The Voice - Student Newspaper - February 13, 2008

Where to turn for academic advisement

It has only been a few weeks into the Spring Semester and we are already encouraged to get early enrollment cards for the up and coming summer and fall courses. So, who do we talk too (besides our friends and classmates) about the courses that we should take to help ourselves along?

The answer is easy, and here at Glendale Community College (GCC) there are 11 people who can answer that. In 2007 the GCC academic advisers had 25,319 advisement sessions. This reporter was just one of those numbers.

I recently went looking for the person in charge to try to put an end to students receiving and passing along wrong advice. I found the person in charge and his name is Mr. Mark Reed M.Ed.

Reed is the Coordinator of Enrollment Services. Reed stepped right into the lead role, he has worked at several other colleges prior to coming to us. When asked if there was a policy on who can give academic advisement, such as anybody in the enrollment center, instructors, or any of the other faculty that are on campus who is allowed to give academic advise Reed replied, "Within the enrollment center which is the area that I have control. Only the academic advisers are allowed to provide academic advisement."

Reed went on to state, "The Admissions staff and the Registration staff are told not to tell students which courses, they should take", when asked, "their answering a lot of general questions that students have about academic requirements, prerequisites, or things that are all facts that are published in the class schedule and within the catalog, and so that's fine.

He continued to explain how they encourage no one but the academic advisors to help, because there are so many complexities in knowing which courses satisfy which academic requirements."

There is faculty that is doing academic advisement within the areas they are responsible for, which is encouraged by Reed.

All students should look at the degree program they're working toward. That map (which can be found online) will show students the courses they need to take. If your concern is what career you should go about choosing let the advisers know and they will send you over to the Career Counseling Center and then you can come back and sit down with an academic adviser and you can get the proper assistance in what courses to take towards your degree. The Career Center and the academic advisers are here to help students further themselves. If you haven't been to see an academic adviser, go and see one. Don't wait till the last minute.