Cindy Cuadra/ Assistant Opinion Director
FIU takes care of its students. They provide many resources including the Disability Resource Center, the Career Center and the Student Health Services but the University’s care may be inconsistent.
Throughout my entire four-year college experience, I realized early on the importance of staying in communication with your academic advisors. However, looking back on the last four years, I also noticed that my academic advisor would change every year and sometimes, every semester.
Having the same academic advisor is crucial in a successful college experience. Not only does it ensure they understand the path and progress in your specific college track, but they will also get to know you and build the relationship needed to recommend what is best for you.
Understandably, FIU has thousands of students and each advisor has several students to take care of. Still, having so many students can cause a disconnect between advisor and student and later, miscommunication. Each student has different needs and approaching theirs the same way as every other student is a problem that can occur.
From the student perspective, having a different advisor every semester can lead to an array of difficulties. One of the most common struggles students face is misinformation between each advisor they have been assigned to. One advisor says one thing while the next one says the complete opposite.
This can result in miscounted credits, taking a class you did not need, and possibly delaying your graduation date.
While advisors are not necessarily at fault, it makes it difficult for students to rely on their advisors when they are consistently hearing different things and switching advisors. Also, having to explain your academic history to a new advisor every time you come into an appointment can take away from the limited time you have during that appointment.
The problem seems to lie more in the advising system set up by the University rather than the advisors themselves.
The University can improve the system by maintaining consistency when assigning advisors to students. This will allow advisors to get to know their students and their academic history better and will also give students somebody to trust and rely on throughout their four years.
It’s evident FIU cares for its students. However, the way in which it cares is inconsistent and can sometimes do more harm than good. Fixing this small but significant issue can make all the difference in making student’s college experience remarkable and smooth.
DISCLAIMER:
The opinions presented within this page do not represent the views of FIU Student Media Editorial Board. These views are separate from editorials and reflect individual perspectives of contributing writers and/or members of the University community.
Image retrieved from Flickr.
