A lot of students enroll themselves in Mercer classes when they start or get someone in the Enrollment Center to help them, but those staffers are really only there to advise first semester students. Afterward, students are assigned a full-time faculty advisor depending on their major but they don’t know what they do or how to find them.
In a recent survey of 30 Mercer students, a third of the students didn’t know who their advisor was, or how to be in contact with them.
Let’s clear up the confusion. First, all students can go to Enrollment Services in the Student Center to get them registered for classes. As Gina Migliaccio, a staffer there explains, the advisors in the Enrollment Center are good for kick-starting your first semester at Mercer by looking at SATs, ACTs, or Placement Tests scores, and registering you based on those. But after that, students should go to find their academic advisors.
An academic advisor has the advantage of knowing exactly what classes you have to take to graduate on time. They have regular office hours where you can drop by their office and ask for advice not only on what classes to take but also on how to stay on track. They can tell you what professors may be a good fit for you based on your personality and goals. The can tell you how to transfer, help you understand how to write applications to transfer schools, explain how to get teacher recommendations when you need them and so on. They can even help point you in a different direction if you want to change majors.
There are also three Success Coaches at Mercer, one for each division, and they can help with first semester registration but are also on hand for advice for students from start to finish, particularly those struggling with time management, falling behind in courses and feeling lost. Often instructors who see a student struggling in class will send them to see a success coach for help.
The success coaches are: Victoria Onori Bowman (Liberal Arts), Jehan Mohamed (Business and STEM), and Nichol Killian (Health Professions).
Victoria Bowman, the success coach for the Liberal Arts Division explains “So you come into the college as a new student, first time, full-time student, and you go up to enrollment, and they do what is called ‘intake.’ I do that as well, we schedule your classes, plus we get you on pace to being a successful student.”
So why is it valuable to also see your faculty advisor? A study from the University of Nebraska called “The Effects of Academic Advising on College Student Development in Higher Education” says “Academic advising was a contributor for 93% of student’s satisfaction with their college experience.” The study also showed a correlation between advising and improved GPA, and overall happiness with college life.
This begs the question, where can you find your advisor? Below we have given you a visual step by step guide to help you do just that.
As Bowman told the VOICE, “We want you to know that you are not alone in the game. We want you to have support.”
CLICK THE IMAGE BELOW (or here) TO TAKE YOU TO THIS PAGE
CLICK THE IMAGE BELOW (or here) TO TAKE YOU TO THIS PAGE
CLICK ON THE IMAGE BELOW (or here) TO TAKE YOU TO THIS PAGE
NOTE: ADVISORS’ NAMES WILL DIFFER
