I'm not so sure about the large glass wall that separates the undergraduate dean's offices from the rest of Baker-Berry Library. After sitting in the waiting area and watching several students almost run straight through it, the risks of head trauma seem to outweigh the benefits of its (quite literal) message of transparency. The College probably thought a glass wall would be more welcoming than an intimidating set of engraved double doors, but the truth is, most students who are coming to see their deans aren't that worried about the ambience.
These students are stressed. They don't want to deal with transparent doors. They want help.
I made an appointment to speak with a dean much earlier in my Dartmouth career than I had anticipated. I had a few questions to ask for an article and didn't have any reason to be nervous, but I couldn't help but feel the tension in the room while I waited. If you ever want to watch a group of Dartmouth students sweat, the lobby outside of the deans' offices is probably one of campus' prime spots to do so. The issues people present to their deans were different, but the looks of confusion and signs of distress were the same.
Wait, what exactly are all of these students approaching their deans about?
Problems presented to deans are "not easy to categorize," Undergraduate Dean Leigh Remy said.
Remy works primarily with undergraduate seniors but is experienced in counseling Dartmouth students of all grades.
Even if a student comes into ask an academic question, conversation will often also veer toward the personal, she said.
That said, Remy said the vast majority of students approach her in a "questioning phase" as opposed to crisis mode. Remy said she is versed in a diverse range of topics, from inquiries about NROs and the D-Plan to general confusion on how to narrow one's academic interests.
According to Remy, about 3,500 students consult their deans for one-on-one advising each year. Additionally, in the last four years the dean's offices have received an average of 12,600 directed email or phone inquiries each year. Although the majority of '12s interviewed by The Mirror claimed to have relied on their deans in the past year, underclassmen seem far warier of making the trip to the deans' office.
"Everyone that I've heard of going to the deans office had to because they had to do something serious like dropping a class at the end of the term," a '14 male said. "I haven't had a serious problem like that, so I haven't gone."
He also said that he usually prefers self-sufficiency to seeking help, mostly out of habit.
So why don't we approach them more? For many of us who got through high school without the help of tutors and administrators, it can be difficult to adjust our thinking to embrace these people as assets and not as disciplinarians.
Remy understands the challenge in readjusting our self-sufficiency, but she implores students to put things in perspective.
"Think about how you got to Dartmouth." she said. "Did you really do it by yourself?"
Remy added that student-athletes are more likely to understand the value of seeking help, after regularly turning to coaches and teammates.
While it would be ideal for Dartmouth students to approach their deans just for the sake of receiving sound advice, many still view an appointment as a sign that something is wrong. Remy disagreed, saying that while academic upsets do occur around midterms or finals, they do not represent the typical issues that face undergraduate deans.
"The majority of the conversations aren't about failure, she said. "Students are typically just trying to figure out the decisions they're considering and want a second opinion."
She understood, however, where the stigma stemmed from.
"Think about the type of student who comes to Dartmouth," she said. "You all have high expectations for yourselves. You are all high achievers. But until you get here, the marker of achievement has always been GPA and SAT scores. You come off of a 4.0 in high school and get a 3.2 the average for freshmen Fall your first term here."
Remy said that students' interpretations of such an achievement as a failure is "pretty common," even "natural."
She's right: A lot of us got through high school without getting a B, so it's hard to wrap our heads around the idea that it'll probably happen here. Is it really so wrong to call it failure?
Not necessarily.
"Not getting an A for the first time is a very real feeling and I don't want to take away from that," Remy said. "But it's what you do with that feeling that determines if you fail or not."
That said, disappointment is one thing but resultant inaction is another.
"Are you not going to risk taking a class because you're afraid you won't get an A?" Remy asked. "If you really want to talk about failure, fear is the defining issue."
While it would be ideal for Dartmouth students to pick the classes that we think we will learn the most from, for many of us, the security of a high median grade on the course review guide is a much more important factor.
"Once in a while I see a student who is afraid to see their GPA drop, so they'll leave a class if they have a B," Remy said. "I think what happens for most students is that they don't get straight As there first term, so that pressure goes away immediately."
How reassuring. Once Dartmouth students come to accept that perfection is no longer a standard to shoot for, their entire perception of what it means to succeed changes.
Remy believes that the goal for freshmen should be to figure out their personal aspirations and not worry so much about comparing them to everyone else's.
"There are people who are here because someone in their life told them if they got into an Ivy League school, they should go. So they do," Remy said. "But they are going to need to find a personal reason to stay and graduate. What do you want your education to be about? What do you want to get out of being here?"
Next time you find yourself on third floor Berry and the fear of failure starts to sink in (Oh hey, midterms definitely did not see you coming!), just stop and think: Why am I at Dartmouth?
Chances are, if the only reason you can come up with is graduating with a perfect GPA, you probably haven't slept since the beginning of term.
Let me know how that works out for you.
