Claire Miller
Reporter
September 10, 2004
On registration day, Milligan students expected lines in the lecture hall, a candy bar if everything was paid on time and an assortment of cards and schedules to keep them connected throughout the year. This year, however, advising cards were conspicuously absent.
Dr. John Paul Abner, director of academic advising, said the absence of cards was not a mistake. “We, as a college, have decided at this point in time that we will not have advising cards,” he said.
Abner said that freshmen will still participate in the mentoring program, meeting with their mentors four times during fall semester and three times during spring semester. He said that there is uncertainty about how advising will be monitored for upperclassmen.
Traci Smith, director of student success, oversees the mentoring program. “Mentoring is a program that's a lot more intentional than advising,” said Smith. She said that mentors strive to “help freshmen settle in here at Milligan,” while advisors take a more academic approach, helping students plan for class registration.
This ties in with a reason Abner cited for the change, “College is a time in which you are preparing to be a responsible human being,” he said. “Having a card to check your path doesn't really fit in with that.”
“It just wasn't working well,” Abner said. According to Abner, students would meet with their advisors throughout the year but forget to have the cards signed. Then, on the last day, students would flood their advisors’ offices to obtain the mandatory signatures. The program was intended to help increase retention, but Abner said that non-returning students were less likely to turn in the cards, thus defeating the program’s purpose.
Junior Kari Stout said that while the advising program has helped her stay on track for her major, she doesn’t think the advising cards should be required for upperclassmen. “We know how things work,” she said. “I don’t think they are necessary because a lot of people don’t take it seriously.”
In addition, Abner said that the new chapel tracking system has changed the card system. “The whole culture of cards has disintegrated,” he said.
“Overall,” said Abner, “the negatives had begun to outweigh the positives.”