Advising System Favors First-Years

Upperclass students are far less satisfied with academic and non-academic advising than their first-year counterparts, according to a poll conducted by The Crimson late last month.

The poll asked 452 students from all four classes whether they found advising at Harvard adequate or inadequate. While 77 percent of first-years replied that advising was adequate, the senior satisfaction rate was a mere 33 percent.

Some students, particularly first-years still under the watchful eye of proctors, said they are satisfied with their advising, though they acknowledged they had little basis for comparison.

"I found it fairly adequate," said Kelly M. Dodge '96 yesterday. But she added that her academic advising "left me without a clear idea of what I wanted to take. I still had a lot of questions. I didn't know what I needed to know [so] I didn't know what to ask."

And upperclass students interviewed yesterday were unhappy with the less structured nature of their advising. Some were even unsure exactly how the advising process worked for them.

"There are resident advisors and they are pretty accessible," said Peter D. Keum '95 of North House, "But I'm not really aware of exactly what their jobs are [or] exactly what they're supposed to do for us."

Dean of Freshmen Elizabeth S. Nathans said the resident tutor's job description is deliberately more ambiguous than the first-year proctor's.

"The first-year system is more elaborate in part because one of our jobs is to introduce students to all the resources of the College," Nathans said. "This is not a job resident advisors should have to do."

Personal relationships with advisors stood out as an important factor influencing student satisfaction with advising.

"Freshman proctors put a lot of time intodeveloping personal relationships with people intheir entryways," said Leverett House residentToby Romer '94. "It doesn't seem like anythinglike that is stressed for resident advisors."

With the specialization of resident advising,some said, students sometimes slip through thecracks of the system.

Mather House resident Elizabeth L. Levy '93said she became one of those statistics when shechanged her concentration from Government toVisual and Environmental Studies.

"If you don't have a specific idea of whatyou're doing, you are left in limbo," Levy said."There is no one to talk to." Levy has sinceturned to other alternatives for advising in herconcentration "I've had my best academic advisingfrom professors in the department rather thantutors or advisors," Levy said.

First-year proctors attributed their success tofrequent meetings and the intensive proctortraining from the Freshman Dean's Office.

"[Proctors] go through an intense washingmachine of 'informatization,'" said C. CabellTennis III, a proctor at 29 Garden St. "The FDOhas a structure of preparation certainly unmatchedby any other institution I know about."

Study breaks and required academic meetings addto convenience and accessibility, said Jon B.Fullerton '89, a proctor in Grays. "[Proctors] areone-stop advisors for academic and personalproblems or questions," Fullerton said. Theemphasis on academics for choosing resident tutorsalso changes upperclass advising

"Freshman proctors put a lot of time intodeveloping personal relationships with people intheir entryways," said Leverett House residentToby Romer '94. "It doesn't seem like anythinglike that is stressed for resident advisors."

With the specialization of resident advising,some said, students sometimes slip through thecracks of the system.

Mather House resident Elizabeth L. Levy '93said she became one of those statistics when shechanged her concentration from Government toVisual and Environmental Studies.

"If you don't have a specific idea of whatyou're doing, you are left in limbo," Levy said."There is no one to talk to." Levy has sinceturned to other alternatives for advising in herconcentration "I've had my best academic advisingfrom professors in the department rather thantutors or advisors," Levy said.

First-year proctors attributed their success tofrequent meetings and the intensive proctortraining from the Freshman Dean's Office.

"[Proctors] go through an intense washingmachine of 'informatization,'" said C. CabellTennis III, a proctor at 29 Garden St. "The FDOhas a structure of preparation certainly unmatchedby any other institution I know about."

Study breaks and required academic meetings addto convenience and accessibility, said Jon B.Fullerton '89, a proctor in Grays. "[Proctors] areone-stop advisors for academic and personalproblems or questions," Fullerton said. Theemphasis on academics for choosing resident tutorsalso changes upperclass advising