New scheduling system aims to ease burden for Medical Allied Health Professional students, faculty

Pre-professional health students at Sam Houston State University will now be able to ease their burden of the advising process with the introduction of a new online scheduling system.

"Students will no longer need to call or email us to set an appointment," Brandy Pace, Secretary for the Medical Allied Health Professional department, said. "They will simply go to our webpage, click the link and set up their own appointment."

Once students schedule their appointment, an email them and send them an appointment reminder the day before their appointment.

The new system is also designed to accommodate up to 20 advisers. Once students schedule their appointment, the system automatically sends an email to Pace to add onto Turner’s schedule. This way, students can schedule appointments on their own time and Turner can keep track of it as appointments are made.

The MAHP department saw the need for a new system to accommodate the growth of the program and make the advising process more accessible for students and department officials. Currently, the department advises 1,200 students, an approximate increase of 40 percent from last year.

The increase in numbers has created problems for students and faculty members alike, especially with just one department adviser, Jack C. Turner, Ph.D., Director of MAHP.

"My appointment ended up being a month later because [Dr. Turner’s] appointments filled up fast," Stacie Burchfield, sophomore nursing major, said. "I had to wait longer to make my schedule, which meant the class I wanted already taken and I had to choose times I didn’t want."

Pace said department growth has also slowed down efficiency.

"Usually, we get so many calls about appointments that take anywhere between five and fifteen minutes," Pace said. "The new system will help address student problems and allow us to deal with more serious problems other than scheduling questions."

However, Pace said the department’s goal is to continue to adapt to the growth of the program and the new scheduling system will help improve efficiency for students and faculty.

"We are continually changing to the needs of today’s students," she said.

For more information on the MAHP or to schedule an advising appointment, visit the MAHP website.