Student Reps to Faculty Committees Pledge Reform

Candice T. Player '02 deems the current academic advising system weak, like many of her peers in a student body that constantly complains about advising.

But this school year, she'll be in a unique position to do something about it.

Player is one of 25 student representatives to Faculty committees elected in a six-hour process Tuesday night (For a complete list of student representatives, see accompanying chart.)

The representatives were chosen by members of the Student Affairs Committee (SAC) of the Undergraduate Council.

Newly elected student committee members said their goal for the year was to increase the interaction between Faculty and students across campus.

"We will try to get Faculty members more involved and more accessible," said SAC Vice- Chair Michael D. Shumsky '00, who sits on the Faculty Committees for College Life, House Life and Undergraduate Education (CUE).

One solution, Shumsky said, would be to allow Faculty members to take meals in undergraduate Houses in order to encourage informal interaction between the professors and students.

"This move would give a powerful message to the Faculty," Shumsky said.

Player, who was elected to the Faculty Committee on Advising, said she believes increased Faculty involvement would help students take advantage of the school's resources.

"As a special concentrator, I had to navigate the waters by myself," she said. "[First-years] simply have no guidance to the breadth of resources available. We need to start with the proctors and work from there [to improve advising]."

Player said she has seen students forced into an unattractive concentration at the last minute because they don't know their options.

"I lucked out, but there are so many people who don't," she said. "If people knew what was out there, then they could become more excited about their concentration."

Newly elected CUE member Jared B. Shirck '01 said he has similar concerns. While some concentrations have strong advisers, others have advisers who are virtually non-existent, he said.

"Some students haven't seen their adviser in three years," said Shirck, calling the advising system in some concentrations a "tangled knot."

Newly elected to the Committee on the Core, Stephanie L. Murg '01 plans to pursue her interest in "academic policy as a whole."

Murg described student opinion on the Core requirement as "an inverted bell curve: Students either love it or hate it."

In an effort to increase student satisfaction with the Core, she said she wants to "get into the heads of the people controlling the program and inject student opinion into the process."

Other initiatives involve student quality of life.

According to SAC Chair John Paul Rollert '00 , the Committee on House Life will address keycard access and dining services. For dining, he says he plans to push for an expansion of late-night food options.

CUE plans to construct an on-line book-ordering program by the spring that will calculate the least expensive textbook options and provide links to the appropriate booksellers.

Despite the plethora of ideas, representatives admit that the success of their agendas depends on the level of both student and Faculty enthusiasm.

"For things to be accomplished, we need to have committed students and professors who come to the table ready to explore problems and try to solve them," Shirk said.