Decision to drop PINs a very good choice

3/27/08 7:00pm

We said it before, and we will say it again: One of the great things about Rice is that students are treated like adults ("End PIN paternalism," Nov. 16, 2007). With the recent overhaul of the registration process and the removal of PIN requirements and mandatory advising sessions, Rice has taken another big step in making that statement true across the board (see story, page 1). The old system was a broken one. Standards for major advisors varied greatly across departments, and with tension between independent-minded students and busy professors, actual advising often got lost in the shuffle. A system without PINs changes this. The forced aspect is removed, meaning students have the opportunity to act with the responsibility they have, keeping on top of major and graduation requirements of their own accord.

Also, advising encounters with professors are likely to become much more informal, with conversations taking place at crowded lunch tables instead of isolated sessions. Advice given in this manner is likely to become much more open, with students and professors simultaneously offering their own opinions and experience to eager ears.

Once students realize that their academic advising is in their own hands, they might also be more apt to utilize other academic resources, such as college Peer Academic Advisors or Academic Fellows, and academic advice from multiple sources is a very good thing.

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Hopefully, Rice's students appreciate the value of the change and are willing enough to take advantage of it.

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