Though the concept for the Academic Advising Center has been around for a while, the Faculty Senate and University Council initially had some concerns about how the idea was executed.

Function of the AAC

The AAC is a resource for students whose majors are undecided as well as students who are considering changing their major.

About 1,000 students have utilized the AAC since the facility began working with undecided students last summer. About 500 students are still assigned to the AAC.

The AAC serves as the first step toward choosing a major. Once a student decides what college they’re generally interested in, they move on to being undecided in a specific college and then work with their chosen college in finding the appropriate major. Students considering changing their major also are able to seek advising through the AAC.

Michael Broshears, director of the center, said their goal is to help students make informed choices about their major.

Problems about planning

One concern was that the establishment of the AAC took place seemingly ahead of schedule. It was publicized before going through the approval stage, before changes were made to the catalog and things were happening ahead of itself, said Paul Stoddard, Faculty Senate President and Executive Secretary of the University Council.

The Provost’s Office made the decision that the AAC should be created. They approved it without first consulting the University Council. This goes against NIU’s system of shared governance, which says that all major decisions, especially those regarding academics, have to go through the University Council, Stoddard said.

Another major concern was faculty oversight, in that the center is being staffed by non-faculty. This was problematic because the Faculty Senate thought faculty to be in a better position for determining the academic procedures students should follow.

Stoddard thinks the issues have been pretty much taken care of and that it was more a matter of making sure procedures were followed and legitimate concerns addressed.

Working with students

The advisers at the AAC spend much of their time getting to know the student by asking questions. Previously, undecided students were assigned to advisers in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Louis Shirley, an adviser for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences department, found working with undecided students to be a fun and enjoyable process and thinks the AAC is a good idea.

“We want undecided students to get the best possible advising. The purpose of the Advising Center is to help people find where they think they should be, and so far I think they’ve done a good job,” Shirley said.

Advisers also help students research possible majors and assess their skills and interests.

“We’re like investigators. We ask lots of questions and do lots of listening and that really seems to be a good approach so far. Students have been really receptive to it.”