Before first-year students arrive on College Hill, they are assigned an exploratory advisor. While these exploratory advisors are most often faculty members, a large portion of advisors consist of academic deans and other University staff, according to Shaunté Montgomery, an associate dean of the College for class-year advising.
In the student’s first year, the duos may meet during New Student Orientation to discuss everything from suggested courses and academic resources to what to expect during their time at Brown.
“Expanding the population of exploratory advisors allows us to keep advisee cohorts small,” Montgomery wrote in an email to The Herald, with around five to seven new and first-year students matched to each exploratory advisor.
In the pairing process, exploratory advisors do not necessarily have to hold the same academic interests as their advisees, Montgomery added.
Although faculty members may have firsthand experience with the academic issues students encounter in their first few semesters of college, other staff can still provide practical advice, Montgomery added. Given the knowledge that assistant, associate and senior associate deans have, Montgomery wrote, these advisors are able to “explain, interpret and implement” undergraduate policies and procedures to their advisees.
Despite not aligning exactly with their interests, students matched with non-faculty exploratory advisors told The Herald that the unique advice they provided was still useful and valuable.
Ty Armitano, a study abroad advisor at Brown, also serves as a non-faculty exploratory advisor. He currently advises 10 students, six of whom are in their first year. Armitano is no stranger to advising, having previously worked as an academic advisor for business students at the University of Colorado Denver.
“Our job as exploratory advisors is to help students make sense of the Open Curriculum, sometimes challenging them to explore subjects they may not otherwise attempt,” he wrote in an email to The Herald.
Armitano added that the role adds nuance to his work at Brown. “It allows me to get to know more students in ways that are different from my full-time role,” he added.
But the role is not always easy for Armitano, who says it “can be challenging” to work with students who expect tips and tricks for subjects and career paths he is less familiar with, like pre-medicine and engineering.
When this happens, Armitano points students toward other “resources and advisors that students can turn to to help answer these questions,” he wrote.
One of Armitano’s former advisees, Elena Lynott ’27, wrote in an email to The Herald that she appreciated that her advisor was not a professor.
“He was a really great person,” she wrote. “I appreciated the fact that my advisor discussed college life with me.”
Armitano and Lynott discussed clubs, keeping in touch with friends from home, finding a social balance and more, she added.
Though she still “sometimes wished (she) could have received a bit more academic advice,” Lynott said that her advisor-advisee relationship with Armitano “may have been more personable because it wasn’t class-focused.”
In his first and second years, Austin Reiner ’26 was advised by the then-varsity baseball coach. Reiner described his advisor as “a real nice guy.” But Reiner found that he had to rely on his co-advisor and Meiklejohn peer advisor to help him fill out his course schedule.
“He didn’t have a ton of perspective or experience with the academic side of the school,” Reiner added.
But on the social side of college, Reiner was appreciative of his advisor’s tips, adding that his advisor was “approachable,” and made him feel “comfortable.”
Joseph Nicchia ’29 is currently advised by the assistant director for student activities. Nicchia wrote in a message to The Herald that he has had a “fantastic” experience. Even when his advisor “didn’t have the answers” to all of his questions right away, he would reach out to someone who did.
Teddy Fisher is a senior staff writer who studies International and Public Affairs and is passionate about law, national security and sports. He enjoys playing basketball, running and reading in his free time.
