The decision to lay off nearly all academic advisors by the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences on Friday has sparked confusion and uncertainty among many Dornsife students. Advisors were asked to stay at their jobs for the next 60 days. Following this, Dornsife will provide centralized hubs for each Dornsife division where students can still receive academic advice.

Several Dornsife students interviewed by the Daily Trojan said they were unaware of the layoffs and did not receive a formal announcement from the University. 

Chiala Villanueva, a freshman majoring in human biology, said she wouldn’t have known if her friends didn’t tell her. Nicolette Kasravi, a freshman majoring in biological sciences, said she initially believed that layoffs of advisors was limited to the Viterbi School of Engineering.

Annenberg Media reported on Oct. 5 that Viterbi have laid off all its academic advisors as part of a departmental restructuring, with a lesser number of positions available in the new model. 

“I am a little confused as to why they needed to lay off all these people and how that will affect us in the future,” Kasravi said.

Dornsife administration cited financial challenges as a reason for the layoffs. This comes after interim President Beong-Soo Kim announced in a July statement that the University had a more than $200 million operating deficit from the previous fiscal year. 

Elise O’Neill, a freshman majoring in international relations, said she heard about the lay offs from her classes.

“It maybe could have been more explicitly communicated,” O’Neil said. “It would be assumed that there would be resources for students to get the advisement that they need.”

The layoffs were first reported last Friday by Morning, Trojan. In an email sent to staff, Dornsife Dean James Bullock wrote that the school laid off 162 employees as a part of departmental restructuring. 

In a statement to the Daily Trojan, Bullock wrote that Dornsife hopes the new system will allow students more access to advisors.

“The plan we are implementing is specifically focused on maintaining the academic integrity of our departments and providing the high level of student support that USC Dornsife is known for,” Bullock wrote. “In the new model, student advisors will be cross-trained and available to fill in for each other when people are sick or on vacation. We are hopeful that with multiple points of support, students will get more, not less, access to informed advisors.”

Annica Harris, a freshman majoring in non-governmental organizations and social change, said she doesn’t know how the layoffs will affect her spring semester. 

Dornsife advisors meet with students individually at least once each semester to create a course plan, review degree requirements and answer questions. Chiala Villanueva, a freshman human biology major, said the timing of the layoffs is inconvenient. Most students will begin registering for spring classes in early November.

“I need help picking my classes, especially for next semester,” Villanueva said. “It’s very important to have someone guide me to have all the classes I need to maybe, eventually go to med school.” 

Kylie Sheils, a freshman majoring in psychology, said the decision is damaging. 

“The fact that we had to lay off advisors is really disgusting and really affects literally thousands of students, including us freshmen who don’t know what we’re doing yet,” Sheilis said. 

Beyond academic anxieties, Kasravi said the University needs to “better compensate the workers that are here” for handling more students and needs to provide more resources to help students handle the changes caused by the layoffs. 

“But I feel like, if they start hiring people back, it would steadily get better,” Kasravi said.