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Committee report should focus on advising

Editorial Editors, The Miami Student

Getting proactive advising and managing scheduling can be a major obstacle for many students seeking to graduate on time. Many students take classes at community college over the summer to fulfill requirements and save money. Without proper planning, students find themselves staying at Miami University longer than intended.

Other students come to Miami with lots of advanced placement (AP) or post-secondary credit. Without specialized advising, they may quickly lose their edge. While proper planning could have enabled them to pursue multiple majors or internships, confusion about distribution requirements can lead to missed opportunities.

The Pathways Committee's recommendations to university senate attempt to solve these problems by decreasing the number of hours required to graduate from 128 to 120, while increasing the number of hours that must be taken at Miami from 32 to 45, increasing advising and perhaps eliminating the two-year residency requirement in favor of a requirement based on hours.

The editorial board of The Miami Student welcomes many of the recommendations. Adjusting the number of hours required for graduation is a common-sense move. Advising is sorely in need of improvement. However, the reason for the inclusion of the two-year residency recommendation in the report is unclear. Irrespective of whether the residency requirement is a good idea, this board feels one year is not enough time to fully evaluate its effectiveness. In future exploration of the issue, university senate and the Pathways Committee should reconsider the need to alter the residency requirement at this time.

Advising, one of the focuses of the committee's recommendations, must be dealt with both on the university and departmental levels.

Advisers need to have more time for students. Many departmental advisers are also department chairs, or occupy other positions of responsibility. While it is good to have experienced faculty filling advising roles, it seems unrealistic to expect department chairs to be able to devote sufficient time or attention to advisees.

Advisers' responsibilities should be decreased in other areas so they can better focus on advising.

At the same time, advisers should be more knowledgeable about the Miami plan. Departments could develop lists of Miami plan courses they recommend for their students.

The classes students are taking are central to the undergraduate experience. It is absurd so little attention is paid to which specific courses students are taking at any particular time. While students should better familiarize themselves with the Miami plan and their major requirements, guidance from experienced and knowledgeable advisers – advisers who know students' names – could make the difference between wasting time and graduating on time.


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