Spring Break
Extra Advising Helps Graduation Rates
Kierstin Wesolowski
Issue date: 2/27/08 Section: News
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"The research shows that students who receive good advising tend to be more successful, and more graduate on time," according to Dolan Evanovich, vice provost of enrollment management.
The latest statistics show that 61 percent of students who were freshmen at UConn in 2003 graduated in four years. This percentage is up from 43 percent of those who entered UConn in 1996, according to a press release from the university.
Also, 93 percent of freshmen who entered in 2006 came back for their sophomore year - a statistic that places UConn among the top 20 public universities in the U.S., according to the press release.
The growth in the number of professional advisors and their involvement in students' undergraduate careers has been a major contributor to the improved graduation rates.
About 10 years ago, UConn established the Academic Center for Exploratory Students (ACES) which is staffed by professional advisors.
Since then, ACES has become a university-wide resource for advising.
"We work with students in transition - transition first to the institution and then to the departments and majors," said Steve Jarvi, director of the Institute for Student Success, which includes ACES, First Year Experience (FYE) programs and the Center for Academic Programs.
Advisors in ACES work primarily with first- and second-year students who have not yet declared a major. These students are referred to as "exploratory" rather than undecided majors so they will be encouraged to explore the numerous opportunities UConn has to offer.
"My experience with ACES was a positive one," said Lisa Mishriky, a 6th-semester education and English dual major. Students who enter UConn as a pre-teaching major are placed in ACES until they apply to the Neag School of Education the spring of their sophomore year.
"My advisor in ACES, Jim Hill, was extremely helpful," Mishriky said. "He told me what requirements I needed to fulfill in order to apply to Neag and also what I would need in case I didn't get in. He offered me a vast range of options."
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