Emeriti profs dispense practical wisdom at IUB’s Students Advocates Office

By Rose McIlveen

When life on campus puts students in a quandary, they can seek direction at the IUB Student Advocates Office. Volunteers there are retired faculty members who bring their academic savvy and life skills to a particular problem.

Student life can have its frustrating moments—a grade that seems to fall on the wrong side of a borderline; misunderstanding of financial aid deadlines; a shortfall of funds near the end of the semester. Sometimes a student needs to talk to someone who’s been around for awhile—a good listener who will understand.

That’s what the Student Advocates Office is all about. Fortunately for the students who climb up to the second floor of Franklin Hall on the Indiana University Bloomington campus, there is a place where they can find retired faculty counselors who “know the ropes” and are willing to dispense the wisdom of their years.

A similar office was started off campus in the 1970s by a campus minister who sensed a need for such a service and set it up with the university’s cooperation.

“But he discovered it really needed a person on campus who knew how the university worked,” said Beverly Warren, the program’s director. Warren came to work in the office in 1991 after a career of teaching and graduate work in counseling at the University of Maryland.

Recruiting has never been a problem for the Student Advocates Office.

Warren explained that the office has a full staff of volunteers who give half days each week on a regular basis. “We receive recommendations from various sources on campus. We look for people with a strong commitment to the university and to students,” she said.

That half day sometimes extends into extra hours spent on a particular case.

“I expect volunteers to follow through once they meet with a student and hear his or her problem,” Warren said. “So they often will make phone calls or write letters in between their half-day stint in the office. Right now we have 12 advocates. The newest person kind of floats and comes in if somebody is sick or is going to be out of town.”

Frank Banta, an emeritus professor of Germanic studies, has been an advocate since 1988 and has heard his share of student problems. He is also a half-time assistant director of the office.

The advocates take student complaints very seriously and complete confidentiality goes along with the service.

A student may come with what seems like an insurmountable stumbling block. The attitude of the retired faculty volunteers is, “Well, it may seem that way. Let’s see what we can do.” When it comes to student “emergencies” and complaints, an advocate counselor may not have heard every kind of story, but collectively, they have come pretty close.

Do student advocates act as a go-between when students believe they have been unfairly graded?

“Yes,” said Warren. “We sometimes listen to the student and suggest how the student may approach that professor. Sometimes they haven’t really talked to the professor, because they’re really frightened. Or they feel very uncomfortable. In some cases, they know they have angered a professor. Sometimes we will write a letter to the instructor, help the student to frame a request. Sometimes we will pick up the phone and call the instructor.”

“If we can get the student to solve his or her own problem, we do that,” said Banta. “We do a lot of listening. I think there’s nothing more important than doing that listening in counseling. We try to make these cases learning experiences for the students.”

Last year, the Student Advocates Office logged 753 clients. This year Warren expects to reach 1,000.

http://campuslife.indiana.edu/Advocates/index.html