Good point Stephen, universities should ensure that their advisors are competent, and they don't ordinarily have the brightest and best in those positions, with the exception of a few (whose names I keep handy and pass along).
I admit that my comment can be seen as a cop out in that it is passing along the university "party line." Unfortunately, it is reality, and hard line. Personally, I think that the job of the advisor isn't so much to pass along what a student "should" do (although students sometimes view it as such), but to help them understand the system, explore their options, learn to read the catalogs, and understand how to select courses intelligently so they DON'T have to come back each and every semester during registration to find out "what next." I'm all for asking universities to change their practices, and then they can change the name in advisement to something more definitive too. But, until then, its a hard lesson to learn, but a necessary one, on the part of the student. I do what I can by informing the students every chance I can, that it truly is up to them. And I tell them that just like with medicine, which seems to be less trustworthy every day, they should get a second opinion when it comes to advisement about their future. Plus, its not often easy to get some really good damning evidence that will work in their favor after receiving advisement. However, I think its an excellent idea to try and get advisors to give their advice in writing! But, at the risk of sounding cynical, I tend to think that if enough students get a break due to bad advice, schools will devise a disclaimer form or something to protect themselves. -----Original Message----- From: Stephen Black [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Tuesday, December 03, 2002 4:01 PM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences Subject: RE: malcounseling insurance? Michael Sylvester, resident TIPS gadfly, asked the searching question: > should an academic counselor be held liable > for giving incorrect advise to a student? On 3 Dec 2002, hgelpi replied: > Nope, > > That is why they call it "advisement." When I taught the college > skills courses, going to the advisors was an important area. Students > should never blindly follow the advisors, they need to become educated > consumers. > The dominant response to this query, as in the one above, seems to be "hang tough", with (as I recall) nary a dissenting voice. Here's one. Assume that there's documented evidence that the advisor was consulted and gave incorrect advice (such as the advisor admitting it). In that case, I'd say that the university has a duty to ensure that the student doesn't suffer as a result of the error. My reasoning is that a student who consults an advisor does so in the reasonable expectation that the advice will be competent. Thus it's a cop-out to claim that the ultimate responsibility lies with the student (although, of course, that's exactly what universities do). If the student is supposed to know, and if the advice doesn't count, then why bother to get it? The university should therefore make an exception to the rule for the student or allow the student to register retroactively for the required course. I doubt that this will lead to a deluge of "me too's". Only those who similarly received bad advice should receive a similar break, and let's hope it's an isolated case. In cases where there's ambiguity or uncertainty in the rule to be applied, I always tell the student to get the advice in writing. That way, who's at fault can be established. And if it's our fault, we have a responsibility to own up and make it right. Stephen ______________________________________________________________ Stephen L. Black, Ph.D. tel: (819) 822-9600 ext 2470 Department of Psychology fax: (819) 822-9661 Bishop's University e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Lennoxville, QC J1M 1Z7 Canada Dept web page at http://www.ubishops.ca/ccc/div/soc/psy TIPS discussion list for psychology teachers at http://www.frostburg.edu/dept/psyc/southerly/tips _________________________________________________________ --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
