Occasionally, the Director of Advising receives complaints from advisees concerning their liberal arts advisers (complaints about major advising are redirected to department chairs or program directors). These are handled with great care. In each case, the Director requires a face-to-face meeting with the student to ascertain the nature of the issue(s). The Director of Advising is not inclined to reassign advisees except in cases that have reached a high level of distrust (very rare!). In most cases, the Director is able to coach the student on how to speak with their adviser to enhance the relationship and make it work for both parties. In some cases, the Director will call the adviser and review some best practices (without identifying the student making a complaint). The overall approach is pedagogical and one of further professional development.
Very rarely, but at least once each term, the Office of the Director of Advising will be contacted by a parent or guardian. FERPA rules restrict what can be said in these conversations. In all of these cases, the Director informs the parent/guardian concerning these restrictions. Under no circumstances should advisers respond directly to any communications from parents or other family members seeking information about the advising relationship with a particular student. Please redirect all of those communications to the Office of the Director of Advising.