Proctors: Addressing Adjustment Issues?

This is the first in a three-part series on advising at Harvard. The other two parts will appear on Wednesday and Thursday.

When Harvard students arrive in Cambridge as freshmen, they don't know what to expect. Roommates, classes, the campus, the city, even the rules are unfamiliar, often frightening. But by the end of the year, all that should have changed, and students should have begun to think of Cambridge as their home.

And, in theory, it is the job of proctors and freshman academic advisers to help students make that transition.

"It's possible to think of advising as contract making," says Dean of Freshmen Henry C. Moses, adding that the proctor's job is to help students come to mutual agreements about Harvard life with other students, administrators, faculty and others.

But it does not always work that way.

One junior who spoke on the condition of anonymity says he did not see his adviser once during his freshman year. "We had to stick our study cards under the door and then pick them up," he says. "Now, [as a junior, my adviser] is new and doesn't know any of the requirements. I advise him."

While this reaction may not be typical of the experience of most Harvard students in their freshman year, many students have similar stories to tell.

While Moses says that freshman advising fared "marginally" better on theCollege's survey last year on Harvard life,students and administrators agree that some areasneed improvement.

Under the freshman advising system, eachstudent is assigned to a proctor--a Harvardgraduate student or administrator--who lives inthe student's dormitory and takes care ofday-to-day problems for a group of approximately35 people. Proctors also serve as academicadvisers for most of their freshmen, although someare given nonresident advisers. Six senioradvisers oversee the process providing a secondlevel of supervision and counseling.

Since proctors do the bulk of the advising,they draw most of the complaints.

"I think I would have liked a little moreguidance from outside," says Nancy Kim '90. Shesays that her proctor offered good advice onpersonal matters but was unable to offer insightin her decision to take four or five courses andin choosing a concentration. "He was busy, and sosometimes he was not informed."

While Kim says her adviser had been a proctorfor several years, other students say theirproctors are unhelpful because they did not attendHarvard and do not know the system. Many proctorsare law and medical students unfamiliar with theCollege.

Daniel A. Graybill, a proctor in Straus, saysthat although he did not go to Harvard as anundergraduate, he learned from friends and othersabout the lifestyle. In fact, he says he thinksadvisers who were not Harvard undergraduates areespecially careful about learning about theCollege. "Often times people who weren't Harvardundergraduates tend to learn the system reallywell--at least with the policy," he says.

But Jen Wang '91 says he thinks the fact thathis proctor went to Harvard was part of the reasonshe was able to give good advice. "I think beingan undergraduate [at Harvard before being aproctor] really helps with [explaining the housesystem,]" says Wang, adding, "That's where aproctor who isn't from Harvard doesn't come in aswell." Wang says his proctor took students tovisit her old house--Lowell--before the Marchlottery took place.

Not Around to Help

Even when proctors do know the system, theysometimes are not around to help, some studentssay, noting that proctors who are medical studentsor law students or admissions officers have othercommitments that keep them from being around.

But proctors and other freshman advisers saythat neither time nor knowledge is usually aproblem. They say they do not need to be familiarwith all aspects of Harvard because their role isto guide students to the correct resources. Andmost proctors work out ways to keep in touch withtheir charges, administrators say.

"Being a proctor is not a 24-hour job," saysVirginia Mackay-Smith, senior adviser for thenorth Yard. She adds that proctors do not need togive all their time to the job to give it enoughtime and energy. Furthermore, she says, proctorswho need to be away often post a number at whichthey can be reached and tell other proctors tolook after their flock.

Susie Chao '86, an admissions officer who isalso a proctor, says that when she goes on tripsshe likes to send her students postcards and callto keep in touch.

In addition, the senior advisers always knowwhere to reach a proctor. "If something happenedand we needed to get in touch, we could do it,"Mckay-Smith says.

Too Rules-Oriented

Some critics of the freshman advising systemargue that the essential problem is that studentsare not encouraged sufficiently to come in and askquestions. Beginning with Freshman Week, officialHarvard is presented as as a set of rules to obeyrather than a resource to consult.

During their first week at Harvard, incomingstudents are given an introduction to life hereand told what the University expects of them. Inthe two meetings that take place during FreshmanWeek, proctors are required to explain Harvard'sdisciplinary process and describe the rules onalcohol and drugs, harassment and plagiarism.

First-year proctor Johannes C. M. Zutt saysthis focus forces the proctor to be toorules-oriented, giving freshmen the wrongimpression of what Harvard is like. "One of thethings I think we should do is reform the approachthat proctors take in Freshman Week," says Zutt.He says that Harvard presents itself to freshmen"too much as a policing agent."

Wang, too, says that while most proctors canrattle off the rules and regulations, proctors whotalk about their own experiences provide betteradvice. "I thought proctors were a bit tooofficial," he says.

Those first two meetings also present a problembecause a number of issues are presented in a waythat does not encourage dialogue. For example,students are usually told that they will bepunished if they harass someone because of his orher sexual orientation. But students may notrealize that they can talk to their proctor aboutquestions of sexual identity.

Zutt says one of the things he does toencourage discussion is to keep materials aboutsexual orientation in his room so that studentswill see he is willing to discuss their questions.

The Freshman Dean's Office (FDO) and Harvardadministrators are trying to broaden the issues towhich proctors and students are exposed when theyarrive. Assistant Dean for Minority Affairs HildaHernandez-Gravelle spoke to proctors about racialawareness before the freshmen arrived andcoordinated a Freshman Week panel on the samesubject. Just last week, Assistant Dean forCoeducation Janet A. Viggiani talked to proctorsabout how to approach questions concerning sexualorientation.

Nonetheless, gay, lesbian and bisexual leadersalso say that more efforts need to be made toteach freshmen about tolerance. They say thatsince most gay freshmen are still in the closet,their classmates are not forced to confrontdifferent sexual preferences directly andtherefore have an additional year in which todevelop homophobic attitudes.

"A certain amount of intolerance is allowed toexist, especially freshman year," says Kelly M.Dermody '89, co-chair of the Gay and LesbianStudents Association (GLSA). She says proctors donot encourage students to communicate about sexualorientation. She and other members of the gay,lesbian and bisexual community say they would likea required proctor meeting that would bring in agroup like Contact--a peer group that offerscounseling on issues concerning sexuality. GLSAmembers add that they want the University's policyforbidding discrimination because of sexualorientation read aloud to all freshmen.

Dealing With Diversity

Sexual orientation is only one of the manyissues that arise when students from differentbackgrounds suddenly find themselves a part ofthis community. Harvard prides itself on being acommunity of diversity, with people of manydifferent races, cultures, religions, ethnicities,talents and politics.

But that diversity comes with attendantproblems. College officials point out that fornearly all students, Harvard is unlike anycommunity they have ever lived in, making theiradjustment exciting but often frustrating.

Minorities, who may have stronger family tiesthan other students or may be typecast in certainways, have special difficulties fitting into themainstream. And others, from homogenouscommunities, have their own problems adjusting todiversity.

"It's an issue for everybody," says HernandezGravelle. But she says that for those who arehaving difficulty adjusting to Harvard, being amember of a minority can exacerbate the problem.Some minority students, for example, are the firstin their families to go to college, so they carrya greater burden of responsibility with thembecause they are the ones who made it.

In addition, Asian-American students are oftensecond-generation Americans with close ties totheir families that may make it harder for them toadjust to college life and harder for theirroommates to understand them.

And some Asian students say they often feel itis assumed that they are interested in math andscience, discouraging them to explore otheroptions.

"I am making generalities, but I think somestudents may wonder in the end whether they wantto belong here and ground themselves in the worldof Harvard," says Hernandez-Gravelle.

But she adds that Harvard's policy of havingall freshmen live together eases the transition.Since everyone must make the transition at thesame time, they all feel equally lost.

And she argues for more education to help makestudents conscious of racial issues becauseinsensitive remarks are often inadvertent.

One example that Hernandez-Gravelle cites isthat of a roommate asking, "So why do you keepcalling your mother, Maria, all the time." Shesays that freshmen who do not understand the closefamily bonds of some minority groups do notrealize that their remarks are inappropriate, sothe College needs to educate them.

Hernandez-Gravelle is in the process ofstarting a peer counseling group that will helpstudents come to terms with racial issues. Membersof the new group may make presentations aboutracial tolerence to groups of freshmen, as othercounseling groups--like Peer ContraceptiveCounseling--do now.

Academic Advising

While it may not be clear how proctors shouldhandle personal issues, it is clear that the waythey handle academic questions is not toeverybody's liking. Many students complain thatproctors just do not know, or have too strongopinions about, courses and concentrations atHarvard. As a result, they cannot effectivelysteer students.

When Kim wanted to know more about psychology,her proctor was unable to provide useful advice."To send you just to the Psychology Departmentjust isn't enough," she says.

Not everyone is dissatisfied with academicadvising, however. "I think the academic advisingI got was really good," Wang says. But he addsthat he thinks his proctor was better than "theaverage proctor," adding that many of his friendswere not as satisfied. And there are always othersources, like peer counseling groups, the Bureauof Study Counsel and the senior advisers.

One area of academic advising that the Collegeand the Freshman Dean's Office (FDO) say they havetried to stress this year is helping students fromall backgrounds adapt to Harvard's researchstandards. This fall, Moses and Director of theExpository Writing Program Richard Marius heldmandatory meetings to educate the newcomers about"academic honesty," and proctors devoted part of ameeting to the issue.

The symposia, which both Moses and Marius saythey would like to continue, were not a reactionto higher plagiarism rates, but to a feeling thatfreshmen need guidance before the semester evenstarts.

"I think my own feeling is that we don't havemuch of a problem with dishonesty, but we've got alot of problem with ignorance," says Marius,adding that high schools do not train students touse the kinds of primary sources that Harvardrequires them to use. Marius says the FreshmanWeek discussions gave freshmen "a kind of jolt tomake them think about it."

Some proctors say they think the talks madefreshmen more conscious that they must attributesources and did not caused greater anxiety. Butnot everyone agrees.

"Making [plagiarism] the focal point of oneentire proctor meeting [during Freshman Week] andthen an hour's meeting in Sanders Theater is againsetting the wrong tone," says Zutt, nothing thatthe rules are read about the same time as theUniversity's riot control policy.

Doubts about the quality and kind of advising,both academic and personal, persist. Whileproctors cannot be all things to all people,students say some improvements are clearly neededso that getting used to life at Harvard would notrequire a whole year.Assistant Dean for Coeducation JANET A.VIGGIANI