Opinion | Student-advisor relationships are key to success at Bethel
As seen in volume 113, issue 2 of The Collegian
When you first arrive at Bethel as a first-year student, you are assigned a “first-year seminar” adviser. They help you make your schedule for your first year, and assist you throughout your first year at the college. Then once you declare your major, you are asked to find a new adviser in whichever department you are majoring in. You and the adviser both sign some forms, and then you are together for the rest of your time as a Thresher. This adviser helps you stay on track with major course requirements and credit requirements so that you are able to graduate at the pace that you want to graduate in.
In my experience at Bethel, my academic adviser is really willing to hear me out on the things that I want to achieve throughout my four years here and she is pretty open to agreeing with any class that I want to take. As a communication arts major, I have taken numerous classes that are completely unrelated as electives just because I want to be around my friends in class or just because I am interested in a course.
I also feel like I have a pretty good relationship with my adviser. I know that she will support me 100% of the time and that I can go to her and feel comfortable asking her help with anything I might need. I know that she will not micromanage me, and mostly let me make my own decisions about my schedule and about meeting times for her and I, rather than her creating it all for me. Although, this does not seem to be the case for every student here.
As most of my friends are in other majors than I am, I have got to hear from them about their own advisers throughout the years. Some of them have similar relationships with their advisers as I do, a closer relationship with support for most scheduling aspects as well as letting the student choose when to come to their adviser for help.
There are other of my friends, however, that do not have this kind of relationship with their adviser. I have friends that have complained that their adviser micromanages them, creating a meeting schedule for the advisee, and ultimately not letting the student choose a lot of their schedule. These students feel like they don’t have much of a say in what classes they take, feeling like they can only take the requirements and then whatever classes their adviser suggests.
Even for my friends that are really on top of things and ahead of the game, some of their advisers require meetings with them, even if they don’t need help.
I believe that the reason for these issues between advisers and students is a lack of relationship building early on. When a student feels comfortable with their adviser, they are more likely to inform their adviser of their personal wants from being here at Bethel, in my experience. In building better adviser to student relationships, I believe there will be more success in getting students to where they want to be, when they want to be there.