Prior to their first year, students are assigned an academic advisor who guides them through their first two years until they declare their major. The system of assigning academic advisors to students was updated this year to allow for better matches based on shared interests and advisor preferences. The Chronicle’s Ryan Zhang spoke with faculty advisors about their experiences with the advising system under its previous and current formats.
“There were times when unique interests came up, so I had to do some research to learn about new fields. But even these fall within the Duke academic framework, so the basic guidelines still apply.”
—Tim Bounds, senior director of student affairs strategic operations and technology
“I have about the same number of pre-health students [this year], but those who aren’t pre-health seem to be considering majors that more closely match my background and interests. I think all advisors end up with pre-health students among their advisees because there aren’t enough with backgrounds in the sciences and math to advise all the pre-health students.”
—Deb Johnson, assistant vice provost for undergraduate education and director of administrative and community support services
“Over the years I have been assigned pre-Med students with an interest in Biology. This is because my past educational experience includes a Masters in Biology. However this year, I was assigned students whose main interests were Math, Physics, and Computer Science. Since many of the pre-requisite courses for these interests are similar to pre-Med, the change was not that problematic. However it certainly was out of my comfort zone.”
—John Campbell, senior associate director of Student Information Services and Systems
“As I am in the chemistry department it is not surprising that many of my advisees are interested in the sciences. This has traditionally been true, though I do have a selection of advisees who come in with, and maintain, other interests. I see that again this year it is also true…. I have been a pre-major advisor for a while now. I do it because I see it as an important service to the Duke community. I think that the pre-major advising center does an outstanding job of organizing and running the advising process and providing us with valuable help, support and critical information throughout the academic year.” —Todd Woerner, senior lecturing fellow of chemistry
“The new system just went into effect this Monday, so it’s a bit premature to ask. I think all the updates that academic advising has made in the last year or two had been incredibly helpful.” —Franca Alphin, director of nutrition services at Student Health
“When I was asked what kind of advisees I would like to have, I said I’d love to work with international students and also minority students and students from underprivileged families. So I got six [advisees] this year and three are from China (or Chinese background), one African-American student from North Carolina. So far, I definitely see the change this year, whereas in the previous years I had a combination of everybody. It has been really effective—students from China tend to overload in terms of their work and classes. In that sense I can really help them to calm down and provide more helpful advice. In that sense I’m quite satisfied with my students and my role as their advisor.”
—Hwansoo Kim, assistant professor of religion
"As a pre-major Trinity advisor, I’m very pleased with the great number of improvements I’ve witnessed in just a few years. Beth Fox, the director of the Academic Advising Center, has more than doubled the number of faculty and staff advisors for freshmen and sophomores. That translates to more personal attention for students. There’s a peer advisor network of exceptional and diverse undergrads that I can call on at any hour of the day or night to help me or my advisees answer questions or get advice from students who speak from experience."
—Director of Undergraduate Communications Susan Kauffman
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