Most students know them as advisers — those helpful people who give guidance throughout the semester and become indispensable when it comes time to choose classes.

This semester, however, ASU expanded the duties of its academic advisers, giving them a new job description and a new title — with an unfortunate acronym.

Academic advisers are now known as Academic Success Specialists.

Amanda Bowling, an academic success specialist in the history department, said she and others working in the advising department often joke about the new name.

“When we first looked at the name, we thought, ‘Academic Success Specialist — that’s a mouthful,’” she said. “‘What’s the acronym for that? Oh, great.’”

Elizabeth Capaldi, executive vice president and provost of the University, said ASU officials decided to change the name to reflect advisers’ expanded responsibilities.

“We changed the name because we changed the job description,” Capaldi said.

She said each adviser is traditionally knowledgeable only in his or her specific academic area and can therefore help only a limited number of students. Part of the specialists’ new duties, she said, is helping students sift through the nearly 250 different majors ASU offers and finding the right one for them.

The job isn’t just about advising, she said.

“The job is harder and more broad,” she said. “It’s about helping the student succeed.”

Capaldi said in an e-mail that the University was aware of the acronym when they chose to revamp the position. In an earlier interview, she said advisers she met with seemed to like the new title.

“They feel it gives a nice, human feel to the job,” Capaldi said.

Bowling, like many of the newly named success specialists, has yet to change the title on the door of her office or her business cards.

“The costs to change all that documentation maybe weren’t considered,” she said. “I have a lot of business cards I have to just get rid of now. That’s not sustainable.”

One success specialist, who wished to remain anonymous, said he was extremely unhappy with the change. The new title, he said, belies the fact that advisers are academics with academic backgrounds.

“We’re the laughingstock of the University,” he said. “When someone comes up to me on campus and asks me what I do, I have to say, ‘Oh, I’m just an ASS.’”

With its revamp of academic advising, the University administration is moving toward a cheapening of the profession as a whole, the specialist said.

“If you can find one adviser who’s happy with the changes, I’d like to meet him,” he said.

Bowling, however, said she supports the name change, despite the regrettable acronym.

“A name can have an effect on how something is perceived,” she said. “Changing a name is the first step in changing a culture.”

Bowling said she has always done her best to help each student succeed, so the modifications to her advising position won’t change the way she approaches her job.

“I tend to think in acronyms, so it’s always funny to me,” Bowling said. “But we hope the students don’t consider us asses.”

Communications junior Ryan Ramsey said he didn’t even realize his adviser’s title had been changed.

“I guess it works, though, because they can save your ass,” Ramsey said.

Reach the reporter at zachary.fowle@asu.edu.