Maia Ferdman: Department counseling evaluations would help offices tailor services

True to their title, academic advisers have the main responsibility of helping students navigate the daunting maze of graduation requirements, unit caps, enrollment times and application deadlines.

So student experience is central to the job of an academic adviser. Student feedback, whether positive or negative, would therefore be the most accurate way to measure a counseling office’s effectiveness.

Currently there is no established centralized method for periodic student evaluations of departmental academic counseling. Part of the reason for this is that the structure of each department varies, with department chairs or counseling directors in charge of supervising their own staff.

But just as they provide students with course evaluations every quarter for their faculty, university departments should create a clear and streamlined avenue for student feedback on departmental academic advising.

“We’re happy to hear from students,” said Melina Dorian, the undergraduate advising supervisor for the psychology department. “We do a lot of things to incorporate the needs and concerns of students. It’s an ongoing process.”

Dorian added that students have been open to providing informal feedback to the department, which in turn adjusts its services accordingly.

However, some students may not be inclined to take the initiative of giving unofficial comments, especially if they’re unsure their suggestions are actually being heeded. Creating a more formal outlet for providing feedback to departmental counselors would assure that more students do so.

It would also create a systematic review of feedback – rather than gradually responding to feedback as it comes, advisers could consistently adjust their services according to trends in student evaluations.

Graduating fourth-years already have to chance to complete a general senior survey about their UCLA experience, which includes some questions about department advisers. However, students who provide this feedback graduate before reaping any of its potential benefits.

A regular survey or evaluation form would also allow students to describe their experiences with individual counselors. This individualized feedback would let counseling offices gauge student perception of their staff and evaluate job performance more accurately.

College Academic Counseling, a program which caters to about 17,000 students in the College of Letters and Sciences, already has a systematic and detailed survey in place.

Since 2011, the College Academic Counseling and Academic Advancement Program counseling offices have surveyed students about the helpfulness of their appointments and asked them for recommendations for improvement. According to Corey Hollis, the director of College Academic Counseling, the Honors Programs counseling office is in the process of adding the survey component as well, though the process has lagged because the office is currently short-staffed.

This kind of system can be tremendously beneficial to assure the continued quality and relevance of all academic advising offices, and should be replicated across all departments.

Hollis noted one change the office specifically made in response to this survey.

Many students asked that the office offer advance appointments rather than only same-day appointments. Although this request is not completely feasible because of the sheer size of the student body, the office was able to compromise: It will offer students advance appointments during specified weeks and times with less traffic.

Granted, departmental advising is formatted differently from general college counseling. For example, departmental counseling visits are not recorded in MyUCLA and are thus more difficult to track. They may also be less structured and more sporadic.

However, differing structures should not bar departments from creating more opportunities for student feedback.

Instead, they should do the opposite. Students are likely to create closer relationships with their departmental advisers or see them more often than general counselors, as they handle concerns specific to students’ majors. These offices are also smaller and can thus be more attuned to their students’ needs.

Student evaluations would ensure that counselors understand these needs and are more readily prepared to meet them.