Linda Dunleavy and Andrew Simmons, associate deans of the College, officially assumed their positions as pre-law advisers this semester. Perry Ashley, the former executive associate dean of the College and previous head of the University's Pre-Law Office, left that office on June 30. The office was then restructured to include fellowship, pre-med and pre-law advising under Dunleavy and Simmons.
Dunleavy has been at the University since 2003 as a fellowship adviser. Simmons has been at Brown since 2005 as a health careers adviser. Both said they appreciated the value of their previous advising experience in transitioning to pre-law advising.
"Being involved in any type of elaborate admissions process, as I have, is very helpful," Simmons said.
All three processes the new deans now oversee are application-based and generally require reviews of transcripts and recommendation letters, making the relationship between the adviser and student very similar in all three cases, Dunleavy said.
Both Dunleavy and Simmons continue to advise students on fellowships and pre-med, respectively, but share responsibility for pre-law advising. "It is nice and unusual to share a program," Dunleavy said.
The two work together closely to plan the pre-law program by coordinating information sessions and forums, developing materials for handouts and the Web site and discussing challenging questions that may arise during the advising process.
Dunleavy and Simmons met many times with Ashley over the spring semester last year to discuss pre-law advising, and both emphasized the central role he played in preparing them for their new positions, as well as the support he continues to offer them. Ashley helped make the transition as smooth as possible, Simmons said.
Though the office now has two deans, both Simmons and Dunleavy said they were trying to follow Ashley's example for running the office.
Both deans said they are adapting well to their new roles. "(When) you sit down and start doing something, that's when you start to learn. It's an ongoing process through working with students," Simmons said.
At Ashley's suggestion, Dunleavy and Simmons attended the National Pre-Law Adviser Conference over the summer, where they were able to develop a network of fellow pre-law advisers and learned about the pre-law advising process.
Ashley is on leave until June 30, 2008. He said he will meet with President Ruth Simmons later this semester to discuss returning to the University, though not in his former position as the pre-law adviser. "I care a great deal about Brown students, and may be in the position to advise them again in another capacity, although I don't know at this point," Ashley said.
Ashley added that he is very pleased with the number of law schools recruiting at Brown this fall, even though most schools were aware of the changes occurring in the advising office.
Ashley declined to comment on the reasons he went on leave this year. In February, The Herald reported that Ashley was fired from his position as part of a restructuring of the Office of the Dean of the College.
"When I left at the end of June, I felt very confident about Dean Dunleavy and Dean Simmons taking over," Ashley said. "I have heard from many Brown students and they seem to be pleased with the new system."
Christopher Keys '08 and Anton Brett '09, presidents of the Pre-Law Society, were both enthusiastic about working with the new deans.
"We are happy with the transition and I don't think anything was lost in it. It was a worrisome transition but we have been impressed," Brett said. "We will be unable to gauge the big changes for two or three years."
Deans have worked closely with the Pre-Law Society in the past, and Dunleavy and Simmons have been very proactive about communicating with the society to get information to students.
Simmons will be holding a question and answer session at the Pre-Law Society's general body meeting on Oct. 15.
