On paper, being a faculty adviser for one of the more than 125 recognized student groups on campus may be the easiest job at the University: As soon as the responsibilities of the position begin, they also immediately end.
Historically, the official role of faculty advisers has been limited to simply signing a club's application for chartership or recognition from Duke Student Government. Once the adviser's John Hancock is on paper, involvement with the group becomes completely voluntary.
The Office of University Life and DSG, however, are trying to encourage advisers to take on a more active role.
"We've been looking at the advising system for a couple years, and specifically how to better it," said Brian Denton, assistant dean of University life and coordinator of advising. "Signing that line is all the adviser has had to do."
Often faculty members have the willingness to work with a student group, but not necessarily the time, said junior Vinny Eng, chair of the Student Organization Finance Committee, which funds and works with DSG-recognized groups.
"Groups usually are able to seek out an adviser, but advisers who have a lot of time to devote are more difficult to find because they're full-time faculty and have so many other responsibilities," Eng said. "It's hard to get the student group's schedule and the faculty member's schedule to overlap."
Denton said that in the past, some of the largest groups on campus--like the Black Student Alliance and Diya--have had excellent support from their faculty advisers. The goal now is to bring the level of involvement of advisers for smaller groups to an equally high level.
"We want advisers to begin having consistent contact with officers, to help maintain consistency within the group from year to year and to help in the transition process [when officers graduate]. That's going to be our first step, but that will be a major improvement," Denton said.
The Office of University Life sent out letters to advisers at the beginning of the year outlining these new initiatives, and also invited them to an informal meeting to discuss the changes.
Another hurdle that Denton and Eng are trying to combat is that many faculty members are advisers for more than one club, which limits the time they can devote to each group. Roy Skinner, director of club sports, for example, said he is currently the adviser for five different extracurricular sports groups.
"I tell groups that if they can't find an adviser, I will be their adviser until they find one," Skinner said. "Sometimes they find someone with similar interests almost immediately. Other times, they cannot find one, and I stay on. As an adviser, my job is not to interfere with their business, nor do I want to. My function is to aid and help them when they have a problem. Some clubs I haven't seen in a couple of years."
Denton said very small groups like the Duke University Water Ski Club--one of the groups that Skinner advises--can exist without much help from an adviser.
But for those clubs that have programming throughout the year, a hands-on adviser is an invaluable resource, Denton said.
"I think it is ideal when you can have some really meaningful interaction with the group members," said Barbara Dickinson, an associate professor of the practice of dance and the adviser for the Chinese Folk Dance Club. Dickinson said that in her first several years as adviser, she attended only several of the group's rehearsals and performances.
"I finally said I wanted to know who they were and what they were doing," she said. Already this year, Dickinson has attended the group's first meeting and is working to help the club apply for cultural group funds for five proposed workshops, in one of which she will participate.
Student leaders of the larger campus groups understand the importance of an adviser who is involved on more than a nominal basis.
Diya co-president and senior Sreelata Kintala said her club's adviser, Mekhala Natavar, comes to all of Diya's general meetings and helps organize the annual Awaaz, a traditional South Asian show formerly known as Diwali. Natavar, an assistant professor of the practice in the Asian and African Languages and Literature department, also provides guidance for the group.
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