“These are informal social events that brings together concentrators and advisers,” says Margo S. Levine, the assistant director of undergraduate studies in applied mathematics. “I often overhear advising conversations going on at these socials.”
SEAS’ expansion, however, has challenged the school to adapt its programs and advising structures to maintain its personal connection with students. The school hired two assistant directors of undergraduate studies in the last year and, according to SEAS Assistant Dean for Academic Programs Marie D. Dahleh, is prepared to hire additional faculty to allow students to “conduct undergraduate research, pursue design experiences, and ultimately to make the most of their opportunities.”
“As we get a lot more concentrators, it gets harder and harder for a single individual director of undergraduate studies to take on the role of advising concentrators to a close level,” Dahleh says, “That’s where the increased personnel comes in.”
The high number of requirements in some SEAS concentrations—the school offers an ABET-accredited bachelors of science degree which requires 20 half courses—has also highlighted the role of advising in making sure students can graduate on time with an idea of their post-college plans.
“Advising plays an important role in all concentrations, but when you have a large number of courses to fulfill, it becomes all the more important to have a program that can advise students effectively,” Dahleh says.
“WE’RE NICE PEOPLE”
Assistant Director for Undergraduate Studies in Biomedical Engineering Sujata K. Bhatia says that, through her advising relationships, she has come to think of her students “like family.”
“It’s absolutely a goal that every student feels that they can get a personal tour of the teaching labs, knows that they are welcome to sit down and chat with faculty about whatever’s on their mind, and believes that their success is very important to us,” Bhatia says. “So it’s absolutely a goal to make sure that growth doesn’t stand in the way of good advising.”
Lewis mentions initiatives to welcome students to SEAS, such as phoning admitted freshman to introduce them to a faculty contact even before they arrive on campus.
“We develop a certain level of interest and respect for our students,” he says. “Everybody knows how interesting our undergrads are and how much work we can get out of them. God knows what’s going to happen to them after they get through sleeping in your course. They may wind up starting things like Microsoft and Facebook.”
“We’re nice people. Most of us like students. We remember when we were students and we liked it when people were nice to us.,” he adds.
Despite this outreach, however, students and faculty alike highlight the students’ role in shaping their own advising relationships.
“I’ve never needed any real advising before. I usually have my courses planned out long before I’d need to talk to an adviser,” computer science concentrator Dan B. Bradley ’14 writes in an email. “To have a good advising experience, you have to put in as much or more effort than your adviser to make it work,”
“Every person can make their advising experience as great or bad as they want it to be,” Amy Z. Chen ’14 adds. “It’s an interactive process.”
—Staff writer Akua F. Abu can be reached at aabu@college.harvard.edu.