Incoming students at Columbia this year will be the first to experience a revamped advising system, implemented after years of criticism of the student advising system of previous years. Changes include the introduction of a consolidated undergraduate advising center (to be located on the fourth floor of Lerner Hall), as well as the appointment of Monique Rinere as the new dean of advising.
While the system has changed, new students will find that advising at Columbia is best summarized with the old adage, “You get out what you put in” Though students from Columbia College and the School of Engineering and Applied Science are automatically assigned a general primary adviser at the Center for Student Advising, they are not required to meet with their advisors.
A different system governs major advising. Once students declare their major(s), they select an adviser from their major subject’s department and schedule meetings to discuss their progress toward completing their majors.
Columbia also has an Office of Preprofessional Advising, where CC and SEAS students who plan to pursue careers in law or health care can get advisement about course selection, professionally related extra-curricular opportunities, and plans for after graduation.
Students who have special interests, such as studying abroad, are encouraged to meet with the dean or director of the relevant program. For example, CC students are urged to meet with Study Abroad Dean Scott Carpenter to discuss any plans to go abroad; SEAS students can go to the Office of Global Initiatives and Education to talk with advisers there.
Dean of Student Affairs Kevin Shollenberger explained the recent changes to the advisement in an e-mail to students this past May. He also announced the University’s appointment of Monique Rinere, formerly the associate dean of Harvard College, as the new dean of advising and associate dean of student affairs. To facilitate the creation of a consolidated Advising Center, administrative offices will be moved from the fourth floor floor of Lerner to the building’s sixth floor.
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