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REXBURG
– The Career Advising
Center at BYU-Idaho has
expanded to meet the growing needs of a growing campus.
The
center now includes nine satellite offices located across the campus, one
in each of the colleges except for the College
of Agricultural and Life
Sciences, and one in the McKay Library.
The
new satellite offices have not taken the place of the advising system now
in place, but instead are serving to augment the system. The satellite
offices are handling more of the mundane issues that ordinarily come to the
advisers, while the full-time faculty will continue to handle the more
in-depth issues with the students.
The
satellites handle things like changing majors, answering questions about
registration, and so forth. The faculty will continue clearing students for
registration each semester and helping them decide on a career path.
The
Pre-professional Advising
Center has a little extra work
in their office, with students coming from all different majors seeking advice.
Kent
Barrus, director of the Pre-professional advising office, says their
objectives are three-fold.
First,
they are responsible for providing resources to help students understand
their career options. Second, they help students plan their class schedule.
Finally, they provide an environment for pre-professional students to work
on resumes, applications and make other preparations for post-graduation
life.
Another
unique center is the one in the library, which will have longer hours to
help those students who work during the day. The center will be open from 8 a.m. to 8
p.m. during the week as well as on Saturdays so students can
reach them at their convenience.
Each
of the centers employs students who act as peer advisers, offering an
experienced perspective on what the other students need to do to graduate.
The
program got started a year ago with three of the satellites getting under
way as an experiment for the rest of the program. The pilot program was
started in the three biggest areas of need on campus – the College of
Business and Communication, College of Education and the Pre-professional
Programs center. Each of the three were a success in the eyes of the
administration, and served as templates for the other six, which opened in
September.
Jacque
Weekes, Career and Academic Advising director at BYU-Idaho, says she wanted
to do something to help lighten the load of the 400 advisers on campus who
also carry a full load of classes or other responsibilities.
“We
sat back watching the changes over the last couple of years wondering what
we could do to help,” Weekes said.
She
says she has been grateful for the support she has gotten from the school’s
administration.
“To
me it shows the support the university gives to academic advising,”
she said.
Weekes will continue to supervise the advising program
as a whole, while eight others will oversee each of the other offices
around campus.
Amy
LaBaugh is working with the College of Business and Communications, Charity
Checketts in the College of Education, Beth Dummar in the College of
Performing and Visual Arts, Mike Kelly in the College of Physical Sciences
and Engineering, Nathan Meeker in the College of Religion and Social
Science, Kent Barrus in the Pre-Professional Programs and Jill Jeppson in
the General Advising Center in the Library.
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