Fixing premajor advising

One thing that we love about Duke is that everyone is unique. Some students know right away where their passions and interests lie, and others need time to explore before deciding on a path. One pit stop all Duke students have in common, however, is pre-major advising. Pre-major advising is one of the most essential components of a Duke education because it is one of the first steps students take in defining the plans for their futures. It is also one of the most criticized aspects of academic life at Duke. As a community-faculty, staff, and students-we must work together to make some improvements. We have a few suggestions:

First, more faculty members should become pre-major advisors. Currently, there are no pre-major advisers from the political science and economics departments and only three from the biology department, three of the most popular subjects of study. It is not only important that these faculty in these subjects are able to advise students as to the specific applications of their own field of study, but also that they are able to give students the pluses and minuses of continuing in academia, going on to lucrative careers, or getting in to professional schools. We know that faculty members are extremely busy, but pre-major advising should become a priority. We encourage the Arts & Sciences Council to take steps to incentivize pre-major advising as a part of teaching loads (perhaps as the equivalent of one independent study) or as a requirement of the new accelerated leave policy.

At the same time, students need to take a larger part in critiquing the pre-major advising system by objectively identifying the strengths and weaknesses of our program. To do this, we urge all students (especially those who are declaring their major and first-year students), to fill out and submit surveys of their pre-major advisers. Michele Rasmussen, the academic dean for pre-major students, sends out e-mails to all first-year students to get feedback on advisers. As of late, only six out of the entire freshmen class have responded. These numbers are simply not enough to grasp an objective view on pre-major advising. We hear problems about these advisers all the time, so we hope that you can take five minutes and communicate those to Rasmussen (who we salute for doing an excellent job).

Finally, it is important to point out that although faculty advising is essential, some of the most valuable advice that pre-major students receive comes from other students. We hope that more students, pre- and post-major, will become involved in the Peer Advising Network. By creating a stronger advising community, future Duke students will have a much better academic experience.

Pre-major advising is a great and essential part of the Duke education and we are always looking for ways to make it better for students and administrators. Together we hope to make the Duke education stronger.

Chelsea Goldstein, Trinity '10, is the Duke Student Government vice president for academic affairs. Michelle Sohn, Trinity '11, is a DSG senator for academic affairs.