Some students choose what courses to schedule by looking at RateMyProfessors.com or talking to friends, but soon meeting with an adviser will become mandatory.

Provost Robert Frank recently said he hopes by Fall 2012 to make meeting with an adviser mandatory, once per semester for students during their first two years of study. 

While advising is currently expected, it is not required in all colleges.

“We’re standardizing the practice across the university,” Frank said. “In the future we’re going to say if you don’t meet with an adviser, we won’t let you register for your next set of classes.”

As part of the new “uniform standards of advising,” Frank said the university will need to hire additional advisers. He did not have a specific number of advisers in mind nor did he know how much money it would cost, but said he thought it would be a manageable figure.

“It’s a significant amount of money, and we’ll have to relocate from other places, but this is really an important place for us to spend money,” he said.

Frank said the record-keeping system in the advising office has also been improved.

“When an adviser sits with you, even if it’s not the same face, they will know what’s been recommended to you,” he said. 

“I think a lot of students … they’re not gonna like it,” said Elizabeth Nenque, a graduate student in translation studies. “It’s really valuable to them but when you require it there’s gonna be a lot of push back.”

Nenque also recommended students develop a rapport with their professors in case they need extra advice.

“The best letter of recommendation comes from a professor who knows who you are,” she said. “Even if you feel like advising isn’t helpful to you, go and talk to the professor.”

Contact Carrie Blazina at [email protected] .