After reading Daniel Belkin's column, "Do Upperclassmen Need UGAs?" (April 25), I must only come to the conclusion that his anonymous Undergraduate Advisor, "Pat," is not a particularly successful or happy UGA. The role of an upperclass UGA is certainly different than a freshman UGA, but that does not mean upperclass UGAs are incapable of "fostering floor friendships" or supporting their residents on even the smallest of questions.
I have been an upperclass UGA each of the last two years in North Mass, being responsible for one floor last year and two floors this year. It is not that the Office of Residential Life's policy is to put a UGA on every floor, but that there should be an acceptable UGA-to-resident ratio (by no means do I mean to speak for ORL, but that is my understanding). If there were only one UGA for an entire building, it is unlikely UGAs would ever even meet their residents. I have 33 residents right now, and that is more than enough.
Additionally, Belkin says that "Scaling down the program will make more spacious singles available to students returning from off terms." UGAs certainly get great singles, but they are students just like everyone else, and they often inhabit these "spacious singles" after returning from off terms. I doubt limiting UGAs would be remotely helpful to the problem of people returning to campus ending up with random roommates.
UGAs are supposed to "facilitate the development of a sense of community," which is certainly easier said than done. However, this is not impossible. Many residents have already found their group of friends, but that does not mean they cannot make new friends. Dartmouth students are not always satisfied with their social lives, and I am sure that it is hard for many students to make friends because they are busy, not because they do not want more friends. In my two years as an upperclass UGA, I have often seen residents become friends with other residents, and improve their social lives just from having friends nearby (who doesn't want to bring back freshman year hall friendships?).
It could be said that these floor interactions could and would occur without the presence of a UGA, but oftentimes that is not true. In many cases, students at Dartmouth just need the little push of being introduced to each other, or even being made aware of the existence of cool people just down the hall from them. Is a UGA absolutely necessary for a successful upperclass residential experience? Not at all. But it is certainly helpful for many upperclass residents to have a UGA, and while not a necessity, UGAs improve the residential experience. For some residents, this is not true, and it is often these residents who criticize the presence of upperclass UGAs.
When I became an upperclass UGA, I was shocked at how many of my residents came to me either for advice, or simply with questions about who they should contact about some issue they were having. Unlike most of the other options around campus, most students both trust their UGAs and feel comfortable going to them, not only because they are students, but because they are (almost) always available. If I had an academic question after 4:30 in the afternoon, I would have little hope of it being answered by any non-student employee of Dartmouth College. However, if one of my residents blitzes me at midnight with a question about whom to contact about academic issues, or who to go to after an unfortunate run-in with Safety and Security, I can respond quickly and direct them to the proper resources.
In my experience, it is a fallacy to say that there is "minimal contact" between upperclass residents and their UGAs. I certainly do not consider myself an MVP UGA, or even an All-Star, but I do at least talk to my residents on a consistent basis. I like to think that I support my residents with their individual needs, and if nothing else, that I give them someone who lives nearby to come to when their lives fall apart at 2 a.m. (it happens substantially more often than you would think). Upperclass UGAs and the upperclass residential education program is far from perfect, but it gives upperclass residents a friendly face they can turn to with their questions and their concerns, both large and small. For me, it took experience as an upperclass UGA to learn that.
