U. looks to other approaches

As Penn looks to overhaul its College of Arts and Sciences advising system, College Dean Richard Beeman said he is closely examining the systems offered at other peer institutions. Washington University in St. Louis has an advising system that, according to Beeman, Penn is looking at "very, very closely" in its plans to overhaul the program. After a pilot test last year of its new advising system for arts and sciences students, all of this year's entering Wash U. freshmen were included in the inaugural system. According to Wash U. Associate Dean Delores Kennedy, each entering freshman is assigned a four-year advisor who serves as his or her advisor during the entire undergraduate experience. All advisors are required to meet with their advisees at least once a month freshman year, although Kennedy said that most choose to meet weekly during the first semester. For the remainder of the students' years at Wash U., they are required to meet with their faculty advisors at least twice a semester. In addition to a faculty advisor, each freshman receives a peer advisor who contacts the incoming student over the summer and works with the faculty advisor throughout freshman year. And once the students declare their majors, they are assigned major advisors who are in charge of helping them within their majors. The goal of having a four-year advisor, according to Kennedy, is to "establish a relationship with the student." "This is somebody that knows you well, can write recommendations for you, can help you through any [academic or other minor] problems, somebody concerned about not only your entrance into the university but also your exit from the university," she said. Since the faculty advisors know their advisees well, they can help the students find post-graduation jobs, while the students' major advisors can help with graduate school plans in the areas of their majors, Kennedy explained. Beeman said he applauds the intent of Wash U.'s system, as the idea of creating an ongoing four-year advising system is "at the heart" of the system he hopes to integrate at Penn. "It is a very successful and intensive system of advising," Beeman said. He added, however, that the unique aspects of Penn as a university makes it hard to incorporate the entire system of another university at Penn. Instead, he said, Penn should consider many different types of systems. "My overriding sense is that it's very helpful to know what works at other places," Beeman said. "I certainly think we still have something to learn." The Massachusetts Institute of Technology also has a particularly innovative advising program that combines advising and academic components in the form of freshman advising seminars. At MIT, each entering freshman is assigned a faculty advisor and an upperclass associate advisor. At the beginning of freshman year students are required to attend a two-week orientation program, at the end of which they work with advisors to choose housing and classes. For the rest of the year, according to MIT Assistant Dean in the Office of Academic Services Peggy Enders, 700 to 800 freshmen participate in freshman advising seminars, weekly seminars in which the faculty advisor and the student along with an assistant advisor meet once a week during the first term. During the weekly meetings -- or mentoring sessions -- eight students discuss topics pertaining to their undergraduate life with their faculty and associate advisor. After the first semester, students retain their faculty advisors until they select their majors -- normally at the end of freshman year -- and each receives an advisor in the department. The seminars are often the highlight of students' freshman year, according to Enders, as they allow students to form close relationships with a faculty member. "The freshman system here permits students to see their advisor once a week, and many relationships last for four years because of this," Enders said. Faculty advisors at both Wash U. and MIT have incentives to be attentive ones -- they are paid for their services, and at MIT the time faculty advisors put into their advising is counted toward their teaching hours. One of the problems of the system at MIT, however, is that there are not enough seminars for all of the freshmen. As a result, the remaining 300 or so freshmen not in the seminars are part of a traditional advising system. Under the traditional system, the students see their faculty and associate advisors as often or as little as they like and receive major advisors when they declare.