Academic Advisement Sponsors Workshop Series

by Ariel Brandwein

The Yeshiva College Academic Advisement Center will be kicking off a series of six workshops entitled “Academic Success” over the course of the fall semester geared toward helping students plan their academic careers.  The voluntary sessions, coordinated by Dr. Gillian Steinberg of the English department, should provide students with an opportunity to make academic improvements in their college lives. 

“We often expect students to figure it out [college life] on their own, but some don’t,” explained Steinberg, referring to the often-tumultuous transition into collegiate life.   “Many students are already getting advice from upperclassmen, but a lot of information is not coming from where it should be.” 

One of the workshops that should help fill the information void is aimed at teaching students how to interact with professors.  “Students are often too passive or too aggressive when dealing with professors,” Steinberg insisted.  “Through this workshop, we hope to inform students of   improved methods of getting what they want.”

The program, which was envisaged by Director of Academic Advisement Dr. Nada Glick, is intended to emulate workshops that have already been a plethora of colleges nationwide.  Although other institutions generally compel attendance, Glick sees an advantage to making attendance voluntary: “It’s designed to be sampled as one or taken as a series.  In this manner, it is a non-threatening, non-official method of self-help and self-awareness,” she explained. 

Glick’s incentive to create the program stemmed from a desire to help students adapt more smoothly to an academic environment that can often be rigorous.  “We have students who come to us and say: ‘I’ve studied, but I still don’t get it,’” recounted Glick.  “There’s not a clear understanding among students of how to proceed in different situations.  The goal of the workshops is to give students the knowledge necessary to fill their needs.” 

The individual topics covered a broad range, from familiarizing students with the functions of key department offices, to developing efficient study habits, to presenting an array of strategies to engineer proper course selections.  For now, the workshops, which will last about an hour and a half followed by refreshments, are scheduled to meet every two to three weeks beginning in October.  While Steinberg will be directly coordinating the workshops, deans, faculty members and academic advisors are encouraged to attend and to engage in the discussions.     

Although the assumption is that most upperclassmen have already acclimated, Steinberg hopes that some upperclassmen will attend the workshops in order to offer advice to younger students.

The lack of any attendance policy notwithstanding, both Glick and Steinberg are optimistic.  They noted that as long as students attend, they will be ready to make the necessary modifications.  According to Glick, “We are going to work with the students to see how the program should operate.”