Goal is a better undergraduate experience Students seeking advice from upperclassmen majoring in their field will soon have a formal organization catering to their needs. So will students who want to get more involved with more prominent faculty in their department or simply want to hang out with common academic interests. The Student Committee on Undergraduate Education is setting up Undergraduate Advisory Boards to improve communication and to instill a more scholarly atmosphere within a department. Each board will consist of up to five members, depending on a department's size. SCUE's proposal describes the aim of boards as threefold. "[The board] would act as a mentoring service for students, it would function as a student advisory board to the department chairperson, and it would assume responsibility for organizing social events that would strengthen the community of scholars and students within each major," the proposal reads. SCUE Chairperson Jonathan Pitt said boards will initially be limited to the College, but will ultimately be available to Wharton and Engineering students as well. Thirty-four departments are expected to offer the boards. "We decided to tackle the College first, to see if the idea works," he said. "People have been very receptive." The idea of boards was first introduced last year by then-SCUE Chairperson Hallie Levin. Since then, Pitt said, SCUE has worked to coordinate meetings with all of the department chairpersons in the College. "We wanted to make sure everyone understood the program, so we met with each chair individually," said Shannon Moffatt, who chaired the SCUE sub-committee which worked on the proposal. Once the boards are off and running, Pitt said, SCUE involvement will be minimal and each board will be able to function right away. It is unclear how they will be funded, but Pitt said costs would be low and departments might help. "We hope each department will help [fund its board]," he said. "SCUE sure doesn't have any money to spare."
The Daily Pennsylvanian is an independent, student-run newspaper. Please consider making a donation to support the coverage that shapes the University. Your generosity ensures a future of strong journalism at Penn.
DonatePlease note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.
