Advising
Resources
Advising
Academic Advising
Students may see a dean about any academic concern they may have. Some areas where consultation with a dean is strongly suggested, or even necessary, follow below:
Students should see one of the deans about a number of issues and procedures that arise in planning academic programs:
Committee on Academic Standing: Those students who are submitting petitions to the Committee on Academic Standing might wish to discuss the matter with one of the deans. (All the deans sit with the Committee on Academic Standing to advise its members on student cases; the Dean and the Associate Dean of the College are voting members of that Committee.)
Complaints About Grading: Except in those cases where a grievance committee has found an assigned grade to have been the result of discrimination, nothing in the grievance procedure affects the responsibility and authority of individual members of the faculty to evaluate and grade the work of students in their courses. In the event of other allegations of improper or unfair grading, the Dean of the College may investigate and mediate, but final responsibility for grading rests with the instructor.
Contract Majors: Sophomores interested in designing contract majors should contact Dean Toomajian to set up an initial conference before the end of Winter Study period. This conference will help them to prepare their applications, which are then due early in the Spring Semester.
The First-Year Academic Advising Program
The faculty of Williams College has repeatedly committed itself to a primary and active role in the academic and general advising of its students. This is one of the hallmarks of an education at Williams. For this reason there is a comparatively small administrative structure of advising services. The Office of Career Counseling helps extensively with the transition to post-baccalaureate life; the Psychological Counseling Service, the Chaplains' Office and the Dean's Office help with more serious personal problems. But, in the area of academic planning the faculty can and must play the primary role.
Williams has three formal academic advising structures: major advising through individual departments, peer advising, and the First-Year Academic Advising Program. The program assigns groups of 3 to 6 first-year students to an advisor who normally meet with their advisees on four formal occasions:
- During First Days to review enrollment for the first semester.
- In early November to review the progress of the first semester and to review enrollments for Winter Study Period and second semester.
- In April to review enrollments for sophomore year.
- At the start of Sophomore year to discuss the primary mission of this program is academic advising, which means: exploring the intentions that each student has in structuring his/her first year; defining the values of a liberal education that are most important for each student; encouraging students to see the connections between the courses they are taking and other aspects of their life at Williams; ensuring that the divisional requirements and limits on early concentration are met; finding answers to the many questions first-year students have; and, being alert and available when signs of academic difficulties arise.
Character of the First-Year Advising Program
To create more realistic expectations on both the part of the advisor and the advisee, it may be useful to address some expectations that are often mis
Some Misconceptions of Students
My advisor is going to set goals.
Most of our students come from high schools where guidance counselors worked with them as college-bound students. Their immediate goal was thus clear and has been achieved. What comes after college is not at all so clear, and the model of successful high school counseling is irrelevant to college. It is up to the student to set his/her goals both for college and beyond.
My advisor is going to decide what courses should be taken.
Decisions about courses to take in high school are relatively fixed by the character of the secondary school curriculum. This is not the case in college, where students encounter a rich and diverse curriculum. At College decisions about what courses to take must be made by the student with as much information as possible gathered from appropriate sources. An advisor can help define what interests a student and should push him/her into areas that a student wants to avoid or had not thought about studying. In the end, however, it is vital that both advisor and advisee recognize that the student has to make up his/her own mind. The content and direction of their education is in the students' own hands, and a major part of the move from secondary school to college comes in realizing and acting upon that essential fact.
My advisor is going to give guidance on particular courses or instructors.
Students should not expect advisors to comment on these areas. They are already receiving much information from the grapevine,. The single lesson an advisor can teach in this area is to be cautious about what the grapevine says and to recognize its limited applicability to any particular student's situation. First-year students have entered a world that is strange to them. It is inevitable that they will often believe the first thing they hear. But the herding instinct of first-year students is counter-productive to their individualization and their discovery of the diversity of opportunities they have here. Advisors can push against this instinct and offer more reasoned and judicious advice than the student is sometimes getting from their peers.
My advisor is going to meet all my advising needs.
Making academic decisions in college is a complex process. No single advisor will meet all a student's needs. Students should be encouraged to seek advice from many sources in addition to their advisor, especially teachers, deans, department and program chairs, and JAs. Good advising relationships depend on many factors, including personalities and the student's evolving goals and interests. Urge your advisees to be aware of these factors; feel free to guide them elsewhere if they have questions you can't answer, or seem unreceptive to your ideas.
Some Misconceptions of Advisors
I need to know everything about the curriculum to be an effective advisor.
By this standard no one could be a first-year advisor, for we all know only certain aspects of the curriculum. Few of us know the College well enough to have a full grasp of the curriculum. The important thing is to know what we don't know and to consult our colleagues and the Dean's Office to find out what we need to know. Toward this end all department/program heads have been asked to be available for questions during the First Days advising period.
I will need to be a personal counselor to my advisees.
This is often an unspoken expectation of both students and advisors. It may happen in a few cases, but usually does not and should not be expected. After all, most advisors spend at most about three hours with an advisee during the course of the year. By rough calculation that is about 1/15th of the time one spends with students in a class. In addition we usually do not have the opportunity to see our advisees' minds in operation either in class or in writing. This sometimes means that there is a bit of impersonality to the relation between advisors and advisees, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with this. If you sense your advisee is in need of or is looking for more personal counseling than you are comfortable giving, suggest that they consider talking with a Dean or a Junior Advisor.
I will be responsible for enforcing College rules and regulations.
Neither in the area of discipline nor in that of academic regulations does the advisor play a role. We have tried to reduce to an absolute minimum the sort of registrar's oversight that was a part of the advisor's role in previous years. Students may ask for your support in various exceptions to the rules and regulations, but such requests are ruled on by the Committee on Academic Standing. The only thing we ask of advisors in relation to the enforcement of rules and regulations is that they try to ferret out inadvertent violations of the early concentration rule and that they remind their advisees of the importance of fulfilling the distribution requirements.
Matching Advisors and Advisees
The primary criteria for matching advisors and advisees is first, specific requests made by individual advisors; second, the possible majors and areas of interest that students have indicated on an academic advising questionnaire sent to them in the late spring; and third, additional information provided by the Admissions Office. The goal in using these criteria is to link students up with the people on campus who know most about the fields in which they have a prior interest and commitment.
First-Year Warnings
In the middle of each semester, instructors report to the Registrar those first-year students whose grades at that time are unsatisfactory. The students and their academic advisors receive notices of warnings as a matter of routine. The Dean's Office may inform parents of students who receive two or more warnings.
Dean's-List
All students who attain a semester average of 3.50 or higher in a program of four or more courses are placed on this Dean's List for that semester.
General Advising
While respecting students' privacy and confidentiality, the deans may at times refer students to the Health Center, to the Psychological Counseling Service, or to the Chaplain's Office.
Students who feel they have been the object of harassment (including sexual harassment) or discrimination should consult the Dean's Office.
Special Academic Advising
A variety of academic advice and counsel is provided to students during the course of their undergraduate education.
In the first year each student is assigned an academic advisor from the faculty or staff. This advisor discusses course choices and academic requirements with the student. The Dean's Office coordinates this advising program, reviews the academic progress of individual students, and--when appropriate--calls students in to discuss their situations.
In the sophomore year, students may seek advice from deans, former advisors, and instructors, along with preprofessional and other special advisors. Sophomores are also encouraged to discuss major options and requirements with faculty members from departments and programs in which they have an interest before declaring a major in the spring semester. The Senior Advisor Program is also a valuable resource for sophomores planning their majors. Senior Advisors are selected by their departments and programs to provide a student's-eye view of the curriculum. The Senior Advisors are available to help advise first-year students and sophomores on how to organize their courses of study and also put on annual events such as the Majors Fair.
In their junior and senior years students are advised by faculty in their major departments or programs. Each department or program determines its own advising system for its majors, although chairpersons are regularly available for consultation.
Resources
Special Academic Advisors
- Architecture: Ann McCallum 458-2121
- Business Schools and Business Opportunities: Robin Meyer x2311
- Divinity Schools: Rev. Richard Spalding x2483
- Engineering: Jeff Strait x2008
- Graduate Fellowships and Scholarships: Fellowships Office x3044
- Churchill Scholarship
- Fulbright Predoctoral Grants
- Luce Scholars Program
- Mellon Fellowship
- Rhodes, Marshall Scholarships
- Graduate Schools of Arts and Sciences: Department Chairs
- Health Professions: Jane Cary x2598
- International Student Advisor: Gina Coleman x4263
- Law Schools: Dawn Dellea x2311
- National Science Foundation: Department Chairs
- Peace Corps: Dawn Dellea x2311
- Public and International Affairs Schools and Foreign Service: James McAllister x4373
- Special Academic Programs: Molly Magavern x3747
- Student Writing Tutorial Program: Joyce Foxter x4672
- Study Abroad Programs: Laura B. McKeon x4263
- Teaching, M.A.T. Programs: Susan Engel x4522, John Noble x2311
- Harry S. Truman Scholarship: Office of Career Counseling x2311
- Watson Traveling Fellowship: Office of Career Counseling x2311
- Williams College Prizes and Fellowships for Graduate Study: Office of Career Counseling x2311
- Winter Study Practice Teaching: Susan Engel x4522
Sophomores are also encouraged to discuss major options and requirements with faculty members from departments and programs in which they have an interest before declaring a major in the Spring Semester. To provide additional resources to students in the preliminary stages of planning their majors, the Gargoyle Society is organizing on a trial basis a group of Senior Advisors. These Senior Advisors, selected by most of the departments and programs on campus, will be available to help advise first-year students and sophomores on how to arrange their courses of study and will also assist in putting on annual events such as the Majors Fair.
In the junior and senior years students are advised by faculty in their major departments or programs. Each department or program determines its own advising system for its majors, although chairpersons are regularly available for consultation.
Advising of Williams students wishing to study elsewhere in the junior year is coordinated by Dean Laura McKeon. Advising of transfer students and exchange students is coordinated by Dean Toomajian, the Registrar and Associate Dean for Academic Programs. Special orientation and information meetings are held during the Fall Semester for new students and for students wishing to study abroad. Orientation and counseling of international students is arranged by the International Student Advisor, Gina Coleman. As International Student Advisor, Dean Coleman is also the designated official at Williams for issuing Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) forms as well as helping students in all dealings with the INS.
Additional programs of academic assistance, for example the tutoring program, are also available through the Dean's Office. After conferring with the instructor, a student needing extra help in a particular course may request a tutor; the cost of tutoring sessions is covered by the Dean's Office and a list of tutors is available there.
Students should contact their faculty mentors and department chairman in the field they wish to pursue in graduate school for current advice about their field of study.
Contract Major
When considering a contract major and before formulating the application, you should first review carefully the regulations governing contract majors in the course catalogue (pp. 143-44) and then discuss your proposal in detail with your faculty sponsors.
The completed APPLICATION is DUE in the Dean's Office BY FRIDAY OF THE FOURTH FULL WEEK OF THE SECOND SEMESTER OF THE STUDENT'S SOPHOMORE YEAR. ABSOLUTELY NO EXTENSIONS WILL BE ALLOWED. Note that the application requires the signatures of both faculty advisors. Both advisors should also separately submit a letter evaluating the proposed major and your ability to complete it successfully. If you are proposing to transform an existing coordinate program into a major (e.g. Women's Studies), the chair of the relevant program must also verify the validity of your proposed major. All these letters must be received in the Dean's Office by Monday of the second week of spring recess. Your proposal will then be considered by the Committee on Educational Policy, whose decision I hope will be communicated to you before spring registration.
You MUST meet with Charlie Toomajian BEFORE THE END OF JANUARY to discuss your proposal. This will allow time for follow up meetings and for all aspects of your proposal to be completely finalized by the single FINAL due date (Friday of the fourth full week of the second semester of the sophomore year). Your faculty sponsors, however, will be your principle advisors.
A complete application with guidelines is available from Dean Toomajian.
Guidelines for Contract Majors
APPLICATIONS to pursue a contract major are DUE by FRIDAY OF THE FOURTH FULL WEEK OF THE SECOND SEMESTER OF THE STUDENT'S SOPHOMORE YEAR. Applications after this date will be considered only in exceptional circumstances, and only with the prior permission of the Committee on Educational Policy. Students who wish to pursue a contract major therefore should begin to formulate their proposals during the fall semester of the sophomore year.
- The student must initiate discussion with at least two members of the Faculty from different departments who are willing to endorse the contract major program and to undertake a central role in its implementation, evaluation, and ultimate validation.
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The student must submit to both sponsors a completed
application form, which should contain:
- a description of the proposed major area of study and an explanation of why it is appropriate to pursue as a contract major.
- a list of all courses in the proposed major program and the rationale for each course. A contract major must include at least nine semester courses, one of which must be designated the senior major course (and taken during the senior year). Normal rules governing course grades and grade point average apply for entry into and continuation in a contract major.
- a list of other courses taken or anticipated to meet College distribution and degree requirements, including grades received in courses already completed.
- Once the faculty sponsors have approved the proposed program, the student should submit it to the Dean's Office for review. In addition, the faculty sponsors must each submit separately to the Dean's Office a letter expressing their support for the proposed major and their willingness to participate actively in its supervision.
- If the student is proposing basically to transform an existing co-ordinate program into a contract major, the chair of that program should submit to the Dean's Office a statement attesting to the validity of the proposal.
- The Dean's Office will forward these materials to the Committee on Educational Policy, adding recommendations regarding feasibility and an evaluation of the substance of the proposal.
- After consultation with departments and programs substantially affected by a proposal, the C.E.P. will vote on each proposal individually and will report the decision to the Dean's Office, which will notify students and sponsors, if possible before the spring registration deadline.
Senior Advisor Program
What are the Senior Advisors?
As a supplement to the faculty advising system, the Williams College Senior Advisors serve as an academic resource for all students interested in obtaining peer advice on curricular matters. The Senior Advisors are a group of faculty-nominated, student-selected seniors committed to academic advising at Williams.
They offer academic advice to:
- First-Years and Sophomores who want to know more about courses within their future majors
- Sophomores who are trying to decide upon a major
- All students seeking advice about course selection, major requirements, or other academic concerns.
They will be available:
- At Course Fairs around registration time and a Majors Fair before Sophomores declare their majors
- In Goodrich Hall and at the Snack Bar during posted Office Hours
- Anytime you need them-just e-mail or call.
Lists of Senior Advisors (and the departments they represent) will be posted in all residence entryways.