Pre-major Advising Connections at Emory (PACE) will replace the Freshman Advising and Mentoring at Emory (FAME) program this fall and will offer a lower student-to-faculty ratio, in addition to more tailored undergraduate advising.

Rather than randomly assigning a group of 18 students to a faculty advisor, staff member and two peer advisors like FAME, the new PACE program will match students up with faculty members who share the same or similar interests, Assistant Dean and Director of Academic Advising Jason Breyan wrote in an e-mail to the Wheel.

He wrote that this consistency in academic interests was an improvement that was called for by both students and faculty.

The change was spearheaded by College Dean Robert Paul, who organized a faculty task force to respond to feedback from students, Breyan added.

Breyan wrote that other models, such as advising led by a professional advising staff, were considered, but College faculty voted almost unanimously for the PACE system.

In the PACE program, faculty members will be assigned three freshmen each.
Along with faculty members, Breyan wrote, peer advisors would be available to new students just as they were in FAME.

“Faculty, administrators and students recognize the essential role of peer advisors,” Breyan wrote. “They will have a formal role in the new pre-major advising program working closely with incoming students and departments.”

This program, Breyan wrote, is geared toward maintaining and emphasizing individualized academic advising for a student’s first and second year in the college.

The Office for Undergraduate Education (OUE), he wrote, will be gathering information from students before they arrive on campus in order to place them into groups that cater to their intellectual interests.

PACE will foster the development of close advising relationships from the arrival on campus through the sophomore year when the major is declared, he wrote.

Breyan wrote that the change came at a convenient time because it coincides with the new general education requirements (GER), which will be officially implemented in fall 2009.

The new GERs are fewer and more flexible than the former system.

“[GERs] and the continued success of direct enrollment will allow the focus of advising to be on helping students plan their academic careers and tailor their course selection to their individual goals and interests,” Breyan wrote.

Like FAME, students will receive one hour of credit for PACE at the end of their first year.

Breyan wrote that like the former program, students will also be required to attend information sessions and events as an introduction to academic and career opportunities.

Students must also meet with their advisors several times throughout the course of the year, he wrote.

PACE, Breyan wrote, will also highlight the many connections available to students, listing as examples the many resources in OUE, Assistant Dean for Science Preetha Ram’s new pre-health advising initiative and programming in the Division of Campus Life.

— Contact Alice Chen.