It's not that I haven't liked my Undergraduate Advisors during my sophomore and junior years. Without a doubt, I enjoy the sugary surprises my UGA randomly leaves at the foot of my door. And I appreciate the hallway bulletin board that conveniently posts "emergency" phone numbers to local pizza joints, Safety and Security and Dick's House (in that order).
While UGAs serve an invaluable function in guiding wide-eyed sociable 'shmen to find their "sense of place," I am just confused about my UGA's practical role in my life as an upperclassman.
In the words of the Office of Residential Life website, UGAs, who are posted on essentially every dorm floor, bear the responsibility to "facilitate the development of a sense of community" among their upperclass residents. UGAs are responsible for organizing six programming events each term - ranging from glutinous study breaks to cultural forays into the Hopkins Center to a cappella serenades - to cultivate floor unity. However, "it is generally very hard to get upperclass residents to come to anything," says Pat, a UGA for upperclassmen, who requested anonymity prior to speaking with me in order to protect his standing with ORL.
A pig roast at Hillel would probably lure more students than the standard floor-sponsored event designed to foster floor friendships. To explain this, already socially contented upperclass residents should give their UGAs the "it's not you, it's me" treatment. And for once, it will actually ring true.
Thanks in part to the successful efforts of First-Year UGAs, upperclass residents have already forged friendships and found their social niche at Dartmouth. Juniors, sophomores and seniors are simply not looking down the hallway for their new BFF. Simply put, upperclass floors are more antisocial than East Wheelock (zing!).
"I do not think you can expect the UGA to be a social factor on an upperclass floor. It just cannot happen like it can on a freshman floor. I do not know how ORL got the idea that it could," Pat concedes, "Students already have social networks, whether they are centered on a club, Greek organization or team."
Apart from serving as unsuccessful social planners, upperclass UGAs have the responsibility to "support individual residents in meeting their personal, social, and academic needs."
Although the vast majority of upperclassmen have already learned how to navigate the Big Green, there is no shortage of places for them to turn for honest advice when they need it: their community director, graduate advisor, Sexual Abuse Peer Advisors, Dick's House counseling, pre-major advisor, major advisor, Food Court Larry, Drug Abuse Peer Advisors, the Academic Skills Center, Upperclass Deans Office, Peer Academic Link, DOC Trip leaders, Eating Disorder Peer Advisors and, last of all, their friends.
In the face of these competing Dartmouth Dr. Phils, Pat admits, "I do not very often have to deal with serious or meaningful stuff, such as giving advice about doing research or talking about roommate issues. Probably one to three times a term."
Despite the cynicism, there is one essential role that UGAs for upperclassmen fulfill: monitoring the health and safety of residents for everything from alcoholic excesses to eating disorders and beyond. Unfortunately, due to the minimal contact between upperclass UGAs and residents, according to Pat, "only when something is blatantly wrong do UGAs catch problems. It is hard to notice behavior unless someone has a roommate who complains."
Based on forces entirely out of their hands, upperclass UGAs are generally successful in satisfying only a narrow segment of their responsibilities. ORL policy should reflect this truth. Upperclass UGAs should not be given unrealistic demands.
Maybe there is not even a need for an upperclass UGA on each floor. Will the residential experience of upperclassmen dramatically suffer if there is only one UGA for each residential hall? Not likely. "Upperclass UGAs are not that necessary," Pat bluntly puts it.
Scaling down the program will make more spacious singles available to students returning from off-terms. Many such upperclassmen with less than amazing housing numbers are often thrown in with "randos" sporting questionable personal hygiene (Axe body spray does not substitute for a shower).
The problem lies with the position itself, not the people. The Undergraduate Advising program should take some advice itself and rethink its approach to upperclass residential education.
