New advisory structure works to create closer community

In the past, a handful of upperclassmen advisories included juniors and seniors. This year, mixed advisories came to an abrupt stop. Is this due to the new administration? How will this benefit the student body? New Dean of Students Stacy Tepp answers all of the most asked questions about the new advisory structure.

The new advisory placements were already set when Tepp joined the administrative team in her new role, but she revealed that the decision to end mixed-grade advisories “came from pre-COVID surveys.”

Tepp hopes that students and advisors alike grow accustomed to the new structure. Her goal is to strengthen the sense of community within grades: “Developmentally there are certain milestones you’re kind of hitting together. And so there’s obviously time for connection and angst and — whatever it is — they’re all the fields that surround those milestones.”

Most students will remain in the same advisories from year to year, rather than changing annually. Tepp shared how the recent expectation to remain in the same advisory is beneficial for students. She put an emphasis on building connections within grades.

“Being with the same people is beneficial regardless of the same grade or not,” Tepp said. “Having some consistency with the same advisor or with generally the same group,” she said, is essential to creating community. With yearly changes, she predicts that a sense of community can not be solidified.

Advisories meet for check-in and Wednesday activities, as well as share grade-level orientation and retreat time.