Baruch College’s science department must invest more resources in providing academic advisors for undergraduate students.
With the number of students majoring in science rapidly increasing, there is a growing need for more faculty to help advise students on their majors, course selections and career paths.
Many students are calling on Baruch to hire more advisors to accommodate new science majors. Biology student Mahir Rahman is adamant that “when it comes to future challenges our natural science department will face, it has to meet the demand of the ever-growing interest new freshmen or sophomores have in the healthcare field and in the sciences. There is so much new and fascinating interest, but not enough workers to meet the demand.”
Classes required for graduation have an incredibly low number of seats, placing immense stress on students.
For example, CHM 4900, or biochemistry, is a prerequisite for many medical schools, and many science majors take it as a capstone course in order to graduate. However, with a very limited number of seats available, many are left scrambling to either register for backup classes or e-permit at other schools.
It’s these types of difficult situations where students often rely on advisors for guidance. Many freshmen experiencing this situation for the first time are often overwhelmed and in need of information from a reliable source. However, that isn’t the case for some.
Alvi Khan, a biology major at Baruch, revealed that as a freshman, he was assigned a non-science advisor. Unfortunately, this isn’t uncommon among Weissman students on the pre-med track.
Having a dedicated, knowledgeable advisor in the science department is a resource that many Baruch students do not have access to. When it comes to an education and career path as rigorous and specific as pre-med, it is imperative that the right courses are taken and at the right time.
Some courses are only available in certain semesters, which can change on a yearly basis, depending on which professors are available. Falling behind can set a student’s graduation date a semester or two back, hindering their job prospects and ability to start working or enter graduate school.
Due to Baruch’s understaffed advisory department, it is much harder to accommodate their students.
With a faculty department that is already stretched thin, Baruch must prioritize more resources on hiring more advisors to support the needs of its science majors and handle its growing student population.
