Only 50 percent of MIT's current freshman advisors are faculty or instructional staff, and of those, fewer than 1 percent are junior faculty. The rest of the freshman advisors come from research and administrative staff. While these nonfaculty advisors are among the most committed to being advisors, freshmen nonethless expect to be advised by MIT faculty. In a Freshman Advising Seminar, the faculty member and his or her group of eight freshman advisees meet weekly in the fall term. The advising is enhanced because of the intensive contact with freshmen during the critical first semester.
Students receive six units of credit for the seminar.
Faculty members who would like to connect with freshmen but simply don't have enough time to commit to teaching a seminar are more than welcome. Traditional advisors take from three to five advisees, with whom they meet on an individual basis several times per semester. For both options, the presence of one or two volunteer student associate advisors serves to augment the advising part. The Academic Resource Center can help advisors find a good match from among a large group of enthusiastic and well-trained associate advisors. There may also be funds available to help faculty who would like to develop a seminar having unusual expenses.