By Tejas Shastry

After a week at the University of Louisville, new students may have questions about how to plan their college education, and U of L, through its advising program, hopes to point out the right direction.

With a new software called AdvisorTrac, the university hopes to increase communication between departments, ultimately meeting the students’ advising needs, according to Janet Spence, director of undergraduate advising.

“Currently, we have no mechanism for electronically tracking the students who are advised or to find out how the students perceived their advising experience,” Spence said. “Students’ advising records are maintained on paper and they do not follow students when they transfer to another unit of the university.”

“A lot of people view advising as an accounting or clerical measure, but it is more about helping students understand themselves,” said Tony Robinson, an Honors academic counselor. “It is intellectual counseling, degree counseling and also career counseling.”

However, some students say the process leaves many behind. Nicholas Clark, a junior political science major and a former Western Kentucky University student, said, “I feel in comparison to other schools the university does a fair job in advising, given the large amount of students. However, there is still a lot of room for improvement. Non-honors advising seems to be a bit understaffed and impersonal.”

AdvisorTrac, which Spence said will be operational for the spring 2008 semester, will attempt to relieve academic distress, according to Spence.

“Advisors will enter their notes of the advising session into AdvisorTrac so that the next person who meets with the student will have access to the information,” said Spence. “This is important especially?in situations where students change majors or transfer to another unit of the university.”

Emily Nordling, a freshman history and anthropology ?major, said, “I feel the advising at the university is great. My honors advisor really helped me out this first semester.”

However, for U of L’s large commuter population, advising proves a more complex issue.

Spence said, “We do not have any evidence that advising commuter students is more challenging for the university, but logic tells us that residential students may have more time to see an advisor because they live on campus.”

“Reaching out to students electronically is certainly a way to assist more students,” said Spence.?”Many advisors work with students who have hectic schedules and cannot make it to an advising appointment by advising them by e-mail or on the telephone, but advisors prefer to meet with students in person so they can develop a meaningful advising relationship.”

Nationally, academic advising is moving from a “service-oriented” model to a “teaching and learning” model, according to Spence. ?Instead of providing a service to students, advisors will attempt to teach students how to utilize information and resources to become engaged, self-directed learners and competent decision makers, she said.

In order to adapt, university created a master advisor certification program for professional advisors and advising center directors. One of the courses includes a student panel to offer advisors first-hand information about what students need and expect from their advising experience. ?The university anticipates all advisors completing the MAC by the end of the 2008, according to Spence.

Another advising initiative the university is exploring is the upgrade in PeopleSoft 9.1, U of L’s main system. This software includes a “student backpack” that will allow students electronic access to a degree audit of their degree program and will enable students to plan the completion of their degree, according to Spence.?Students will have access to this information anywhere and anytime they are connected to the Web. “When funding is secured the university will establish a time line for launching the software,” said Spence.

Daniel Clevenger a sophomore sports administration major, said, ” I feel the university’s advising is good overall; some things the students just need to take their own initiative.”

Robinson said counselors also help students as they wander in the “academic

mine field, giving students the tools they don’t have, allowing them to make their way through it.”