Bringing up academic advising during standard small talk among Marquette students is sure to bring about a series of broad, but equally fervent responses. Academic situations vary from student to student, but academic advising at Marquette and its effectiveness in preparing students for graduation is often described as either a nightmare or a godsend.

ADVISING’S TWO WAY STREET FOR STUDENTS

While students who enter Marquette as first semester freshman are assigned a departmental major adviser, transfer students follow a somewhat different advising track. Meghan Dolan, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences transferred to Marquette from the University of Arizona at the beginning of her sophomore year. She said advising was a factor in her decision to transfer.

“I didn’t have an adviser at the University of Arizona,” Dolan said. “I didn’t know who to go to with questions about required courses and what ones would go with my major. I didn’t know who to talk to, and just had a general lack of direction.”

Dolan said after being accepted into Marquette, she received an e-mail from the Advising Department at the College of Arts and Sciences over the summer and then was able to then meet with an academic adviser to map out the courses she needed before she registered for classes.

“I met with my adviser before school even started and we talked a lot, which was really nice. She set up sheets and helped me map out my gen eds and everything I needed to do to graduate on time, and how I could get classes to double count for requirements, because I behind on credits,” said Dolan. “She’s been super helpful.”
Dolan met with her adviser twice more throughout her first semester, and said her adviser made herself very available to discuss any questions and concerns.
“She was really good about making sure I was adjusting and fitting in and making friends, making sure I was in the right classes.”

After her first year at Marquette, Dolan was assigned a major-specific adviser to meet with every semester before registration.

“I have a specific academic adviser now, but she’s relatively new and I’ve always wondered, do they really know what I need other than what’s a good major-related course for me to take?”

As positive as Dolan’s advising experience as been, College of Communication junior Joe Gacioch hasn’t been as fortunate, his advising experience at Marquette has been, in his words, “below average to say the least.”

Gacioch entered Marquette as a broadcast and electronic communication major, and was initially assigned a faculty member in that department as an adviser. Gacioch switched to Public Relations, subsequently changing advisers.

“She was either in her first or second year at MU, so she was unclear as to what classes I had to take to fulfill core, college and major requirements. As such, I basically had to figure out my requirements on my own,” Gacioch said.

Gacioch explains that although he is required to meet with his adviser, he usually has his classes already picked out.
“I was in Johnston Hall, not just her office, for eight minutes for my last advising session,” Gacioch said.

In addition to his poor experience, Gacioch said many of his friends have also had “below average experiences with their advisers.”
“I think that many students are unsatisfied with the advising system, as a whole, because of the lack of required sessions.”

MARQUETTE’S ADVISING STRUCTURE AND PHILOSOPHY

Each college at Marquette individually organizes and assigns advisers to students who have declared a major, but the Advising Center in the College of Arts and Sciences has a distinctively comprehensive program for Arts and Sciences students, transfer students and students who have an undecided major.

According to their Web site, the Advising Center utilizes full-time professional advisers who are available to assist students with “choosing a major, utilizing study skills techniques, determining career goals, selecting and scheduling courses and preparing for professional school.”

The Advising Center promises that their advisers will know students well and meet individually until a major is declared and other questions regarding courses, majors and careers are answered.

Brenna Vogel, who is an Academic Adviser at the Advising Center for College of Arts and Sciences takes that promise seriously. As a full-time pre-major adviser, Vogel works with 150 students on a one on one basis. Vogel typically meets with freshman, sophomores and transfer students from other universities or colleges within Marquette until they are paired with a faculty adviser in their area of study in the College of Arts and Sciences.

“I really get to know the students that I serve,” Vogel said. “I aim to see each student three times a semester, more if he/she wants. If a student is on academic probation, I meet with him/her weekly to make sure that we are working together to achieve academic success.”

Vogel also assists students with study abroad plans, summer school options and to ensure a smooth transition from high school to college, holds workshops on time management, organizes the College Majors Fair and does curriculum presentations during Orientation and Preview.

“I love what I do and I love my students. Advising is extremely rewarding and truly gives me a chance to get to know students on a personal level. My goal is to embody “cura personalis,” care for the whole person – mind, body, and spirit.”

MAJOR ADVISER PERSPECTIVE

College of Communication Associate professor, Dr. Ana Garner has been a faculty adviser for 16 years, and said faculty are expected to become familiar with the requirements of the major, college and university when advising students.

“The College of Communication has always held information sessions as things changed. Since faculty oversee requirements and course content they are usually familiar with changes that occur. The information sessions help fill in the gaps.”

Garner said College of Communication faculty undergoes supplemental training as academic requirements change and said balancing an advisee load is a part of being a faculty member just as much as teaching and researching.

“It is part of the ebb and flow of academic life, thus advising demands change as we move through the academic year in the same way the other work does.”
In his role as chair of the political science department, Dr. Lawrence LeBlanc, who has been advising and teaching at Marquette for 40 years, is responsible for assigning and meeting with all students who declare a major in political science.

“Yes, I would consider myself accountable to the College for the efficiency of the advising program in Political Science,” LeBlanc said. Students can either choose or be assigned an adviser after meeting with LeBlanc. He said, “the ability for students to choose their adviser is important.”

“I make every effort to be sure that students have advisers they will be comfortable working with,” LeBlanc said. “Advising is very important, but not all students see it as very important. Some want help not only with course selection but with working out, or at least thinking about, career plans and options. Others do not and are very self-reliant in making decisions on such matters.”

LeBlanc, who received the College of Arts and Sciences Excellence in Advising Award in 2006, said he was given no training on advising when he first came to Marquette.

“From time to time I went to advising workshops, particularly when I served as a Freshman Adviser in the College of Arts and Sciences. I do not require that the faculty undergo special training.”

Despite the lack of a formal training program, LeBlanc said the faculty in his department consult among themselves and share knowledge and insight on advising.
“Our objective is to provide first-rate advising to students, and I would say that we almost invariably achieve that.”

Popularity: 19% [?]

Fr. Bryan Massingale, associate professor of theology, is offering his course for the second time, “Homosexuality and Christian ethics,” an honors seminar adopted from a seminary course.

Massingale taught at the St. Francis Seminary in Milwaukee between 1991 and 2004, and then as an adjunct professor 2004-2005. It was there he first formulated the curriculum that would be simplified for undergraduates in “Homosexuality and Christian Ethics.”

Massingale said he was prompted to propose the course when a parish priest approached him concerned about his [the diocesan’s] uncertainty as to how to speak to the many gay and lesbian people in his parish. Massingale taught the course twice at St. Francis.

In his fifth year at Marquette, the Office of Student Affairs invited Massingale to speak on African American attitudes on homosexuality at an event on culture and sexual orientation.

At the event, Massingale said “Of the 30 or so [LGBT] students present, maybe 20 identified as Catholic, but none of them said they had any current relation with the Catholic Church.”

Massingale mentioned the phenomenon shortly afterwards at a faculty gathering, when he spoke with Anthony F. Peressini, Associate Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Honors Program. Massingale mentioned his experience teaching the seminary course, and Peressini invited him to submit a course proposal.

Peressini said honors curriculums are selected for topical relevancy and discussion of issues that would not be elsewhere. By way of example, Peressini said past honors courses focused on the Benedictine order, Irish poets and the origin of the universe taught by a theologian, a physicist, and a philosopher.

Massingale taught “Homosexuality and Christian Ethics” for the first time in 2007. Peressini said the course was selected to offer “a broader view as to how homosexuality is viewed in a different context.”

The seminar is one of eight offered by the Honors Program annually to juniors and seniors. The program decides which seminars are to be taught after sending out proposals to faculty members.

Massingale said readings for the course cover perspectives within Catholic and Protestant Christianity from the most restrictive to the most affirming. Peressini and Massingale independently said the course was well-received by students the last time it was taught.

Massingale said the possibility of offering the course to students outside the Honors Program “is not one I’ve actively pursued.”
Massingale said if the class were to be taught outside the Honors Program, it would likely be an occasional upper-division elective offering every other year, in the special section “Special Topics in Moral Theology.”

“I want to stress that no decision has been made to offer the course beyond the Honors Program, nor has there been even a discussion of that possibility,” Massingale said.

“I’ve taught it before in the seminary. It’s certainly topical, something that could be [used] in a wider setting,” said Massingale.
When asked if he foresaw any special difficulties gaining approval for teaching the course beyond the Honors Program due to the potentially controversial subject matter, Massingale said, “Frankly, no. When I was hired, they knew I had taught this at the seminary level. Frankly, I think it’s surprising to me, if I were told I could teach this at a seminary and not to undergraduates.”

Carlo Giombi, 20, a junior in Arts and Sciences, currently enrolled in the course, described the course as “one of the most important [ones] currently offered at MU.”
“It seems to me that there is a severe lack of in-depth analysis regarding the various stances on homosexuality, both inside and outside of the Church,” said Giombi.
Desiree Valentine, 21, a junior in Arts and Sciences, also enrolled in the course, said the course was recommended to her by a recent graduate who described it as “the best class he had taken during his time at Marquette.”

When asked if the instructor displayed any ideological bias, Valentine said, “I have trouble thinking that a professor need be completely objective in their instruction of a course, especially one such as this which incorporates a lot of discussion and seminar style lectures, but the professor so far has not made his stances on the issue extremely clear in any way save for the fact that he obviously thinks homosexuality and Christianity should be talked about.”

“This is an incredibly complex issue and therefore I think it’s hard to take any rigid ideological stances in the instruction of the course,” said Valentine.

Popularity: 8% [?]

As you begin your freshman year at Marquette you quickly realize that you are on your own. Your nagging parents are replaced with fellow students who would like to go out, watch movies, play video games, who would like to do anything… except study. It is very easy to start skipping class and fall behind in your coursework. This behavior will not only result in terrible grades but it will cause you to miss out on a major opportunity here at Marquette – learning.

In high school many of the classes probably seemed dull and pointless. While you may run into some similar courses here at Marquette, there are many great professors to learn from and a variety of different subjects to learn about. Do not pass up this opportunity.

Every student is required to take classes from the Marquette core curriculum. At first you may believe this requirement is unnecessary. Many ask why a math major needs to study philosophy or theology anyway. The goal of these required courses is to make every Marquette student well rounded, or at least to allow everyone to experience unfamiliar subjects that they may enjoy.

Some of the most important classes in the core curriculum are the theology classes. Marquette requires most students to take at least two theology classes. These classes are not simply limited to Catholic theology but extend into other religious beliefs including various Protestant faiths, Islam and Judaism. These courses not only give you a lot of information on these different religions, but deal with some of the most important questions people ask themselves such as: How am I going to live my life? or what type of person do I intend to become?

Also in the core curriculum are classes on philosophy, diverse cultures and history. All of these courses deal with ideas, individuals and events that have impacted the world we live in today. Many of the problems we currently face have already been dealt with and in order to solve them it can only help to study the decisions people have made in the past.

In order to enjoy these types of classes you have to search out the courses you are interested in and find a good professor to take it from. Throughout my time here at Marquette I have benefited from some extremely passionate and intelligent professors. In order to help you with your search I would like to share with you the professors I have been influenced most by and urge you to take some of their classes.

Professor Mark Armstrong teaches courses on international politics; he is extremely informed on current events and the history of the 20th century. Professor Michael Fleet also teaches in the political science department; he is very knowledgeable about political systems of countries all over the world. Two other professors that offer unique and informative clases are Professor McGee Young and Professor Ryan Hanley.

In other subjects, the Rev. William Kurz, S.J., teaches excellent theology classes, and Dr. Olga Yakusheva teaches many economics courses. I highly recommend taking economics, as it is an extremely important subject that forces individuals to think logically — something people in America often fail to do. Professor Daniel Meissner teaches history courses on China and East Asia, which count for the diverse cultures core requirement. There is currently a Facebook group for him entitled “Dan Meissner: Confucian Gentleman and Shinto God,” so you know he must be popular.

These are just a few of the professors from whom I have had the benefit of learning over the past three years. I urge you all to take advantage of the great opportunities you will have over your college career to develop into informed individuals. This will not only make you a more interesting person but will also make life more enjoyable for you.

As Socrates once said, “The greatest pleasure in life is talking about the questions that really matter with the people that really care.”

Popularity: 10% [?]