Despite the elimination of the Minority Affairs Adviser (MAA) system in residential colleges, applicants for the new Residential College Adviser (RCA) positions represented a diverse and talented pool, associate dean of undergraduate students Hilary Herbold said.
The number of students applying for advising positions dropped 15 percent this year from last year's all-time high of 205 students to 175, Herbold said.
The total number of adviser positions was unaffected by the transition, which combined Residential Advisers (RAs) and MAAs under the new title of RCA.
Each residential college will still have 16 advisers, except for Rockefeller College, which has 17 because of its larger size. Each college will also have three or four Alternate Advisers.
"There is excellent representation in terms of race, ethnicity, class, sexual orientation and other aspects of personal identity," Herbold said of the RCA applicant pool.
The number of applicants was similar to numbers in the past, excluding last year's unusually high number, she said in an email.
RCAs will receive additional training in diversity issues as they assume the former responsibilities of the MAAs.
Daniel Scher '06, an RA in Forbes College who serves on the committee in charge of RCA training, said he expects "a big overhaul of training" in response to the change.
Consolidating the RA and MAA positions will eliminate past confusion about advisers' roles, some said.
In the past, some advisers said MAAs acted as second RAs, while others said they only advised minority students, and still others believed that the primary role of MAAs was to advertise minority events.
Sean Cameron '05 observed that as diversity on campus has increased, the term "minority" has become ambiguous.
"Diversity now encompasses race, religion, sexual orientation," he said.
Cameron, along with three of the four MAAs in Forbes last year, did not reapply for the job, opting to submit an RA application for the 2004-05 academic year instead.
The new system will allow for smaller advising groups because the number of RCAs will increase from the previous number of RAs with the absorption of the MAA positions.
"I think the RCA program will be a step forward for Princeton, providing a stronger foundation for freshmen," Cameron said.
Wilson College has been using the RCA system for the past five years on a trial basis. Wilson RCA Tisa Sherry '05 is a strong supporter of the RCA concept.
"I'm really happy that everyone's changing over," she said.
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