Last week, I started a series to investigate ways to improve academic advising at UNC. Since then, I’ve had the opportunity to speak with numerous students, alumni and advisers.
My goal is for this discourse to continue beyond this series of editorials and lead to concrete improvements for students.
Traditional students apply to graduate in the second semester of their senior year. This is far too late. If students learn they are missing a graduation requirement, there’s nothing they can do about it by this time.
It makes much more sense for seniors to apply for graduation first semester senior year, allowing them to choose their spring classes based on any outstanding requirements.
Lee May, associate dean and director of academic advising, told me her department is working to change this and hopes to have a new system in place by next year.
This should be a top priority for advising, and they should be sure to implement it in time for the class of 2013 to avoid the confusion and anxiety past seniors have endured.
The number-one goal for academic advising is to ensure that students come in and take the appropriate courses in order to graduate on time.
This may seem obvious and even easy, but it is no small task given the huge number of students and the relatively small number of advisers at this university.
To alleviate this strain, advising has introduced the Tar Heel Tracker, a new tool that allows students to monitor their progress toward fulfilling requirements without having to make an appointment to talk to an adviser.
