There's an old saying that advising at the top Ivys can be compared to a swimming lesson: at Princeton, they walk next to you in the pool, teaching you to swim, and at Yale, they walk beside the pool, coaching you from the sidelines.
At mother Harvard, you are thrown from the high dive and wished the best of luck.
Whatever the relative level of independence at these three schools, the first person to carry a first-year's towel at Harvard is the proctor, a resident graduate student or officer of the University in each entryway or hall who is the "front line" of the advising system.
Many schools use upperclass students this way. But Harvard has characteristically chosen this more expensive method to care for its young, the argument being that older, more experienced adults have more to offer-both in wisdom and in safety-to novice Harvardians.
Harvard considers this system a distinction, and it certainly brings with it a diversity of personalities and experiences, compentencies and commitments. Some proctors will make you feel at home, others will make you wish you were homeless. Either way, they are the first to open the door and hold out the welcome mat to you for this, your college experience.
Proctors and RAs
Sarah Burmingham Drummond says she has "firebreathing enthusiasm for freshman. "
A 1997 graduate of the Divinity School and an alumna of Yale, Drummond is entering her third year as a proctor. Recently married to an official "It's one of the most rewarding experiences I've ever had," says Drummond in a voice bubbling with enthusiasm. Drummond says she sought the position because she wanted the opportunity to work closely with first-years. Another proctor, Carl Stan McGee, is a third-year student at the Law school. A Rhodes Scholar who lived in France for a year, he resides in Mower with his partner John H. Finely IV '92, whose grandfather was master of Eliot House. He shares Drummond's enthusiasm. The real joy of being a proctor is being in an academic setting with students who me still enthusiastic about being at school," he says. At other schools, the likes of Drummond and McGee are not often found in the residence halls. Most institutions-Columbia, Cornell, New York University, Johns Hopkins and Brown, to name a few-primarily use older undergraduates, with adults supervising at a distance and academic advising usually done outside the dorm. At Harvard, however, all proctors have at least a bachelor's degree-more than half of them are from the college-and serve as academic advisors. Many remain proctors for several years. The most obvious difference between the two systems is age: proctors range from the early 20s to around 30, while RAs are but a year or two older than most first-years. No matter which system a given university uses, administrators say that those few years can make all the difference in the world. Looking the other Way Look at a Proctor's ID card and you will immediately notice the difference between an RA and a proctor. In the lower right corner, where first-years have the word "College" emblazoned in black, proctors'- cards instead announce their status as "Officer" of the University. "That officer card holds you to a certain standard , a type of behavior," Drummond says. "I could never turn my head if I knew students were drinking in the dorm, I could never walk by John Harvard['s statue] if students were peeing on it." "I love my students," she adds, "but they could never be my 'friends.'" While proctors stress their responsibility is greater than that of RAs and that their age lends them more respect and authority, they are quick to point out they are not a Harvard University Police Department annex. And the Freshman Dean's Office (FDO), which is in charge of the selection, training and administration of the proctor program, also tells proctors to respect the privacy of students. "What we're told is that you don't want to be a parent and you don't want to be a friend, but if you can find some middle ground, that would be ideal," says Roland Davis, who is entering his first term as a proctor. "I hate to use the phrase big-brother, big-sister-it's cheesy-but you can be a resource," he adds. Where proctors choose to draw the line between privacy and policy is a matter of personality, with some proctors choosing to intervene at different levels. "When students are in their rooms, not disturbing other people, not creating a disturbance, what goes on behind closed doors should remain behind closed doors," says Karen E.Avery'88, assistant dean of Harvard College, who was a proctor for four years at the turn of the decade. Deciding when to tell a student to turn down the music and when to let the band play on is just a call that has to be made. "A proctor just wants to make sure that there's harmony," says fifth-year Proctor Ted D. Miller. Occasionally, proctors bend the rules to the breaking point as they attempt to relate to their proctees. Consider proctor Joel Derfner '95, who was removed from his post before the end of last year for attending a party at which underage students were drinking alcohol. Though Derfner admits he sometimes took liberties with the rules, he says he did so out of a broader concern for the relationships he had with his students. "It's true that I was sometimes lenient and looked the other way, and my students knew that, " he says. "The reason was that there were more important things to focus on: were they happy, were they enjoying their classes, etc. , and if they weren't, what could we do to make them happy. "If I had focussed on the rules, I think my students might have felt less comfortable coming to me, " he adds. Proctors agree they have greater responsibility, but that responsibility doesn't automatically translate into a perfect, rule-abiding entryway. Subjectivity must occasionally enter into proctor judgments, and when it comes to creating order and harmony in a hall full of first-years, not even the age and wisdom of Solomon could make everybody happy all the time. Acting Your Age? Proctors say age shouldn't play a major role in determining whether students can relate to their proctors and feel comfortable coming to them with problems. But at the same time, says Drummond, 26, "There's a huge difference between someone who's a senior and someone who's a year out," at least in terms of how students perceive the ages of others. The prefect program-which assigns upperclass students to each entryway-gives students the access to peers that might otherwise be lacking, administrators say. But some Harvard students, particularly those who didn't come to college knowing how to swan dive, express an interest in having older peers more available in a residential capacity. They say a proctor's age and relationship with the University can make talking about problems and seeking advice a little more intimidating, and that proctors spend insufficient time in the dorms to serve as advisors. Charles "Chuck" Truesdell'99 said he found Harvard overwhelming when he arrived. In addition to facing challenges in his academic and extracurricular life, Truesdell came out during the fall of his first year, much to the chagrin of his conservative family. His year was a descent into depression which concluded in a failed suicide attempt the night before his last final exam in June. To him, the age of his proctor had a definite effect on his comfort level with her. "There were a couple of times I thought of going to see [my proctor] or my advisor, but they're so much older, so far removed from the college scene," he says. "I didn't think they could relate. " He hazards a guess that his proctor, who could not be reached for comment, was near 30 at the time. "[Prefects] were a good thing, but they were living in [other] houses. Perhaps if we had a junior or senior living there, things would have been different. I would have been more inclined to go and whine and complain," he says. Michael B. Allan is a sophomore and resident counselor (RC) at Brown University. As his title implies, Allan's job centers on peer counseling, not discipline. He is joined in each "unit", or hall, by a women's peer counselor (WPC) and a minority peer counselor (MPC). As a team, the trio leads discussion groups on sensitive topics such as racism, sexism and classism. As individuals, they exist to provide an ear and a shoulder to first-years struggling with personal problems. To Allan, the fact that he's a peer is critical to his role. "The fundamental difference [between a proctor and me] is one of perception by the students in the dorm," he says. "By having counselors of the same age as the student, it enables the student to feel more comfortable and [makes] the counselor more accessible. "There's a sense of everything being larger and older [at the university]. The counselor is supposed to bridge the bureaucracy, " he continues. Even Drummond, who directs the prefect program, agrees that closer access to upperclass students would be advantageous. "I would love it if prefects lived in the dorm, if money were not an issue, " she says. To Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis '68, the experience of a proctor that comes with age is more of an asset than a liability. "The people who can be most helpful to students are those who have had some training, who have had more experience, who have completed their college experience," he says. "If [age is] a deficiency, " he continues, "there are lots of other ways to take that into account, " referring to the prefect program and peer counseling groups throughout the College. In a statement released by the three assistant deans of freshmen, the FDO notes that in their role as officers, proctors can safely be allowed to access privileged information such as test scores and teacher recommendations that could not be provided to peers. "[They] are privy to information about students that is sometimes critical in helping them to adjust to college life or to cope with a difficult family or personal circumstance, " the statement reads. While most students expressed satisfaction with the proctor system, at least with respect to age, the desire for contact with older students as advisors is present among a significant number of students, particularly those who, because of different backgrounds like home schooling and rural environments, find the coldness of Harvard's water a bit more shocking than others. Training Given all of the tightropes proctors are expected to walk-personally, socially and academically-their training could prove critical. And while proctors agree that common sense and enthusiasm are the most important elements in being a good proctor, they generally give high marks to the "inundation" they receive the week prior to first-year registration. Other schools have, however, chosen to be even more aggressive in their training. For instance, while RAs at Cornell are undergraduates, each hall of about 400 residents is supervised by an adult hall director, who typically has a masters degree in counseling, student development, higher education or a related field. New York University uses undergraduates to acclimate its students but takes selecting and training them to an extreme. Residential advisors at NYU undergo a 10-day training course before beginning their duties and then take a semester-
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