MOTION FROM THE PSYCHOLOGY DEPARTMENT

Meeting of April 3,2000

We request our Senator and our Members of the Representative Council to convey the following statement to each body.

We wish to express our concern with the administrative changes to the registration process which have undermined the advising system by reducing the role of Faculty academic advisors in the process. We recommend that the process be modified so that advisors are put back into the process.

We believe this is important for two reasons. We can help prevent students from making costly errors in course selection and we feel very strongly that the human relationship with an academic advisor is worthwhile maintaining. We are mentors. We are an important part of a student's support system. This is crucial to student retention.

In 1999, the Department chairs approved a procedure that was designed to ensure contact with the Faculty advisor. Subsequent changes were made unilaterally by the Administration. Academic advising is Bargaining Unit work.

We note the Administration's set of reasons given for recent changes in the system. We are not persuaded by them. It is not our purpose to offer a refutation to the set of reasons given. Instead we recommend that this issue be addressed at Local Meet and Discuss.