Just as orange, earthy tones announced the arrival of fall, the bustle around college offices has signaled the time for students to see their advisers for next semester’s enrollment.

Students’ advising starts at their home colleges, said Joyce Allman, associate provost for academic advising.

“If you’re a student of University College, you’ll go to [them] for your advising, [and] if you belong to the College of Arts and Sciences, you’ll go to them,” Allman said.

Each college advises by its own guidelines, which can vary from college to college, Allman said. For example, the College of Fine Arts does its advising through the faculty, while the College of Arts and Sciences relays its advising to the respective departments.

“[These offices] do the degree checks ... and answer all the questions,” she said. “They’re really the bottom line on degree requirements because they have to make sure the student meets the university requirements, the state regents’ [and] the department requirements.”

Allman said students should prepare a trial schedule before advisement with the degree checksheets and Degree Navigator, an online audit system that helps students plan their next semester by labeling completed courses with a checkmark, uncompleted courses with an X and currently enrolled courses with a “squiggly” line.

In addition to creating a trial schedule, students should get to know their faculty before making course decisions, Allman said.

“These [people] are the ones who do the recommendations for you,” she said. “Though you may not see a faculty adviser for advising, you still need to know your faculty.”

In regard to scheduling an advisement appointment through iAdvise, Allman explained that University College opens its appointments in two-week blocks, and students should keep checking if no appointments are initially available.

Allman said students are responsible for knowing when advisement scheduling is available. The information is available in a newsletter.

“In that newsletter, called a Newsflash, it says that we are now taking appointments for advising,” Allman said. “It does not say, ‘You call and schedule an appointment.’”

OU advisers are working to find better ways to work with students and their schedules.

Several OU advisers are currently learning how to better advise students in the National Academic Association Conference in Denver, Allman said.

Above all, Allman praised OU for its excellence in advising.

“I can tell you one of the things we find when we go to [the Denver conference]: We hear stories ... from all over the country that we are doing a great job here at the University of Oklahoma,” Allman said.

Some OU students have mixed feelings about advising.

Improvements could be made to the system, said Katie Knutter, political science and women’s and gender studies senior.

“I’m still forced to meet with my political science adviser even though I only have my women and gender studies classes left to take,” Knutter said.

Knutter said some students already take the time to plan out their schedules, so the need for advisement may depend on the student.

Skye Singleton, University College freshman, said her first experience with advisement was simple.

“It was really easy. All I had to do was go online and click on my desired appointment time,” Singleton said. “Although I only had a choice between Intro to Logic and Pre-calculus because of my major requirements, I found the website helpful to make sure I take the right classes.”

Allman said there are no major improvements planned for advising but she is always open to student input.

Students can make suggestions on the advising website by clicking on the ‘Contact Us’ button on the left-hand side of the page.

Enrollment for spring 2012 begins Oct. 28.