After an unusually high number of staff turnovers at Hiatt Career Center, there are currently only four counselors on staff for about 3,000 students. Director Martin Ford says the center should have five. Ford also said that this ratio has been making it difficult for students to schedule appointments and meet with counselors familiar with their specific backgrounds.Compared to other colleges, Brandeis has a low ratio of counselors to students.

"Hiatt as a rule is understaffed compared to other career center institutions," Ford said.

While schools such as Williams College and the University of Rochester have a ratio of one counselor to 394 and 348 students respectively, Brandeis has a ratio of one to 803. Ford said he is concerned, but not surprised.

"Unfortunately we don't get a lot of people now professionally who come into the field to stay for a long period of time," Ford said. "It has created some real interesting situations, having not enough people to go around."

He said that high staff turnover is not unusual. Senior Vice President for Student and Enrollment Jean Eddy agrees.

"I think it's fair to say that anytime you impose a new structure on an organization, you will get people who will pursue other opportunities, or in some cases, go to another career center," Eddy said. "It's a fairly common practice . that when a new director comes in, there is some turnover. And that certainly was the case when Marty Ford came to Brandeis."

But even before Ford became Hiatt's director in fall 2004, the administration had been receiving complaints from both current students and alumni concerning the center's services and accessibility.

These spurred the center to conduct research comparing Hiatt to career centers at similar institutions.

"The University called together a group of alumni, many of whom were trustees, to come together in advisory capacity to see if we couldn't get the Hiatt Career Center to do more of the things that we hoped they could do," Eddy said.

The Hiatt staff found that they were short three or four staffers when compared to similar institutions.

In March 2004, then-director Meryl Glatt-Rader stepped down after seven years at the helm. The search began for a new director, and after about six months, Ford was found and hired. He brought with him a plan to improve Hiatt, which included creating new positions.

Such positions include pre-law advisers, internship and business development advisers, and broader career counselors.

The advisory council is currently conducting further research to see how Hiatt stands now, a year later, in comparison to the same institutions.

"The hope is that within the next few months we will have another timely update on exactly what we need for staffing," Eddy said, "so that we can bring it forward and hopefully get it perfect."

Eddy also attributed the challenges Hiatt is facing to the fact that, in past years, the center did not focus as much on reaching out to new students, resulting in a smaller group of students taking advantage of its services.

But that has changed this year, Ford said. He said the fall semester saw a 28 percent increase in students coming to Hiatt, and that this semester has seen a 21 percent jump on top of that.

"You can say we're a victim of our own success," he said.

Despite four recent staff departures, Ford said that the current counselors are handling their short-handed situation very well.

"They have been phenomenal ... No one has said, 'well it's not my area.' If there is a student waiting, they'll take them and give them some help."

The resulting inconvenience has led to some student complaints, which Ford said he understands.

"[The complaints] are not unexpected ones. Students used to come in and usually had an appointment in two or three days," Ford said. "Now we have some kids waiting for two weeks because of who they want to see and what they want to access."

Amir Cahn '08, a student employee at Hiatt, said student complaints don't result just from the smaller staff.

"Most student frustration that I've encountered has stemmed from the fact that they have to get used to working with new people who don't know their backgrounds," he said.

Cahn, along with other peer counselors, runs a table Thursday nights in Shapiro where fellow students can come with all types of questions.

Tanya Bakerman '07 said her experience at Hiatt has been less than satisfactory.

"I went to look over my resume and talk about internships, and the lady was like, 'Oh you have to go to Kutz.' They just directed me to 10 different people and it was very confusing," Bakerman said. "The person they sent me to was definitely not the person I needed to talk to."

Not all students have been disatisfied with their experiences of Hiatt.

Katie Wrynn '08 had just finished taking the "Do What You Are" survey, which involves reading a number of scenarios and choosing how you would act in those situations. The purpose is to make sure students enter professions that are in line with their values.

"At the end of the test, they e-mailed me so I went in and made an appointment," Wrynn explained, adding that she experienced no difficulty in scheduling one.

"I met with Abigail [Crine]. She is so willing to work with you, and wanted to make sure I had a follow up appointment. I could really tell she was there to help you," Wrynn said.

While Hiatt may be hitting some rough water here and there, Ford is optimistic of the center's future.

"If we were doing the same thing we were doing a year ago," Ford said. "I would say we're in trouble. But we're not. We've changed.