacked in either direction," she said.
Carolyn Cannon, associate dean of academic advising, said she hopes one male and one female student would be selected from each class. "We've been trying to get input from the students," she said. "It helps us to understand what students' concerns are."
Rentas said one of the eight students on the board will be from the honors program, as advising is different for honors students than for the general student body.
She said applications eventually will be made available for students interested in joining the board after approval from the advising department.
Rentas said she came up with the idea for the board after observing many students dissatisfied with advising.
"UNC consistently scores the lowest among our sister universities when it comes to student satisfaction with their advising," Rentas said. "It really sucks to work hard and hear people complain and complain and never do anything about it."
