In theory, it’s great to have someone around to advise you. That’s why presidents get to appoint cabinets. That’s why high schools have guidance counselors. That’s why I have a circle of close friends.
Then why does Binghamton University, or perhaps just Harpur College, think it is OK to leave the majority of its students to themselves for four years?
While other schools take it upon themselves to assign actual advisers, Binghamton is a whole-hearted believer in independence. Not only am I expected to translate my DARS, that labyrinthine audit system, from day one, I’m also the de facto liaison between my academic departments and Harpur advising, which is the de facto link between SUNY Central’s requirements, Harpur’s requirements and me.
To add to the fun, not only am I evidently the only line of communication between my various departments and Harpur College, but I’m also at the mercy of whoever is available on the tragic day that I decide that maybe, just maybe, someone who knows what they’re doing should take a look at my records. With no specific adviser assigned to understand my problems, I’m forced to save up enough angst to be able to effectively convey my distress to each adviser that I see.
Not only are there no specific advisers for students, but the advisers responsible for specific tracks, like pre-law or the Individualized Major Program (IMP) are sometimes less than helpful or timely when panicked students beg for assistance. As many have recently discovered, our only contact may come from e-mails warning us that we may not be able to graduate based on our current DARS.
I speak mainly to Harpur College because I’m in it and thus I know just exactly how it fails to meet my needs. As I understand it, the “professional” schools are much better off. While part of that might be due to smaller overall sizes, some of it is also conceivably the result of better planning. Other universities even assign specific advisers to students — schools like the University at Buffalo and Albany, both of which are larger than Binghamton University.
I’m not saying that the advisers in Harpur are in any way unhelpful. In fact, I would go so far as to pity them. With a school of over 7,500 undergraduates, these advisers are overworked, under-appreciated and, most likely, underpaid for their efforts. Instead, I place the blame on a poorly structured advising environment in which students are presumed self-sufficient from the beginning and left with few means to help themselves.
I think that the freedom to plan my schedule is a wonderful thing — a thing that students in Watson or Decker don’t really have to the same extent. But I also think that I should have help readily available at all times. Granted we have Discovery Advisers, but there are problems that only professional advisers can solve, and there are issues that arise with DARS that are not only complicated, but also misleading. As much faith as I have in the trained discovery advisers, I wouldn’t stake my future degree on their judgments.
The fact that I feel like a pinball, bouncing between departments, Harpur advising, other departments and back to Harpur advising irks me. A lot. There simply must be a better way, and even if we’re looking to cut costs in the era of budget deficits, I don’t think advising is the place to cut corners. Instead, let’s deal with excessive administration.
It may be too late for me, but I suggest that Harpur step up to the plate and help students figure out what they’re doing. Preferably in a way that makes them feel more like real people and less like new statistics about the “Premier Public University.”