Forming An Oppurtunity Belief

The opportunity I believe exists is that there are long lines for advising in the College of Journalism PATH office. As a student assistant in the office, I see first hand on a daily basis what the lines are like there. The unmet need is that students need to meet with their advisors. The people who have this need the most are students in the College of Journalism. This problem is not new, but it has gotten worse as more and more students are admitted to the college while the amount of advisors available to see them has gone down. To meet this need, some students are trying to come to the office earlier to try to beat the rush, while advisors are trying to limit how much time they speak to each student. I talked to three students about their experiences waiting in line at the office.

• Do you like going to advising?
• "I mean I don't like it but I don't mind it."
• What situations make you go?
• "I always go during Add/Drop, but other than that it's kinda random. Whenever I have a question I guess."
• What's your biggest annoyance when going?
• "Yeah I guess the lines are really annoying. Or when they take forever for one person."
• Why do you think lines get so long?
• "Probably because a lot of people have questions. I'd assume most people have questions about classes around the same times or stuff like that."
• What can be done about them?
• "The advisors can probably work a little faster. It seems like they take their time too much."
• Do you feel they will get better?
• "Probably not. I don't think they care enough."

Reflection: Some people's preconceived notions about advising amplify their annoyances with lines.

• Do you like going to advising?
• "I love going to advising. I did so much better after I started going more often."
• What situations make you go?
• "I hadn't been to one class yet and couldn't access the canvas. And I go to ask about future classes."
• What's your biggest annoyance when going?
• "If they can't help me with my problem."
• Why do you think lines get so long?
• "If it's Add/Drop."
• What can be done about them?
• "They can get better if they only let certain amount of people in at time."
• Do you feel they will get better?
• "If they do that then it will."

Reflection: He finds advising helpful, but can see when it can get annoying to people.

• Do you like going to advising?
• "I don't really like it. It's more of a hassle than anything."
• What situations make you go?
• "I actually go a lot. When I need help with classes, career help stuff, a lot reasons."
• What's your biggest annoyance when going?
• "The whole thing. Going all the way there, the lines, making sure they actually give the right information."
• Why do you think lines get so long?
• "I think people go around the same times a day. Like right after a class gets out is the worst time to go cause everybody goes then."
• What can be done about them?
• "Besides assigning people times to come I don't really know what they can do."
• Do you feel they will get better?
• "I doubt it."

Reflection: Even the people who go a lot hate the process of waiting.

I think there is clearly a problem of lines being an issue. Nobody likes the lines and they all want them to be fixed. Something that jumped out at me is they all had different thoughts on how they can be fixed. At first, I believe the only real solutions to make the lines faster is for the advisors to work quicker and for people less people to come in at once. However, each of the three of them had different ideas on how they can be fixed, some believing it more possible than others. Two people gave interesting potential ideas that I think the office should consider implementing. The advisors taking their advice would be a good example of entrepreneurs listening to consumer feedback, and is good lesson for anybody.