Since the 2013 fall semester, students who have declared a major must abide by a new policy in order to make an appointment with Academic Advising, formally known as the Center for Academic Services.

After a staff member took a position at a different school, Katie Adams, Director of Academic Advising, and Mike Noreen, Assistant Director of Academic Advising, had to decide on what to do next.

“We needed to make some decisions,” Adams said.

Both decided that rather than hiring a new staff member, the two of them would handle advising themselves. However, Adams and Noreen also realized that the two of them alone could not handle the amount of students who came in for academic advising, which prompted the new policy.

“This is the best thing for declared majors, because their faculty advisors are already there to help them,” Noreen said.

Rather than being able to directly make an appointment with one of the professional advisers, declared students must first meet with their faculty adviser beforehand. If their adviser is unable to assist them, they are required to fill out a referral form with their adviser in order to book a time with Academic Advising.

Undeclared students can make appointments without a referral since they do not yet have a faculty adviser.

Both Noreen and Adams agreed that students who have declared their major should meet with their academic advisers since they can help them with their area of study on an in-depth level.

“This way, students are working with their faculty advisers as they should be,” Adams said. “They are able to provide mentoring for their students.”

When the new policy was announced in the fall, Adams said that comments from advisers were positive. Many just asked questions on how they can further help their advisees.

Adams said that Academic Advising holds an information session for faculty advisers on a monthly basis. On average, five to twelve advisers attend each meeting.

Adams and Noreen agree that so far the policy has worked out very well.

“I think it’s been really successful,” Adams said.

About two to three dozen students have used the referral form to get an appointment with Academic Advising since the policy went into effect. Advisers also have the option to come to their advisee’s advising appointment, which is recommended by Adams and Noreen.

“We encourage advisers to come to the meeting with their students,” Adams said. “They learn as well.”

However, not all declared students are in support of this extra hoop they must go through in order to meet with the professional advisers.

“While I understand there is limited staff available, it was beneficial to me to be able to access information on a broader academic scale,” junior Rachael Barnes said.

Adams and Noreen also stated that by requiring declared students to meet with their advisers, the two of them have more time to consult with undecided students.

Noreen said that it is important for the professional advisers to sit down and work with undecided students on what they want to do with their future and how they can plan that future at Hamline.

Junior Amanda Boettcher transferred to Hamline at the beginning of the fall semester as an undeclared student and is happy with the amount of help she has received from Academic Advising.

“I love meeting with the academic advisers, “ Boettcher said. “They have a busy schedule, but I am actually able to meet with them within the week if I really needed to.”

Boettcher thinks that the new policy has really helped the academic advisers focus on her needs as an undecided transfer student.

“I think the change with advising hasn’t just helped the [professional] advisers with time and order, but it has helped the new students including myself learn about everything Hamline has to offer,” Boettcher said.

Undeclared students can make an appointment directly with Academic Advising on Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Declared students in need of a referral can pick up a form from Academic Advising for their faculty adviser to fill out.