Letter to the Editor
Issue date: 1/21/10 Section: Opinion
As Director of the Career Development Center, I hope I can speak usefully to some of the concerns and suggestions Hailey Hawkins voiced so thoughtfully in "Student advising needs change, accountability." I'm neither a member of the faculty nor an academic advisor, yet I and my staff are deeply and daily committed to delivering career advising to students, a hunger for which is emphasized in the article, yet not named as such.
To cut right to the chase, my point here is to invite students to consider the academic advising offered by faculty as only part of the advising students need and deserve, with career advising being another critical part.
Part of the problem that Hailey describes resides in the separation of academic and career advising. The former involves faculty shepherding students through courses and majors, an overall "academic plan," and hopefully a wonderful and intellectually liberating experience. Career advising consists of career staff helping students to synthesize not just academics but their entire liberal arts experience and key aspects of themselves into a set of plans, possibilities, and tools for meaningful and rewarding engagement in life before and after graduation.
Both types of advising are big jobs. At Pacific, and at all comparable colleges with which I'm familiar, these jobs are separated because each is deemed so important and specialized as to require skills, experience, and a focus beyond the reasonable scope of any one job description.
What's vexing to students is that they don't separate academic and career advising questions in their own minds. How could they, and why should they? Questions and concerns about academics and careers are intertwined. My hope is that students will expand these meetings to include appointments with career staff, and to consider advising a process of talking with several people. Any important issue or concern merits multiple viewpoints from people with diverse areas of expertise.
To cut right to the chase, my point here is to invite students to consider the academic advising offered by faculty as only part of the advising students need and deserve, with career advising being another critical part.
Part of the problem that Hailey describes resides in the separation of academic and career advising. The former involves faculty shepherding students through courses and majors, an overall "academic plan," and hopefully a wonderful and intellectually liberating experience. Career advising consists of career staff helping students to synthesize not just academics but their entire liberal arts experience and key aspects of themselves into a set of plans, possibilities, and tools for meaningful and rewarding engagement in life before and after graduation.
Both types of advising are big jobs. At Pacific, and at all comparable colleges with which I'm familiar, these jobs are separated because each is deemed so important and specialized as to require skills, experience, and a focus beyond the reasonable scope of any one job description.
What's vexing to students is that they don't separate academic and career advising questions in their own minds. How could they, and why should they? Questions and concerns about academics and careers are intertwined. My hope is that students will expand these meetings to include appointments with career staff, and to consider advising a process of talking with several people. Any important issue or concern merits multiple viewpoints from people with diverse areas of expertise.
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