Students Give New Advising System Mixed Reviews

Midway through its first term, the revamped advising system for sophomores is getting high marks from House masters, tutors, and some students.

Now that undergraduates don’t have to settle on a concentration until their third semester, the program targets sophomores just getting acquainted with the rhythms of upperclass life.

Resident tutors are now expected to help sophomores pick an academic field to make the focus of their years at Harvard.

“I’ve seen a lot of programs and initiatives and things come and go during my time at Harvard, and this one to me seems singularly well conceived and thought-out,” Cabot House sophomore advising coordinator Myles G. Osborne said.

After the Faculty of Arts and Sciences voted last year to delay concentration choice, some College officials worried that the old advising system would be inadequate for sophomores who, for the first time, would enter Houses without having chosen a field of study. Under the old system, undergradutes picked a major by the end of freshman year.

So far, the system has received mixed reviews from students.

After her freshman year, Winthrop House resident Eva B. Rosenberg ’10 knew she would concentrate in a humanities discipline but wasn’t sure which one. When she was assigned a premed tutor as her sophomore adviser, she contacted her sophomore advising coordinator, who told her that the House was short on tutors in her field, Rosenberg said.

“I don’t know who to talk to in the House,” Rosenberg said. “I like my House a lot...but it kind of makes me feel like they just didn’t have time for me.”

Coordinators and advisers receive standardized training, but some aspects of the advising system are left to the discretion of House leaders.

Director of Sophomore Advising Laura K. Johnson wrote in an e-mail that each House uses its own strengths, traditions, and facilities in designing sophomore advising programs. For example, the extent to which older students have been integrated into the sophomore advising process has varied from House to House.

Adams House Co-Master Sean G. Palfrey ’67 praised the inclusion of upperclassmen.

“It certainly has forced all of us to gather a different kind of knowledge than we had before,” Palfrey said.

Several students expressed satisfaction with their advising experiences.

Winthrop House resident Elena D. Butler ’10 said she changed two of her classes at the beginning of the semester because of the advice of her tutor, who was also helpful in helping pick a concentration, she said.

Long criticized by students, Harvard’s advising system has seen some reform in recent years.

College officials said they will continue to adjust the program as it becomes clear which aspects work best and which can be improved. To that end, the Advising Programs Office is collaborating with a student advisory panel, the FAS Standing Committee on Advising and Counseling, and a dozen sophomore advising coordinators, Johnson said. The office also plans to run student focus groups later in the year.

“It will take a year or two to discover what’s the most effective innovation,” Palfrey said. “I think it’s been a challenge but one which was interesting and I think beneficial for everybody.”

—Staff writer Victoria B. Kabak can be reached at vkabak@fas.harvard.edu.