TO THE EDITOR:
I would like to thank Barbara Stenross, Roger Kaplan, Jade Bettin and every other adviser at UNC for their generosity during my time here. Without them, there is no doubt that I would have been puzzled out of this institution. I think the advising at UNC is spectacular.
The Daily Tar Heel is good to explore ways to increase communication between the student body and the Steele Building. In the coming conversation we should be careful not to assume that the process of advising a university is by default easy and that the only challenges are due to poverty of administration.
If an advising appointment is “unfulfilling” (as though the student had been expecting a roast beef sandwich), it must be a symptom of structural issues. There are as many academic paths through this university as there are students attending. Each appointment is the product of chaos being refined, not perfection being abused.
One of these structural issues (others being our permanent revolution in technological infrastructure and curriculum) is a lack of understanding between students and adivsers.
I hope the editorial series will lead to a campus-wide dialogue. I also hope the second installment will tend less toward the insulting and counter-productive. This is UNC. Of course our advisers are the best in the country.
Sam Smith ’12
Dramatic arts
TO THE EDITOR:
I find the fact that the DTH has chosen to devote an editorial series to improving UNC’s advising laughable. There are numerous grave issues currently facing students — like the tuition hikes — but the DTH has chosen to devote time and space to lambasting the advising system.
First, Josh Ford seems to suggest that advising is lacking because his experiences have been “impersonal,” due in part to the fact that UNC is a large university. Why then did he not attend a smaller school? Your adviser will know you well if you meet with him or her regularly. Meet with the same adviser; consistency is key.
Second, Ford implies university advising should function in the same manner as high school counseling. You and your peers are no longer in high school. As an adult, you must shape your education.
UNC advisers are not high school guidance counselors. Had they wished to pursue careers at the high school level, I am certain they would be working in high schools. Ford’s suggested “overhaul” of the system should begin with students. I was not a pro-active or exceptional student. I was a responsible student. Take the initiative. It’s your future.
