Despite University-wide hiring freezes, the speech communication department of Franklin College is seeking an adviser.

The job became vacant on Oct. 1 when adviser Sarah McQuade transferred to the University’s Costa Rica office.

“The position just suited me better,” McQuade said.

McQuade said she sent an e-mail to students explaining that they needed to be advised by Oct. 1, but some were unable to be advised before that time. The e-mail was sent to a listserv of declared speech communication majors with 60 hours as of the beginning of the semester. It does not include those who have declared a speech communication major but have not been advised by the department in the past.

“She was an adviser, and then she quit in the middle of advising, so all the people who waited until the last minute are out of luck,” said Larson Moody, a senior speech communication major.

Students who were not advised by McQuade before Oct. 1 must now be cleared by professors and administrators in the department.

“I have to call or e-mail every single professor about their class, and some of them don’t get back to me for a long time,” said Jennifer Griswell, a junior speech communication major who will have 60 hours by the end of this semester.

Students also voiced concerns about professors’ advising abilities.

“They aren’t knowledgeable about the number of hours we need in each section,” Moody said. “I really liked that I could go in there and be advised in two seconds because [McQuade] knew exactly what I needed.”

The job was posted last week. However, in a budget forum held on Sept. 17, University officials said they would stop filling vacant positions to cope with the 6 percent budget decrease.

“When I said that we were not going to replace people, there were some positions that were approved prior to when we enacted non-replacement,” Mace said. “There were a number of positions being advertised before that time.”

Jerry Hale, department head, said the adviser position is “mission critical” and must be replaced, despite budget issues.

“There are always students coming by or going to see her about classes or graduation status,” Hale said.