The program was developed with recommendations made in a Columbia College Student Council academic affairs proposal last spring. This semester, peer advisers work in the East Asian Languages and Cultures, Economics, History, Political Science, English and Psychology departments.
The goal of the program is to make peer advisers an intermediary between undergraduate majors and their professors. The system is designed to make students more comfortable seeking advice about classes and requirements in their majors.
But because of their high faculty-to-student ratio, several departments have experienced consistent problems advising students. Assistant Professor of English and Comparative Literature Jenny Davidson said there is currently very little in the way of advising infrastructure in Columbia's larger departments.
"Continuity has been a problem," Davidson said, explaining that previous attempts to create have not been very successful.
To remedy this situation, CCSC academic affairs representative Charles Donohoe, CC '02, developed a handbook that outlines the responsibilites and goals of peer advisors in the program. Donohoe researched advising models at the University of Pennsylvania, the University of California at Berkeley, and Stanford to create the handbook.
Donohoe said he hopes the project will help maintain the continuity that has been lacking in previous advising systems at Columbia. He attributed the program's quick implementation to a large number of highly qualified peer adviser candidates.
Peer advisers are expected to be familiar with the specific departments of their majors and enthusiastic as they work one-on-one with other students in their departments. Each department developed its own criteria for selecting peer advisers, but once elected, all advisers were required to attend training sessions this semester.
Daniel Immerwahr, CC '02, was selected as a peer adviser by the History department and brought the advising experience he gained while working on the Undergraduate History Council to his new position. Immerwahr said it is necessary that advisers have "knowledge about a department that generally faculty members have."
Many administrators and faculty members said they are looking forward to implementing the system for the fall semester.
Associate Professor of Psychology Lois Putnam, who is also Director of Undergraduate Programs for the Psychology Department, is particularly enthusiastic to see the program in action because of the department's large number of undergraduate majors.
Putnam said it will be nice to see peer advisers "help direct students to sequences of courses" and make "new majors feel better taken care of."
Already the peer advisors in the Psychology department have created a "Psychology Society," through which psychology majors can gather together and discuss topics in their major and the psychology field.
While still in the implementation stages, the Economics department's peer adviser system also appears promising, said peer adviser Scott Imberman, CC '02.
"I am hopeful that the program will be successful," he said.