New Advising Policy Looks to Ease Burden On Student Groups

In an effort to strengthen relationships between faculty members and student groups, each group will now only need one adviser, instead of two, to gain official recognition, said Associate Dean of the College Judith H. Kidd.

The previous official policy for student group advisers stated that to receive recognition, a club had to present “signed letters of acceptance from two faculty advisers,” according to the online Student Handbook. Both advisers had to be FAS officers and at least one had to have faculty voting privileges.

But thanks to new legislation passed by the Undergraduate Council and a subcommittee of the Committee for College Life (CCL), this policy has been changed.

The change, which will apply to all student groups beginning in the fall, was designed to combat several deficiencies in the previous system.

“Some faculty members, particularly House Masters, are, on paper, advisers to many organizations,” Kidd wrote in an e-mail. “Once the organization got the required signatures, most did not meet with their advisers again, or even keep them informed of events.”

Haining Gouinlock ’07, the incoming Fellow for Campus Life—or “Fun Czar”—and one of the student representatives on the CCL, said that this change will not only help groups who have trouble finding advisers but will also allow them to get more use out of the advisers they have.

“We had lots of reports of unsatisfactory relationships with advisers,” Gouinlock said. “This development allows people to use staff members or administrators who can better serve their organization.”

She said she hopes this pruning will actually improve the advising program overall.

“Cutting down on the advisers strengthens their importance to the groups they advise,” Gouinlock said.

Some student groups already list non-faculty members as advisers. According to the College’s Web site, Julia G. Fox, an assistant dean in the Office of Career Services, is an adviser to the Harvard Undergraduate Women in Business. And Keli M. Ballinger, the director of the Center for Wellness and Health Communication, advises the Community Health Initiative.

But now clubs won’t have to seek out an additional faculty member to gain official recognition and will instead be able to work more closely with just one Harvard-affiliated adviser.

The change will go into effect in the online Student Handbook this summer and will apply to all student groups beginning in the fall.

Kidd wrote that the Student Activities Office (SAO) will also try to take a more active role in pairing student groups with appropriate advisers and in encouraging faculty advisers to stay involved with their groups.

“An information packet for faculty advisers will be prepared and sent to all advisers following the registration deadline,” she wrote. “All new faculty participating in the Bok Center orientation program will receive a flyer encouraging them to register with SAO, providing us with information on their interests.”

—Staff writer Nathan C. Strauss can be reached at strauss@fas.harvard.edu.