The Undergraduate Assembly unanimously passed a proposal yesterday urging the University to improve the academic advising system for the School of Arts and Sciences.
The UA will work with the Student Committee on Undergraduate Education and the College Advising Office to improve the accessibility and accountability of advisers.
UA members also aim to increase awareness of College requirements and create alternatives to a single adviser.
"If you ask around campus, advising is a big, big problem," SCUE Chairwoman and College junior Farrah Freis said.
According to a survey of about 300 students conducted by the UA at the end of last semester, 55 percent were dissatisfied with their advisers' ability to address their problems.
In addition, 48 percent felt their advisers were lacking in effort, and 47 percent were dissatisfied with their advisers' knowledge of advising resources.
The UA's proposal urges advisers to contact their advisees at least once per semester.
According to Freis, the lack of time that students and advisers spend together is one of the greatest problems with the system.
"They're just not forming real relationships with their advisees," Freis said.
The proposal also suggests incorporating graduate students as supplemental advisers.
Peer advisers may also be given a more substantial role in advising incoming students.
The UA hopes to keep advisers accountable through feedback from surveys which will be distributed to students at the- end of the academic year.
"If there are advisers that aren't fulfilling their duties, they'll hopefully be filtered out," College junior Pooja Lakshmin said.
Another complaint about the current system is that professors with advising duties are sometimes on sabbatical or doing research and therefore unable to meet with students.
The UA and SCUE plan to work with the College Advising Office in order to ensure that students with such advisers have easy access to others.
"There will be less chance of students falling through the cracks," Lakshmin said.
Under the current system, advisers are assigned between 10 and 24 students per academic year. Advisers are typically assigned randomly, but academic interests and SAT II subject tests are sometimes factored into pairings.
Lakshmin said the new system will give students more advising options.
"The biggest advantage of this proposal is that students will have more flexibility with their assigned adviser," Lakshmin said.
According to Freis, who has been working on advising issues for over a year, the Advising Office is receptive to the proposed changes.
"The administration is really working for our best interests," Freis said.
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