Advising involves not only helping students decide what classes to take, but getting students to look at broader opportunities available to them, Haddad said. Group advising is one technique McKeesport Campus uses to try to alleviate the problem, she said. Commonwealth Educational System budget cuts have also affected advising, Haddad said. As we lose full-time faculty it increases the number of advisees for each adviser. The McKeesport Campus has two kinds of advisers.
Professional advisers have the information about all majors on campus.
Non-degree students, provisional students or students who are undecided go to them because they need someone with information about many different majors, Haddad said. Full-time professors also advise students during their office hours. Faculty advisers do not necessarily advise within the college or department in which they teach, but each college provides an advising manual for them, Haddad said. Ideally, students would like to be advised by an adviser within their college, she said, adding that most advisers usually have the information that McKeesport Campus students need. Although advisers may not always have all the information, resources are available and advisers can make referrals, she said.