Students will require advising to avoid holds on accounts

By Benjamin Baxter

The Collegian

Starting with the 2005 catalog, students who do not visit an adviser at least once by the time they earn 75 units will have a hold placed on their records.

The change comes from the Office of Advising Services and will begin fall 2006. Students with a hold on their records are not able to register for classes.

Academic counselor Dean Christensen was involved in the policy change. He said many students trying to plan their academic careers alone face various problems in the process.

“It’s important to see the advisor at least once,” Christensen said.

One option students have is to see an adviser the first day of their freshman year to fulfill the requirement. Christensen said he has doubts this will happen.

He said some students are unaware of the policy. To ensure the requirement will not take students by surprise, the Office of Advising is preparing to send out two different e-mails.

One will be sent to students who have completed between 60 and 74 units and warns of the requirement.

The other will be sent to students with more than 75 units who have not seen an adviser at Fresno State.

Christensen said there will be a screen on PeopleSoft developed by Computer Information Services for advisers. This will help document the requirement.

Some of the first departments to use the system will be business, criminology and music, over the course of the 2006-2007 academic year. All departments will use this system by fall 2007.

Christensen said departments with mandatory advising will not be affected. Two of these departments are music and engineering.

“This is intended to augment the existing advising requirements, not to replace them,” Christensen said.

While students in these departments will not be exempt from the requirement, they will fulfill it early in their academic career.

Christensen said students affected by the change should see their adviser as soon as possible. “Don’t wait until you get an e-mail,” Christiansen said. “This is the minimum requirement.”

The mandatory advising session is one of two policy changes in the 2005 catalog spearheaded by the Student Success Task Force, a committee comprised of representatives from the Office of Student Affairs, the Office of Advising Services and the student body.

The other change requires students to declare a major by the time they reach 60 units.

Christensen anticipates a positive response. “The responses have been good so far,” he said.

He said students should talk to their adviser as a means of assisting their graduation. “We hope that students have a plan for graduation early in their academic career so they can graduate in a timely manner.”

Christensen said the new policy will help students, not hinder them.

“Real student success has been an emphasis for us,” Christensen said. “What it is and how we can foster it has been a major concern of the president and the administration. Seeing your advisor is not the recipe for success, it is a key for success.”

Comment on this story in the News forum >>