The Inter-Institutional Faculty Senate wants to make a strong statement about the importance of academic advising for all students regardless of whether they begin their higher education at one of Oregon's community colleges or at one of the public universities. While various draft proposals in circulation foot-note a statement about the importance of good advising, the IFS believes that a clear statement, and effective support for the wide range of advising needs of transfer students is essential to the success of any proposal eventually adopted by OUS.

Whether it is the Oregon Transfer Module, or any of the other proposals of the Excellence in Delivery and Productivity's (MBF) working group, accurate, accessible and other student support services are central to student success. This advising must extend beyond any Transfer Module to include specific information regarding a student's desired major and degree. As many students either begin college without a chosen major, or subsequently change that major, this sort of advising presents many challenges; challenging to the student in choosing a specific major path, and challenging to teacher faculty and academic advisers in helping those students select a curriculum.

While many academic majors, particularly in the humanities and social sciences, build major curricula which allow students to do considerable exploration in the lower division course work, the sciences, fine and performing arts, and professional schools tend to be heavy in very specific lower division requirements. Those students who tend to feel that they have wasted credits, or found credits not accepted by one of the OUS schools have often shifted into, or out of, a program with very specific, sequential course work at the lower division level. The course work from their initial major remains transferable, but not completely applicable to their new major. An art major who shifts to engineering, or a business major who shifts to biology will find her or his progress to degree delayed for reasons which have nothing to do with general education requirements.

Strong academic advising helps introduce students to higher education and to connect them to the culture of their particular institution. Beyond the accurate selection of courses required for graduation, advising support must help students in maneuvering through and managing the higher education environment. Students who develop confidence in negotiating a path to graduation make sound choices in attaining their goals.