Surveys of the Classes of 1997 and 1999 specifically targeted at advising issues show that a substantial number of students reported that they did not discuss their academic interests or appropriate courses to take in advising meetings. Many said they were unable to find prompt answers to their academic questions.

"Academic guidance, particularly in several large departments, is at a level below reasonable expectations of both students and faculty," Lewis writes in his report.

And the problem seems to have gotten worse over time.

Only 34 percent of government concentrators in the Class of 1999 said their advising conversations covered appropriate courses to take, down from an already disappointing 53 percent in the Class of 1997.

Other concentrations like economics, sociology and visual and environmental studies showed similar declines.

Certain departments--especially honors-only programs like social studies, history and literature and history and science--earned consistently high marks.

Though his analytical report identifies variations in the quality of academic advice students receive, Lewis says it is ultimately the responsibility of the individual departments to correct their advising problems.

"There is nothing inevitable about poor advising," Lewis wrote in an e-mail. "I am persuaded that a lot has to do with departmental culture, and those cultures can be very deep seeded and hard to change."