Beginning today, students will be able to declare their concentrations electronically using a new feature on Advising Sidekick, the web-based tool run by the Office of the Dean of the College.
The process to submit concentration forms will remain largely the same, as will the forms themselves, said Katherine Bergeron, dean of the College. The main benefit to this new online feature is that it creates a paperless system, Bergeron wrote in an e-mail to The Herald. The "green system" will eliminate the need to download PDFs, print them, fill them out and make multiple copies for a concentration adviser. Students will still have to complete a personal statement and course plan in addition to their degree, concentration and track declarations, but they will be able to complete the forms electronically through the Advising Sidekick program.
Advising Sidekick was developed by Computing and Information Services and the University Library and launched in the summer of 2009 for the class of 2013, according to Christopher Keith, director of information technology.
After making their declarations, students will be assigned advisers via e-mail, whom they will then have to meet with in person. The advisers will be able to comment on the declaration, and the students will be informed again via e-mail to make any necessary changes online before meeting with their advisers a final time to receive an electronic signature on their forms, Bergeron wrote.
The program was designed to provide "an enhanced advising continuum for undergraduate students," Keith wrote in an e-mail to The Herald. "We hope the system will facilitate communications and exchange of data between students and their advisers."
Spencer Lawrence '11 called it a "great idea" that supports the University's "Brown is Green" pledge to increase environmental sustainability.
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