Freshman counselors are not the only source of advice and support for first-years. Other students say they agree the quality of Yale's advising system is not consistent. The advising here is inadequate, but not uniformly. Associate Dean of Yale College Penelope Laurans is currently attempting new ways of reaching out to students. Laurans, of Yale's Jonathan Edwards College, meets with her faculty advisers for dinner every year to review what lives of first-year students are like.
Freshman year is a year where people are always going to face challenges and make mistakes.
It's part of what freshman year is. Yale is currently exploring other options. Instead of having a large number of faculty advisers working for a minimal amount of time, Laurans says Yale is attempting to select only a handful of advisers who will devote a maximum amount of time with many students, increasing the workload for only a few good advisers. After the first year, however, Yale students leave their freshmen counselors behind but have not yet chosen their majors. Their only remaining support is an arbitrarily assigned faculty adviser.