Advising
Advising at Columbia is the ultimate 'mixed bag'. Today there are two major sources of advising. First is the Center for Academic Advising, which provides general academic advising as well as pre-professional advising, and a few other academic programs. Second is major advising, which is administered through your academic department.
A tour guide once described advising at Columbia as a "sink or swim" proposition. When asked by a parent to elaborate on the comment after the tour, the guide responded "Well, the only way advising could be worse were if it were just 'sink.'"
History of academic advising
Until the fall of 1998, central advising was administered though a house-system, where deans were assigned to each dormitory. In September of 1998, Columbia created the Division of Student Affairs and with it the Class Center system, where teams of deans were created to advise each class.[1]
In 2002, Student Affairs decided that the assembly approach to advising wasn't working and announced that the class centers would be merged, creating [[FYSAAC] in 2002, and JSAC in 2003.[2][3]
In 2007, Student affairs decided that this didn't make much sense either and finally followed through to the logical conclusion and created the Center for Student Advising, the first four-year advising center for undergraduates.[4]
Further Reading
- The Administration's Folly, Columbia Spectator, April 3, 2001
- Advising Resources
References
- ↑ A New Role: Chris Colombo, Dean of Students, Columbia Record, September 11, 1998
- ↑ Student Affairs Reorganizes Advising, Columbia Spectator, September 12, 2002
- ↑ Jr/Sr Center Provides Continuity in Advising, Columbia Spectator, Septemeber 11, 2003
- ↑ Student Affairs Unveils Reforms for Advising, Columbia Spectator, April 24, 2007
