Post-midterms, advisers help frosh

Nathan Brown ’12, a Wilson College resident, said that because his four freshman-year classes were required, he had little need to discuss class choices with his adviser. “I talked to other professors in the departments I wanted to enter and had much less interaction with my adviser,” Brown explained.

On the other hand, Jay Qi ’12, a Rocky resident, said that he found the advice he received from his adviser valuable, though he ultimately did not stick with his adviser’s suggestions. “[My adviser] gave me advice, but I was already set on what I wanted to take,” Qi said. “I didn’t do exactly what he told me to do, but it gave me some things to think about.”

Still, advisers believe that their role is a crucial one for students’ academic careers and that they do more than remind students to meet prerequisites and sign off on course sheets at an mandatory meeting.

“We’re the intermediaries between students and their objectives,” Butler College adviser and Spanish professor Antonio Calvo said.

Gene Grossman, an academic adviser for Wilson College and a Wilson School professor, said he thinks it’s important to be a resource for students as they run into post-midterms crises.

“It’s fairly common for people to stumble on the first midterm,” Grossman said. “Advising makes sure that they get appropriate help.”

“A lot of the business is dealing with pass/D/fail options and evaluating what went wrong,” he added.

Advisers can also help set students up with tutors and help improve their study habits, Grossman noted.

The adviser can often have a surprising, non-academic role, Calvo noted, adding that there is a larger picture to being an “intermediary” between students and their goals.

Calvo explained that advisers should make sure that students are moving in the right direction toward finding a major. “It’s also very important to open doors for the students away from their field because there are interesting courses to take in other disciplines that students may not be aware of,” he said.

In cases where students are influenced by their parents’ occupations, he added that it is essential to help students think more critically both academically and non-academically.

If students are interested in subjects outside of the adviser’s field of study, advisers will frequently contact colleagues in the department of interest, Calvo explained.

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Though students are encouraged to meet with advisers at the beginning and middle of each semester, some advisers make themselves more readily accessible. “I always tell [the students] that I’ll be in the Butler dining hall on Mondays and Wednesdays,” Calvo said. “I think it is the least I can do.”