Right before spring break, Academic Honors and Fellowships discontinued the Academic Achievement Award and Exceptional Funding. This decision disrupted many degree completion plans, including my own. Upon hearing this news, I reexamined my future goals while contemplating the difficulties of obtaining funding elsewhere even with the extension of scholarships until next year. At this turning point, I want to reflect on the importance of having a transparent, consistent and supportive advising system. 

The fundamental reason USC installed academic advisers was to allow Trojans to navigate the diverse yet somewhat confusing course offerings while thriving under mentorship. However, fostering this ideal environment requires more effort and planning than simply assigning confused freshmen to unenthusiastic advisers. 

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Back in November, University administration announced the launch of  Advise USC, a centralized platform that merged various advising features. This new portal manages appointments and provides access to essential documents, but these basic functions do not suffice more complex needs. Truthfully, we need substantial changes. Serving as a key component of higher education, advisers should build bridges for professors and the young minds in the lecture hall, not propose further alienation. 

Multiple layers of support systems come into play to satisfy general education and major requirements, obtain D-Clearances and eventually graduate on time. Amid organizational hierarchy, advisers should guide students to explore their endless potential and cultivate enjoyable learning experiences. However, the reality is that misinformation proliferates across emails, and a few instances of miscommunication can result in fatal consequences.

I have heard countless horror stories of computer science majors not being able to reserve a spot in their mandatory freshman-year lectures, or seniors needing last-minute language credit to meet their requirements because of a change in citizenship status. These instances are not universal across the student population, and they ought to be handled with care based on individual demands. 

Although USC prides itself on its flexible curriculum and easy conversions between pre-professional schools — such as switching in and out of the Marshall School of Business, Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism and Viterbi School of Engineering — these promises are not always fulfilled. In fact, they are more of a selling point to aspiring high school applicants than actual accessible benefits to the current attendees of the University. 

To encourage more Trojans to venture into numerous fields, the University should offer programs such as peer advisement, which pairs underclassmen with upperclassmen to exchange recommendations. Similar initiatives have been implemented at other private institutions such as Harvard University, and they have proven to garner success due to a sense of shared community. 

Recalling my encounters with advisers, I could not have taken on the ambitious endeavor of enrolling in a double major alongside a double minor without the help of my Thematic Option adviser. In addition to our mandatory sessions, we conducted many monthly check-ins to discuss how I am adjusting to the heavy course load.

As a patient listener, they made me feel like I could be more than a name on a STARS Report but a lively presence on campus. From voicing complaints against unreasonable professors to confessing anxiety regarding my future career choices, we grew close through the past eight months.

I am in a privileged position to rely on their reassuring instructions. Outside of the few hundred who are a part of the program, other Trojans still suffer from delayed responses and constant switching of advisers, possibly as a result of a low employee retention rate. 

Beyond the fundamental concerns outlined above, having equitable access to advisers is also directly tied to the success of first-generation, low-income Trojans. For those who come from financially advantaged backgrounds, degree attainment is not a novel concept. Yet for some who are not exposed to parents with graduate degrees and firm financial backbone, it becomes more challenging to achieve the status of “Renaissance” men and women who can do it all.  

If USC continues to advertise its commitment to first-generation, low-income students, University administration needs to place academic advisement at the forefront of reform and identify disparities within the system to overturn the inherently classist structure.

Considering the increase in tuition for the 2024-25 school year, the University must create a more detail-oriented, personalized process that allows Trojans to experiment with an array of pathways with clarity, a trial-and-error mentality and sufficient backup plans. The sheer amount of options we are confronting is empowering yet disorienting. The bottom line is: We shouldn’t be afraid to try out different programs due to the concern of insufficient course planning, and advisers should stand hand-in-hand with Trojans to eliminate barriers and uplift their dreams.