New Dean of First-Years Ready to Go

Elizabeth S. Nathans, the newly appointed dean of first-year students, has had a bit of a grueling week.

Nathans, a former associate dean at Duke University, made the 16--hour drive from Durham to Cambridge with five cats, two dogs and her son in tow. In between setting up her office and meeting her staff, she has accidentally set off both the fire and burglar alarms at her Dunster Street residence.

But despite the distractions, the new dean is eager to begin her job of overseeing the education and residential life of the Class of 1996.

Nathans created the well-known Pre-Major Advising Center at Duke, through which first-year students were assigned faculty advisers. In an interview yesterday, she said that while she doesn't want to implement a similar program here, she would like to see faculty members more involved in student advising.

Nathans acknowledged that this may be a difficult goal to achieve with Harvard's already overcommitted faculty. For this reason, she said she hopes to work more on students' awareness of the advising resources available to them.

"[I am interested] not necessarily in providing more services," she said. "The difference is getting students comfortable with using the resources and feeling it's legitimate to seek them out."

"I think the people who hook into the system early get the most out of a place like this," she said.

Nathans said she likes the present systems, in which each first-year is assigned a graduate student or faculty member as an academic adviser. But she pointed out that students should not see their designated advisers as their only resources.

"What's most important is that by the end of the first year, [students] know one or two people they can talk to, that they make a connection," she said. "If the connection they make is differentfrom the one that gets assigned to them, that'sfine in the end."

The extensive Yard renovations scheduled forthe coming years present another challenge for henew administrator. Nathans said her office willgive special attention to first-years in 29 GardenSt., making sure their experience is valuable.

Nathans said she will place some of the mostexperienced proctors in the apartment building,and make facilities at nearby Radcliffe Quadrangleaccessible to Garden Street students. In addition,she will provide frequent shuttle buses to theYard.

"The hope is that the students there willcreate their own community," she said.

Benefits

The distant site has some obvious benefits,Nathans said. "29 Garden St. is going to bephysically a lot more comfortable than the Yarddorms," she said.

Nathans said she wants students to keep theFreshman Dean's Office in mind beyond orientationweek. She said she would eventually like to form astudent-faculty committee to give year-round inputon first-year life

The extensive Yard renovations scheduled forthe coming years present another challenge for henew administrator. Nathans said her office willgive special attention to first-years in 29 GardenSt., making sure their experience is valuable.

Nathans said she will place some of the mostexperienced proctors in the apartment building,and make facilities at nearby Radcliffe Quadrangleaccessible to Garden Street students. In addition,she will provide frequent shuttle buses to theYard.

"The hope is that the students there willcreate their own community," she said.

Benefits

The distant site has some obvious benefits,Nathans said. "29 Garden St. is going to bephysically a lot more comfortable than the Yarddorms," she said.

Nathans said she wants students to keep theFreshman Dean's Office in mind beyond orientationweek. She said she would eventually like to form astudent-faculty committee to give year-round inputon first-year life