Students from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences may not have to face long lines in the advising center much longer.
The college’s Academic Advising Center has trained 25 student ambassadors to provide their classmates with information about majors, dropping or adding courses and paperwork for dropping majors, said Albert Matheny, the director of the Academic Advising Center.
Matheny said Unite Party Sen. Thomas Hilton and former Senate President Audrey Goldman approached him with the idea for the program this summer.
Three advisers volunteered to help start the program and chose 25 juniors and seniors to serve as ambassadors.
Nick Mrozinske, one of the advisers, said the ambassadors have been helping since Nov. 9. They set up tables outside the advising center, Farrior Hall, to answer students’ questions before going into the office. He said the ambassadors also help students prepare for their appointments.
“I’ve seen students coming in better prepared,” Mrozinske said.
Ambassador Nina Martinez, a political science and English junior, said the ambassadors serve as a link between students and their faculty and advisers. Martinez said her time in Student Government helped her realize that this link needs to be repaired.
“You realize how inaccessible some of the institutions at UF are, and you just want to aid in any capacity to make the school a little smaller,” Martinez said.
Keith Morgan, a psychology and criminology junior, also worked at the table. He said he helped answer UF freshman Sabrina Jackson’s question about the requirements for a chemistry class and referred her to an adviser. Jackson said she anticipated a long wait at the advising office and plans to get help from the ambassadors in the future.
“I think it’s a good thing to do for the students who are in a rush and don’t have time to wait for an adviser,” Jackson said.
