When the Department of English began allotting concentration advisers alphabetically this summer, it left many students surprised to find they had been reassigned to new advisers.
Previously, students could request specific advisers and would be paired with them if the advisers did not already have too many advisees. But Ravit Reichman, associate professor of English and the department's director of undergraduate studies, said the number of students requesting advisers "wasn't actually a huge number." If students did not request anyone, they would be either assigned based on interests or assigned randomly, Reichman said.
Brian Kelly '12, an English and political science double concentrator, said when he declared his English concentration, he was assigned the adviser he requested. "I chose him because he was one of very few professors who I felt I had a good rapport with."
Students originally declared their concentration using the old system this spring. But over the summer, the department switched to the new process.
Reichman said the switch made assigning students to advisers easier for the department than allowing students to request their advisers.
Jasmyn Samaroo '13 said when she was given a new adviser this year, the department did not explain why.
Concentrators were informed they had been reassigned through letters in their mailboxes at the beginning of the semester, though the letters did not explain the reason for the reassignments.
"I wish that I had had the opportunity to have some continuity" with advisers, said Catherine McCarthy '12, a fifth-year student in the dual bachelor of arts and bachelor of science program, who was reassigned.
"You want to have continuity in advising, and that's important," Reichman said.
McCarthy said finding out she had a new adviser was a little upsetting, but she "didn't feel a huge loss." She said she sometimes just bypasses the advising system and gets advice from other professors.
Reichman said she tells students who want a specific adviser that they should seek advice from them informally. "People who aren't official advisers are still advising students," she said.
Reichman said students have come to her because they were confused about why their advisers were changed, but no one requested to return to their old adviser.
Even without the switch to the new system, some students would have needed to change advisers. There is a group of professors in the department who serve as concentration advisers, but that list changes each year as some faculty go on sabbatical and others serve on time-consuming committees. This means that each year, some students have to be reassigned advisers, Reichman said.
"We do our best to try to create continuity at the same time as we're able to absorb some of these changes," she said.
