Long, frustrating lines have become the norm at the College of Arts and Sciences' advisement center, but may be a thing of the past.
The E-Adviser program, implemented this semester to give students more control of the advisement process, is a proactive approach at helping students get answers to questions regarding their academic progress, said Ellen Grigsby, manager of the A&S advisement center.
"This program helps students get answers to their questions at their convenience," she said. "It frees them up from having to come into the center and wait in line to see an adviser."
The program covers topics like the steps needed to transfer into the college, graduation requirements for the more than 30 majors housed under A&S and how to avoid the pitfalls of academic holds.
What makes E-Adviser successful, Grigsby said, is that it was designed around the most commonly asked questions students have about their academic progress.
The program works by allowing students to take a quiz after their online advisement session to test their grasp on the information they receive.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
"One of the hardest things about advisement is making sure students have a firm understanding of the information they are given," she said. "This program helps them learn what they need to succeed in college by putting it in a context they understand."
Students are able to check their answers to the quiz, and if they are wrong, the information is reiterated in a simpler form. If they still have lingering questions after that, Grigsby said, they can ask questions of the center's staff via e-mail.
Spencer Coke, E-Adviser's senior Web designer, said when constructing the online program, he tried to replicate the traditional advisement process as closely as possible while streamlining it to make it more efficient.
By far the biggest academic college at UNM, A & S students make up more than 60 percent of the University's student body. Coke said the E-Adviser program will alleviate the pressure put on the advisement staff and the students looking for academic guidance.
"The Internet is quickly becoming a good instrument to deliver information," he said. "The program's unique proactive capabilities allow students to learn in a number of different ways."
Coke said the program also includes a growing E-Library section that goes more in depth on the specific academic programs included under A&S.
He said the ultimate goal of E-Adviser is to build up a reservoir of information that can be accessed anytime from anywhere.
UNM students who have used the fledgling program say it has made the daunting task of seeking advisement easier and helped them grasp the sometimes confusing information needed to graduate.
Richard Johnson, a UNM junior, said he used E-Adviser this semester to register for classes, and it cut his traditional weeklong process to one day.
"I used to dread the long lines that fill the advisement center every semester," he said.
Grigsby said the center has placed a computer in the waiting room to allow students to access E-Adviser and plans on hiring another adviser to man the center's front desk to answer passing student's advisement questions.
"It's hard to measure the program's success so far, but we're hearing more students who say they are taking advantage of it," she said. "It is going to continue to grow and hopefully, it will revolutionize the advisement process."
