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Department Spotlight: Academic Advising Center

Providing an intellectual home for undergraduates before they declare a major

Beth Fox, director of the Academic Advising Center, with a few of the thousands of students the center serves each year. Photo courtesy of the Academic Advising Center.

       Name: Academic Advising Center

Years at Duke: 30

Number of employees: 15 employees and approximately 230 academic advisors from across the university.

Who they are: The Academic Advising Center is the intellectual home for all first and second-year undergraduates in Trinity College of Arts and Sciences until they choose a major. "At any given time we are shepherding approximately 2,800 students through the intellectual journey of being exposed to different disciplines and modes of inquiry and helping them find a community of scholars they are comfortable with," said Beth Fox, director of the center. In addition to 15 employees, the department oversees approximately 230 faculty and staff from all areas of the university who serve as academic advisors. Academic Advising also oversees the AAC Peer Advising program, which comprises juniors and seniors who help students learn to navigate intellectual life at Duke.

What they are known for: Last year, the department started a new tradition - Academic Homecoming. Held two weeks after the deadline for sophomores to declare their major, Academic Homecoming provides an opportunity to celebrate this milestone at a faculty-student reception on the Quad. About 500 sophomores attended last year, along with faculty and upper class students from all majors in Trinity and Pratt. "The students particularly loved the T-shirts we gave out with their majors on them because they make it easy to spot and engage with other students who share the same major," Fox said.

Significant achievement: Assisting 1,400 students from across the globe to sign up for classes each summer before they set foot on campus. "Last year we logged over 1,000 contacts with students, and created a digest of the questions to share each week with other departments at the university to help make starting at Duke easier for everyone," Fox said. "Summer is definitely not just vacation time for us."

What they can do for you: Staff at the Academic Advising Center work closely with Trinity departments to ensure that information about programs and classes is easily accessible and understandable to all students, not just those who have already chosen to major in that area. Four directors of academic engagement also advise students on global and civic engagement, making sure the students are aware of all the opportunities offered by various Duke programs.

How they make a difference: The Academic Advising Center teaches students about the rationale of a Duke liberal education, as well as how to apply that education to their own intellectual paths.  "We try to focus on intellectual exploration rather than merely finding the rules to make it to graduation," Fox said.

Big goals: The department is conducting a major assessment to see if what advisors think is important in advising is in alignment with what students value in advising.

Hidden department fact: The center is located in the building that originally served as the infirmary for the Women's College. "When I came three years ago it still had long hallways with lots of small rooms with doors that wouldn't lock and drab green, white and mauve tiles," Fox said. "We remodeled it with lots of glass and open spaces to better reflect the open, collaborative community we want to be."