2008 Woodie Awards
Café Advising aims to help unsure students
Started less than a year ago, the program has been successful at pairing students with questions to professors with answers
Jon Miller
Issue date:
11/7/07
Section:
Campus
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Many students don't
realize the small sitting
area next to the coffee stand
in the Bremer Student
Center is the home of Café
Advising, a unique program
that offers academic
guidance to students in the
comfort of the cafeteria.
The program was formed
from an idea English
instructor Eunha Jung had
early last year in an instructional
meeting in hopes to
gain more open communication
between students
and professors.
Jung said the idea started
when a student asked her
why we don't have a café
culture in America like there
is in Europe. This sparked a
plan to help students feel
more in touch with their
campus by taking advantage
of the social environment
that was already in
place.
Dr. Susan Digby, an OC
geography professor who
has been involved with the
program since its conception,
said a sense of belonging
can have a significant
impact on a students academic
career.
"I think people are more
successful if they're in an
environment they are comfortable
in," Digby said.
"(OC) is not a residential
campus," Jung said.
"People are busy with other
jobs and students can feel
isolated."
Jung's goal was to make
advising more convenient
to students.
"Some (students) don't
have time to go to advisors,"
Jung said. She added
that making office appointments
or going to a professor
can be intimidating and
some students "don't want
to bother with it."
When the program
started in December, many
of the necessary components
were missing, such
as chairs, a table, a phone,
desk and a computer for
advisers to use. But right
from the beginning it had
the faculty support it needed.
Jung had 13 full-time
faculty volunteer their time
to spend an hour or two
of their mandatory office
hours in the café.
"What was amazing was
there wasn't a single office
that wasn't involved in
realize the small sitting
area next to the coffee stand
in the Bremer Student
Center is the home of Café
Advising, a unique program
that offers academic
guidance to students in the
comfort of the cafeteria.
The program was formed
from an idea English
instructor Eunha Jung had
early last year in an instructional
meeting in hopes to
gain more open communication
between students
and professors.
Jung said the idea started
when a student asked her
why we don't have a café
culture in America like there
is in Europe. This sparked a
plan to help students feel
more in touch with their
campus by taking advantage
of the social environment
that was already in
place.
Dr. Susan Digby, an OC
geography professor who
has been involved with the
program since its conception,
said a sense of belonging
can have a significant
impact on a students academic
career.
"I think people are more
successful if they're in an
environment they are comfortable
in," Digby said.
"(OC) is not a residential
campus," Jung said.
"People are busy with other
jobs and students can feel
isolated."
Jung's goal was to make
advising more convenient
to students.
"Some (students) don't
have time to go to advisors,"
Jung said. She added
that making office appointments
or going to a professor
can be intimidating and
some students "don't want
to bother with it."
When the program
started in December, many
of the necessary components
were missing, such
as chairs, a table, a phone,
desk and a computer for
advisers to use. But right
from the beginning it had
the faculty support it needed.
Jung had 13 full-time
faculty volunteer their time
to spend an hour or two
of their mandatory office
hours in the café.
"What was amazing was
there wasn't a single office
that wasn't involved in
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