UC's academic services help students navigate uncertain times

Nevertheless, Papin began to adjust fairly quickly. Papin realized “the core of our job hasn’t really changed. Our job is to be available to students,” but “the way that we do that is a little bit different.”

Matt Pickett, an A&S senior adviser for exploratory majors, had similar feelings. “The functions of my job are still the same. It’s just having to adapt to a new way of doing them,” says Pickett.

Papin and Pickett do both miss meeting face-to-face with their students. “There are certainly some things I miss about meeting students in person,” says Papin. Pickett says he is “very much an extrovert” which made the transition harder for him. “I’m a really face-to-face kind of person. I don’t like phone calls in general. Since I’ve had to do a lot more phone appointments than normal, that’s harder for me personally,” Pickett says.

Even though both Papin and Pickett miss meeting with students face-to-face, the change has actually allowed them to be more efficient with their meetings and be able to meet with more students. “We really have been able to maintain our availability to students and even be more available,” says Papin. She says since going virtual, advisers can go from one meeting into the next much more easily.

Aashka Raval, a second-year student at UC and student body treasurer, says she has not noticed a difference in availability or readiness to help since advising went remote. Raval also says she “personally like(s) the online avenue better.”