Wanted: SMPA Advisors

For all the things the SMPA program has- small class sizes, talented faculty, and state-of-the-art equipment, this is one area in which the program needs improvement.

Currently, SMPA has ZERO staff members whose primary function is to counsel the 400+ students in the School of Media and Public Affairs.

While I've found that the professors who are assigned to advising duties are generally pretty interested and able to help students meet their academic and professional goals, it just becomes a question of time. Professors are expected to teach multiple sections AND serve as an advisor to sometimes upwards of 100 students!

This is unfair on all sides; firstly to advisees who battle long lines just to meet with their advisors. Secondly, to all SMPA students who have limited access to their professors who have secondary obligations as SMPA advisors. Thirdly, the current system places an unreasonable strain on SMPA faculty. We only have a handful of them anyway; why not better capitalize on what they bring to the classroom and for which they were actually hired?

I suggest bringing in a couple fulltime advisors for SMPA. I know it sounds revolutionary but hey, CCAS finally got a few, ESIA has them, and don’t get me started on the impeccable roadmap business majors have at their disposal.

I am lucky enough now to have access to the undisputedly best advisor in SMPA, which has really helped me to grasp what a true disadvantage it is to students without a similar resource.

I’m interested to hear if this is something more people would like to see, or maybe if there are already alternative resources that SMPA majors can take advantage of on campus.