Catherine Tousignant talks with one of her advisees in an advising meeting.
This Fall, the faculty of Andover implemented a faculty-voted structural change to the advising system. The new system allows students to stay with the same advisor for all their years at Andover. Instead of grouping students by gender-assigned dorms, advisory groups are co-ed and consist of students from different dorms.
Christine Marshall, Instructor in Biology and Assistant Dean of Faculty, spoke on how the advising system has developed over the 15 years she has been an advisor. Specifically, Marshall noted the shift from gender-binary groups to mixed-gender ones with students from different dorms.
“Advising for boarders has changed structurally over the years in that it now acknowledges that we are advising mixed-gender groups of students. Before, advising groups were assigned in a binary way, with groups of female-presenting students together and male-presenting students together. Even though multiple genders were always represented in those groups, it was not always explicitly acknowledged. This year, advising groups of boarders are comprised of students residing in boys, girls, and all-gender dorms. In this way, the boarding advising groups now more closely resemble day student advising groups,” said Marshall.
Marshall continued by discussing the changes within advising meetings, which now include learning about study habits and ways to promote student well-being.
“Advising has become a space where students develop study practices, including time management and habits of mind that can help them learn and grow in all their courses. We’ve always helped kids select their courses and think about their long-term goals within our academic, athletic, and co-curricular programs. What is new are weekly sessions that guide kids to develop positive approaches to learning and belonging here at Andover,” said Marshall.
Talia Ivory ’25 described how the new system has allowed for returning students to possibly be assigned a different advisor, and the experiences that arise from that opportunity. Ivory also spoke on how there are positives and negatives to having the same advisor throughout your time at Andover.
“It’s good to get to know somebody new from a different perspective. Different advisors will call for different situations. One of your advisors might be used to handling lowerclassmen, so they understand lowerclassmen problems [better]. If your advisor is a college counselor, they will know how to help you when you’re in your Upper Year or Senior Year. On the other hand, it is good to have somebody that knows you throughout all four years; it’s just [that] you will have to have a good relationship with that person,” said Ivory.
New to Andover, Sebastián Vermut ’27 expressed how his experience in advising has helped him acclimate to the environment of Andover. Vermut described how, though they help support students, the meetings can become repetitive.
“[Advising has been] helpful to get settled in my classes. My advisor, Mr. [Scott] Hoenig, [Instructor in Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science], comes up to me to ask how I’m doing from time to time. The weekly meetings are sometimes productive, although a bit redundant,” said Vermut.
Similarly, Yumi Lai ’27 explained how the support of an advisor is essential to navigating the Andover community. Lai continued by expressing gratitude for how advisors are a source of constant communication for their advisees, taking on more of a familial relationship rather than a student-teacher relationship.
“Your advisor supports you even during hard times, whether that be emotionally or with your classes, you know someone on campus to talk to. With my advisor, she asks everyone to send her an email occasionally about how they’re doing, and if you say, ‘I’m stressed,’ she’ll give you tips and reply in not a teacher-student relationship [way], but a second family kind of way,” said Lai.
