The class deans and faculty masters will participate in a new academic advising committee (chaired by Trahan and Hajela) that, according to Knowles, will be “charged with making a more robust academic advising structure.” He said that what the CLASS benchmarking saw at other institutions made abundantly clear the fact that Rensselaer’s current structure puts far too much stress on single individuals, thereby harming the overall advising process.

Knowles also noted that advising should extend well beyond the question of, “What classes should I take?” His vision involves making use of all available resources to ensure that students have as much guidance as they need to navigate their academic lives and beyond. Accordingly, upperclassman and graduate student resident and learning assistants would play a much greater role in the process.

Due to their daily interactions with the undergraduate body, the cluster and class deans will also be able to provide additional feedback to the cross-division intervention team. This committee, also chaired by Trahan, meets weekly to discuss issues confronting specific students. By pulling inputs from the Student Health Center, the Department of Public Safety, Residence Life, the Advising and Learning Assistance Center, and others, the committee strives to detect potential personal issues so they can be addressed before they cause significant harm.

In describing the intervention team, Knowles referred to the recent tragedy at Virginia Polytechnic Institute that resulted in the deaths of 32 community members. He noted that many different campus institutions had recognized that the perpetrator was having issues, but that nothing happened: “That one man came up on different radar screens, and nobody intervened.”