The University Advising Council (UAC) recently proposed examining student satisfaction surveys from various academic colleges to address advising concerns.

Janis Jacobs, UAC chair and vice provost for undergraduate education and international programs, said the council hopes to get a "deeper look" into the problems students might be experiencing with advisers.

She said UAC proposed the idea after noticing that its general satisfaction surveys, issued university-wide every two years, have revealed that many students are unhappy with their advising.

"We find generally satisfaction is low compared to other things at Penn State," she said.

Jacobs said the questions on previously issued UAC surveys were too general, and surveys from individual academic colleges would better pinpoint specific student concerns.

According to the 2004 Penn State Student Satisfaction Survey, conducted by the Office of Student Affairs, about 24 percent of students university-wide said they were not satisfied with the overall quality of their academic advising, while about 51 percent said they were satisfied and about 25 percent said they were neutral.

Some academic colleges have tried to improve their advising departments to accommodate students better.

Mark Dirsmith, professor of accounting and adviser in the Smeal College of Business, said Smeal re-organized its advising department two years ago to grant students more specialized assistance.

Currently, the undergraduate dean's office advises students in terms of degree requirements, and individual academic departments within the college advise students in specific areas, such as career strategies.

However, Dirsmith said students still tend not to use advising as much as they should.

"We could be used more," he said. "They tend to rely on other students for advice."