Large Departments Encourage Students and Professors To Connect

The government and psychology departments have introduced new initiatives meant to encourage undergraduates to make personal connections with their professors, as large concentrations work to counteract the idea that their size allows for little contact between faculty and students.

The psychology department will host a “faculty speed dating” event this Tuesday, during which students will sit for five-minute chats with several professors, according to Mahzarin R. Banaji, the head tutor for the psychology department.

To better engage concentrators, this semester the government department is introducing “faculty conversations,” a program that asks each faculty member to reach out to a small group of sophomores for one-on-one meetings.

“Often I think what happens is that students, unless they have some kind of problem, feel it’s kind of foolish going to some faculty member office hours,” said Cheryl B. Welch, director of undergraduate studies for the government department. “Faculty in [government] complain that nobody ever comes to their office hours.”

The new initiative is part of a broader review of the undergraduate government program that also looked at its advising system and concentration requirements.

The speed dating event in the psychology department is part of Advising Fortnight, a two-week program beginning April 8 that is meant to encourage freshmen to begin exploring potential concentrations.

Typically Advising Fortnight is made up largely of meet-and-greets, but Banaji said that with faculty speed dating, the department is trying to find a creative way to ensure that students and faculty actually interact.

“We feel like if we just do business as usual, you’ll come in, we’ll tell you who we are and so on,” she said. “But maybe that’s not the best way.”

Banaji said that the fact that few students visit professors is “very demoralizing” for the department.

“We would like nothing more than to have many [students] traipse in to talk,” she said.

Psychology concentrator Claudia V. Haeussler ’14 said she thinks that because students have academic tutors in their Houses, they do not feel the need to invest in connections with professors.

“I go to office hours only for classes I have problems with,” she said.

Government concentrator Fadhal A. Moore ’15 said that even though professors in the government department are usually accessible, students are sometimes hesitant to reach out to faculty. He added that he thinks the new initiative might increase interaction.

“That definitely sounds like a positive change,” said government concentrator Andre J. Gonzalez ’14. “Some students are a little less inclined to talk to faculty, so that will probably help.”

Welch said that although she wishes it were otherwise, she thinks a lack of strong connections between students and professors is inevitable in a large and rich research institution like Harvard.

“The size and nature of Harvard tend to create these barriers,” she said. “The students have to be more entrepreneurial.”

—Staff writer Francesca Annicchiarico can be reached at fannicchiarico01@college.harvard.edu. Follow her on Twitter @FRAnnicchiarico.

­—Staff writer John Finnegan can be reached at johnfinnegan@college.harvard.edu. Follow him on Twitter @finneganspake.