The new online system for concentration declarations, instituted for the first time for sophomores and transfer students this spring, has received mixed reviews from students and faculty members.
Previously, students were required to turn in essays and a series of forms signed by a concentration adviser in paper form to the Office of the Registrar, a system that required three copies of each form. The new system uses Advising Sidekick, a web-based program run by the Office of the Dean of the College. In a Feb. 11 Herald article, Katherine Bergeron, dean of the College, praised the "green system" for eliminating the need to print physical forms.
Timothy Harris, professor of history and a concentration adviser for the department, wrote in an email to The Herald that advisers would be less likely to read the essays now that they are online. He is concerned the new system may compromise the faculty-student advising system. "Students at Brown have access to extensive one-on-one advising from faculty, and I worry that the new system will undermine advising at Brown," he wrote.
Gretchen Schultz, concentration adviser in the French studies department, wrote there are some "kinks" in the new system that have caused some frustration among concentration advisers and students. "My preference would have been to maintain the paper declaration form, which allows students to work out the details of their concentration face-to-face with an adviser during office hours," she wrote in an email to The Herald.
But Anna Aizer, associate professor of economics and public policy, wrote in an email to The Herald the electronic declaration system was "fine on the whole." She said the only issue was confusion on the part of students and faculty members who thought the online system replaced a face-to-face meeting.
Nicola Ryan '13 found the electronic system to be "relatively efficient," saying he started his form the day before it was due and had his concentration — economics — approved in an hour.
"I didn't have any problems," Ryan said. "If anything, it was almost too easy to declare a concentration."
Caitlin Taylor '13, who filed two concentrations, said it was annoying to have to wait for her first concentration to be approved before being able to edit her second one. But on the whole, she found the online system preferable to having to write everything out.
"If people are complaining, they're stupid," she said.
"It takes a while to get used to things and the main change is in the delivery method, not the material," said Bergeron. "The basic structure in declaring concentration is the same, but we still encourage many suggestions and feedbacks from both faculty and students, and we have recently made small adaptations in the online declaration system that pertain to some particular departments." Bergeron said students should not be any less likely to seek out their advisers as the online declaration cannot be done before a face-to-face advising session. "We have no intention of discouraging faculty-student advising," she said. "Once the semester is over, we plan to email each department and get their feedback on the new system as a whole."
"The most important thing is to have the new program work for all students and faculty alike," Bergeron said.
— Additional reporting by Shefali Luthra
