Students speak on advising as class registration comes soon

Luca Triant, Executive Producer: Newscast
October 16, 2021

Since the pandemic drove student advising away from in-person communication and onto Zoom meetings, advisers have had to overcome many obstacles in order to meet with students.

Danielle Reinhart, assistant dean for academic advising in the School of Communications, describes the challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic brought to advising last year.

“I would say that advising was challenging like everything as we moved to being remote and learning and teaching and working from our homes,” Reinhart said. “I think that was a bit of a learning curve.”

As the fall 2021 school year began students found themselves more able to conduct classes and other activities in-person, which bled into how advising has further changed since the pandemic started. With students meeting with their advisers, they have been able to notice the new changes to the advising process.

“I’m thinking this semester might be a little better with advising, especially since we have the option of meeting our adviser in-person on campus,” Brihanna Ortiz, a senior nursing major, said. “I’m thinking that in-person aspect will enhance it a little bit more than last semester.”

Another student, Austin Doyle, a second-year student in the School of Business, says how advising currently helps him with getting prepared for the next semester.

“I met with my adviser every two-to-three weeks, really going through the process, picking what courses I want to go to,” Doyle said. “It really helped me. The advising here is just really a nice group of guys.”

Reinhart says the changes advising went through during COVID-19 helped it become more accessible to students.

“I think that my students and my advisees benefited because I felt like I was available almost around the clock,” she said. “It’s a positive on both sides… we’re not wearing masks in many cases on these Zoom advising meetings. It’s more of a conversation between two people instead of someone sitting across a big desk.”

Undergraduate student registration begins at 7 a.m. on Nov. 1 and ends on Nov. 5. Seniors start on the first day, continuing with each grade until the last day for first-years. The four-day registration period skips Nov. 3.