MSU has been trying to combat the unauthorized advising that has been taking place on campus. MSU students have been targets for this unauthorized advising, which goes against university policy.
Some students have been receiving emails from commercial firms that encourage them to meet with “advisers” from their company. These advisers, who are sometimes older students, promise they can guide undergraduates in choosing classes and that they can hold seats in classes for students better than the university can.
“From our point of view, both of these are just taking advantage of students and are preying on their vulnerabilities,"Associate Provost for Undergraduate education and Dean of Undergraduate Studies R. Sekhar Chivukula said, "That’s what we know, we don’t have a sense of how widespread this is necessarily or exactly who is involved, but we’re looking into it,” .
The issue was brought to the university’s attention this semester, but it is unclear how long these services have taken place, Chivukula said.
Sometimes this fraudulent behavior takes place outside of commercial firms. Older students get to enroll first and in multiple sections, so some students “hold a seat” for another student in a class. This is also a violation of university policy, Jim Lucas, assistant dean of global education and curriculum in the Office of Undergraduate Education in the Provost’s Office, said.
“We want to make sure that all students know that it’s not the MSU policy nor the procedure to have older students hold or sell off spots,” he said. “Even if a student was holding a spot for another student, there’s no way in the MSU system to guarantee that.”
International students are often the targets of these advising sessions since they’re not as familiar with the university or its policies, Chivukula said. International students are much more likely to engage in these frauds.
Elizabeth Matthews, assistant director at the Office for International Students and Scholars, said she believes the stress of being new to an academic culture can contribute to this vulnerability.
“You know, when you’re new to an academic culture, it’s much more stressful to study in a language that’s not your home language or the language that you’re used to speaking all the time,” Matthews said. “And not really understanding how higher education in the United States works and what services are available, I think that can lead to some vulnerability.”
Another issue MSU is currently faced with combating is note taking services that employ students. Students employed by these companies sell their class notes for profit.
This is a violation of MSU policy, Lucas said. In a case like this, MSU will attempt to take legal action.
“When it’s a third party that is not affiliated with campus, typically what will happen is that the university will work with legal counsel to issue a cease and desist request,” Lucas said.
However, combating these unauthorized advising services can come with a challenge.
“We are looking into whether there are any steps we can take with the particular firm or firms involved, but honestly, given that these things come over the internet, it’s not entirely clear what steps can or should be taken,” Chivukula said.
The university is also trying to make sure students know MSU’s policies and make students aware of what services are available to them for free through the university.
“We want students to understand what the policies are. We want them to understand what their rights are. You know, in part, you could think of this as an issue of what students aren’t allowed to do, but on the flip side, it’s also about protecting students,” Lucas said. “It’s about protecting students from paying for services that they can get for free and it’s about protecting services that maybe offer something that they can’t really provide.”
Students can do their part to avoid participating in these fraudulent services by being aware of potential phishing. Students should not take any academic advice that they haven’t individually solicited or that doesn’t come from official university departments, advisers or faculty, Chivukula said.
“We want students to be vigilant — if it sounds too good to be true or if it doesn’t sound quite right, we want them to talk to their academic adviser or their instructor about the situation so that we can investigate it because some students are being taken advantage of,” Lucas said. “We have professional advisers on this campus for a reason, and they’re the ones that are going to make sure that you graduate in the end. So their opinion is always preferable.”
If students are engaging in these activities or receiving emails for these services, they are encouraged to let the university know.
“If there are other people who know of instances like that that they want to let us know about, that would be good so we can have a fuller picture of what’s going on,” Chivukula said.
