Deciphering one's DARS report is one of the rituals of advising week for all Ohio University students, though students have a variety of ways to obtain the important document.
The university's DARS distribution varies from college to college and from major to major, with certain departments requiring face-to-face meetings with advisers and others promoting DARS Fests.
The English department includes both options in its DARS distribution, depending on students' class standing and the quarter, said Thomas Scanlan, director of Undergraduate Studies and advising coordinator.
During Fall Quarter, every English major must schedule an appointment with his or her adviser. Upperclassmen may pick up their DARS reports at the Winter and Spring Quarter DARS Fests with a photo ID or contact their adviser.
About one-third of English majors take advantage of the DARS Fests, which provide a place for students to ask simple advising questions in a comfortable atmosphere where pizza is provided, Scanlan said. Students with more complex questions should schedule regular advising appointments, he said, and students on academic probation must meet with their advisers.
The English department follows guidelines of the College of Arts and Sciences, he said. Caryn Asleson, assistant dean for Undergraduate Student Affairs in the College of Arts and Sciences, said the college does not have set rules for DARS distribution or advising, but she meets with each department's undergraduate advising coordinators quarterly to come up with ideas. Mass e-mails sent by professors to advisees are one of the biggest improvements in the advising system, she said.
Students are assigned to advisers in their major, and undecided students are assigned to advisers in areas they are interested in or to an adviser in his or her office in the college, she said.
In the School of Art, within the College of Fine Arts, students are required to meet with their advisers each quarter in order to pick up their DARS reports, Rosemarie Basile, assistant director for student services in the School of Art, said.
Personal advising appointments are required for several reasons, she said. It is important for students to sit down with a real person and discuss their questions. Also, these meetings allow the faculty to get to know students and to give students an opportunity to make contacts for letters of recommendation and other resume builders.
For the first two years, art majors are not in specific majors and are generally split up between Basile and Art Werger, the chair of the school's foundations program. Once students are in their specialized programs, they are matched up with faculty advisers in those areas.
The School of Art is one of the few schools with its own student services office, Basile said, where she provides general advising services, and students can find information on topics beyond advising.
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Megan Chew
