Eryn Brennan
In Motion Staff Writer
Daytona State College has created a program to bridge the gap in communication that sometimes exists between students and advisors. This initiative, called Advisors on the Go, takes six advisors out of their offices and puts them around campus to make them more available to students.
“The Advisor on the Go initiative is part of the school’s retention drive to try and get folks to not only do better in their classes but make sure they’re taking the right classes so that they’re getting their degrees on time and at as little cost to the student as possible,” says Advisor on the Go Billy Biferie.
The program’s main focus is accessibility for students. The advisors understand that because students are so busy, they don’t always have time to go to the advising offices and wait to speak with an advisor when all they may need to do is ask a simple question. Because of this, not only do students not get the answers they need, but they also don’t get to take advantage of the services the advisors can provide.
“A lot of times they’ll come in right in the beginning to lift their advising hold and then they won’t check back in throughout the process of the degree and they don’t know if they’re taking the right classes and they run into problems,” explains Jamie Ellsworth, another Advisor on the Go.
The advisors keep tablets with them, so they have access to the same information they would if a student went to their office. They also carry forms, such as change of major or referral forms, so they can help the student with whatever they need.
Each advisor specializes in a different department, so when students see an Advisor on the Go in Building 330 — the Social Sciences Building — for example, they know that the advisor specializes in that department, so if they have a question about Social Sciences that’s who they can go to ask.
“Right now we’re pretty extensive because the way they have us divided now it kind of covers satellite campuses,” says Darryl Gordon, also an Advisor on the Go, “We’re kind of touching on all of our campuses.”
The Advisors on the Go are Jamie Ellsworth, who is at the News Journal Center and the Daytona Campus and specializes in the Music Production Tech program, Cultural Programs, Photography, and Interactive Media Production; Darryl Gordon who is at the Writing Center and is in the Behavioral/Social Sciences department as well as the Academic Support Center; Billy Biferie, who specializes in Business and is also at the Academic Support Center; Joshua Poniatowski, who is at the Academic Support Center and Science department; Beverly Rhodes in the Hospitality, Cosmetology and Welding departments as well as the Academic Support Center; and Derrick Porter, who is at the Academic Support Center along with the Education and Health departments.
This has been a benefit to faculty members as well. If a professor has a student with a question they can’t answer themselves, they can seek guidance from an advisor that specializes in their department.
“Even the faculty and staff, being able to work with them and being able to help them as well, I think is a success on both sides,” says Gordon.
The program has been successful so far; the Advisors on the Go saw 276 students in February. However, not all students are aware of this program. For that reason, all of the advisors will be in their offices for the month of April, which is peak season for advising, because most students will be coming to their offices anyway.
“With any new thing or new initiative I think it takes a while to really get the ball rolling,” says Ellsworth.
“It’s going well so far, the students are getting to know us. The most important thing I think is getting to let the community know why we’re there and what we’re doing,” she says.
The advisors believe that for students, staying connected with advising is a key component to them succeeding in college.
“The advising process really ought to be an ongoing part of your academic career and building faculty and staff contacts while you’re at the school is one of the best resources you can make use of here. We’re really trying to drive that point home, it’s not just ‘what classes do I need?’ but, ‘what can I do with this, where should I go? How can I achieve whatever this lofty end-goal is?’” says Biferie.