We all crave a day off, especially in the middle of the week. Advising day gives us all a much needed off day to prepare for next semester, pick out our classes and talk to our advisors and professors about our chosen path. But what happens when students don’t use this administration-given day?
“It’s always a real danger that [the administration] could take away advising day,” Professor Susan McLean warns. “Fewer students show up every year, so they don’t want to ‘waste’ money setting aside a day for it.”
The number of students on campus during advising day has been strikingly small the last couple  of years. Classrooms sit empty and conference rooms of bored and defeated looking professors sit filled with the professors alone and goodies uneaten. Though some departments and advisors do one-on-one advising, many also do group advising.
“It’s such a beneficial thing for students,” says McLean. “You have most of your professors for your major in the room and they know the classes for the next year at least, you can plan ahead!” For some students planning ahead is essential whether it’s for an honors program or just wanting to get out of school on time. Certain classes, especially specialized classes without high yearly demand are only offered every two or three years or only during certain semesters.
By the time you read this, chances are you will already be registered for classes whether you went to advising day or not. If you didn’t, you probably just enjoyed the extra day off. If you did, you enjoyed the day off and gained some valuable insight. Either way, if you want to keep the day off and keep the special help, you should mark the date for next semester’s advising day.