University of Northern Colorado students registering for classes are in for a change as President Andy Feinstein’s budget cuts alter operational structures within the advising department.
In November, Feinstein’s proposed budget cuts eliminated staff positions and altered many university programs across campus. Among the eliminated staff members were many advisers, which caused staffing shortages in all six UNC advising centers.
Beckie Croissant, director of academic advising in the College of Natural and Health Sciences, has witnessed the change.
“So, the university cut, I think it was 50 staff positions. A lot of those were advisers,” Croissant said. “Therefore, the upper administration decided that they would centralize advising.”
The change to centralized advising will allow the college to cater to student needs with a smaller staff. Students are currently assigned to advisers based on their major and college. The new structure will allow advising faculty and staff to become the primary advisers to students outside their specified college or major. Centralizing advising fulfills the university’s budget needs, but as news about the change comes to light, students have expressed mixed opinions about its benefits.
“I don’t think it would particularly be helpful,” UNC nursing student Caelin Adkins said. “Every major is so different, and there are so many different things required and I think having an adviser that knows specifically what you need is really important.”
Unlike Adkins, Brooke Roybal, a sports and exercise science student, has struggled with the current advising system and thinks there is room for change.
“I have a minor in nutrition so there was a lot of mixed communication about getting an override,” Roybal said. “I was told my nutrition adviser would reach out to the professor and then they were like no you have to do it. For one of the classes I have to take this summer I still haven’t heard back, and registration started a week ago.”
Staff members have also been impacted by this change and have had to balance an influx in their workload because of the termination of their co-workers. For Croissant, the changes have brought a mixture of emotions.
“For us, I think it has been an emotional ride,” Croissant said. “We really like being in the colleges. That is kind of where our identity was.”
Since the consolidation of advising was announced to faculty and staff in December, the advising network has been meeting once a month to arrange a plan for when the changes come into effect. The group’s most recent meeting took place last week, with student well-being at the forefront of the discussion.
“The advisers, we’re here because we love the students and we love the university,” Croissant said. “So, I mean, I guess just be patient with us as we go through this whole process, but again, our goal is that students are not impacted negatively in any way, and it is a streamlined process.”
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