The CSU system announced that there would be a $228 increase in tuition starting in the fall of 2009.
As of Spring 2009, there were 7,233 full-time undergraduate students attending CCSU. This would mean that the university would be approximately taking in an additional $1,649,000 in tuition.
Considering the fact that 500 more applicants have been accepted for the upcoming fall, that amount could potentially rise to $1,763,124 in additional revenue. After compensating for the 4.8 percent funding cut from the state, we ask that the university use its additional income to help improve advising resources for its students.
While the money could be spent towards school promotion in the form of new ads, commercials on TV or sending representatives to college fairs, nothing speaks louder to potential students than a good graduation rate and quick process to move students through the school. With that said, the process needs some attention.
As class registration approaches, students are reminded of the lack of beneficial guidance that they receive. In some cases, advisors do not even meet face to face with students, but simply give them their pin number.
In other cases, advisors direct students to take certain courses to help fulfill a certain requirement, and the students later learn that the course was unnecessary.
Part of the problem may arise from the fact that advisors continue to look at the most current course catalog, when requirements for students will be different depending on the time that they declared a major or started their schooling.
We recognize that the school is making attempts to improve the advising situation with the creation of the Center for Student Success. This center which aims to help new CCSU students, and students with undeclared majors will begin in the fall and contain an advising force of about 15 to 16 people.
According to a report by the CCSU Office of Institutional Research and Assessment, in the fall 2008 semester, there were 636 students with an undeclared major. If these students utilized the new advising center there would be approximately one advisor for every 40 students. That is a lot of students for one person to handle.
It would be difficult for those advisors to be able to impart adequate advice tailored to each individual student’s circumstances. And this does not even include the first year or transfer students that the office would be geared toward helping. Although the university is demonstrating that it understands the need for a higher level of advising, more must be done than to simply recognize the problem and make suggestions for the future.
It would be beneficial for advisors in each department to fully understand the degree requirements and general education requirements that students need to fulfill in order to graduate on time.
Advisors need to become more informed on how to help their students as they plan their schedules. We suggest that each department take action in the form of some kind of training session at the beginning of every year to fully equip professors with the knowledge that they need to impart useful advice to the students that they advise.
Choosing the right courses is an important decision for students because of the fact that it may affect whether or not they graduate on time, or how much more money they spend on classes that they don’t need to take.
We hope that the university invests as much money as possible into improving the advising system for its students. Advising expertise is crucial in ensuring that students are pursuing the best path for their education.