The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 71, No. 18, Ed. 1 Friday, February 3, 1984 Page: 35 of 48
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Departmental advisers have responsibility to be fully familiar with departmental and
university requirements and with the academic regulations of the university. Many depart-
ments also provide tutoring in their introductory level courses.
Recommendations
1. Advising in the departments should be more closely supervised and greater incen-
tives should be offered.
2. Younger faculty, new to Rice and under pressure for eventual tenure decisions,
should not be appointed as undergraduate advisers in the department.
Special Advising Groups: Music, Athletics, Pre-Professional Advising
Music
Findings
Music students are assigned to faculty advisers within the Shepherd School according
to their performance areas. In addition the School provides a student orientation session at
the beginning of the school year and a handbook to all new music students. Mr. Richards
coordinates the various advising activities within the School and monitors student grades
and progress.
Problems
1. Communication needs to be improved between the music advisers,of freshmen and
sophomores and their faculty advisers in the Colleges. Faculty associates may not be aware
of the demands of the music curriculum and music advisers may not be sufficiently familiar
with the range of Rice courses outside the Shepherd School.
Recommendations
1. The Director of Student Advising should assist communication between music advis-
ers and faculty associate advisers.
2. Music students should be encouraged to consider a broader range of courses in ful-
fillment of their non-music distribution requirements.
Athletics
Goals
The goals of athletic advising are to assist student athletes in graduating with a degree
in their chosen fields, to maintain their athletic elegibility, and to integrate them into stu-
dent life at Rice.
Findings
individual interviews were conducted with Debbie Sokol, adviser to women athletes,
Ray Stanfield, adviser to all male athletes except basketball and football players, and Phil
Zenoni, adviser to male basketball players. An interview is also planned with Mark Bock-
eloh, adviser to the football players and chief athletic adviser. A questionnaire will be cir-
culated to athletes in January 1984. Questions on athletic advising are included on the
alumni survey and the general undergraduate survey to be conducted in January.
Because some scholarship athletes enter Rice academically less prepared than other
Rice students, and all athletes have unusual demands made by their sport, effective advising
and tutoring may be critical for their academic success. The Athletic Department conducts
special tutoring classes for athletes, including a workshop in reading and study skills.
Problems
1. Student athletes are believed to give more weight to advice from their coaches or
athletic advisers than to advice from other sources. Faculty advisers outside the Athletic De-
partment may be insufficiently aware of the high school preparation of student athletes and
time and energy demands of varsity competition. On the other hand, athletic advisers may
be unfamiliar with the Rice curriculum and unduly concerned with maintaining the student's
eligibility as a first consideration. As a result, student athletes may be routinely direct to
enroll in a very limited number of courses and majors. 2. The position of academic adviser
to the athletes has been passed around in recent years between various coaches, a former
student employed full time off campus, and an upperclass undergraduate student.
Recommendations
1. Student athletes should be regarded as students first and athletes second.
2. The Director of Student Advising should continue to maintain close contact with the
athletic advisers and increase communication between athletic advisers, faculty associates,
and departmental advisers in the student's interest.
3. The Handbook for Advisers should be sent to all athletic advisers at the beginning
of each* school year.
4. A half-time Director of Academic Advising should be named by the Athletic Depart-
ment and should be easily available to all student athletes.
5. Student athletes should be encouraged to explore a broader range of courses and
majors according to their interests.
6. Student athletes should not be admitted to Rice whose chances of succeeding aca-
demically on a level with the average Rice student are minimal. Those who are admitted
should be given the best informed advice available and intensive tutoring where needed.
Pre-Professional Advising
Goals
The principal goals of pre-professional advising are to counsel students and assist
them in applying to professional schools.
Findings
Outside interviews were conducted with Dr. Jorge Awapara, the Pre-Medical Adviser,
Dr. John Brelsford, the Acting Pre-Law Adviser, and Dr. Stephen Zeff, the Pre-Business Ad-
viser. Questionnaires have been circulated and responses received from student members oi
the Pre-Medical and Pre-Law Societies. A questionnaire has been prepared for circulation
to the Pre-Business Society and questions on pre-professional advising at Rice will be in-
cluded on the alumni and undergraduate surveys to be conducted this month. Information is
yet to be gathered from other schools.
In the opinion of all three pre-professional advisers, Rice students should be well pre-
pared for the entrance examinations to professional schools and for success in professional
graduate training. In fact, acceptances of Rice students to medical school have sagged in
recent years, and dropped noticeably last year for reasons which are not yet clear. In co-
operation with the departments of Biology, Chemistry, and Physics, pre-medical students
may take a practice examination very similar to the MCAT which is different in structure
from most class examinations at Rice. Only a fraction of the pre-medical students have
taken advantage of this opportunity, and these tend to be the stronger rather than the
weaker students. In the opinion of Dr. Brelsford, Rice pre-law students would be more suc-
cessful if they had stronger writing skills. Dr. Zeff considers that the rate of acceptances for
Rice students into top-ranking business schools, both in-state and out-of-state, is good and
is matched by their subsequent performance.
Problems
1. The poll reflects complaints from some students that the pre-medical adviser should
be more responsive to student needs and that he tends to discourage students unduly from
applying to out-of-state medical schools. 2. The present pre-law adviser, a professor of
psychology, is regarded as helpful but insufficiently familiar with law schools and the legal
profession. 3. The pre-professional advisers observe that many Rice students do not make
use of the advice or assistance available to them which might substantially advance their
chances of acceptance. 4. The problems of deficient writing skills and a declining rate of
acceptance into medical school have already been noted.
Recommendations
1. Take steps to improve the written and oral skills of all Rice students to bring them to
the level of those of the best graduates from comparable schools across the country.
2. Take measures to increase contact between pre-professional students and the ap-
propriate adviser's office.
3. Appoint a permanent pre-law adviser who will be seen as familiar with law schools
and the legal profession and who will be readily available to students.
4. Continue to offer a practice examination in preparation for the MCAT and encour-
age more students to take it.
5. Clarify the function of the newly formed pre-medical advising committee and its re-
lation to the pre-medical adviser. One function of the committee should be to study recom-
mendation #2 and other ways of improving the performance of pre-medical students at
Rice.
Graduate Student Advising
Graduate Student Advising takes place almost entirely in the departments, with some
assistance from the Office of Advanced Studies and Research. Graduate students charac-
teristically establish a close relation with the professor who is supervising their research or
thesis but may also consult with other department faculty.
General Questions on Academic Advising
1. How can Rice preserve the benefits of the decentralized advising structure at Rice,
which makes many sources of advice available to students and encourages a close relation
between faculty and students outside the classroom, be preserved while at the same time
maintain a more consistently responsible and effective level of advising in all areas?
2. Should advisers be more aggressive in seeking out students or should the responsi-
bility for seeking advice continue to remain with the student? Students in need of help are
sometimes among those most likely to withdraw from communicating with others.
3. What balance should undergraduate advisers seek to achieve between preparation
of the student for a particular career or a specific field and broader educational aoals and
ideals?
General Observations
Extraclass Activities
1. There is general involvement of Rice University undergraduate students in a wide
variety of activities that are voluntary and perceived as integral to the total university life.
The interest in many of these activities is ongoing with time and energy commitments by stu-
dents throughout their university careers. Student activities that benefit from this type of
commitment include dance groups, band organizations, intramurals, sport clubs, debate
organizations and drama groups. There is less continuous and ongoing commitment to
groups of political and social nature. The swings in membership and activity are manifest in
sine wave fashion.
2. t,ack of space is the principal problem of almost all student activity groups, a place
to call home and a facility in which they can conduct their activity. Further, they sense that
this "home" gives both dignity and strength to the affiliation of members.
3. Several groups need more financial support from the University. These groups are
noted within the attached report.
4. The administration and the structure for organizing and conducting the business of
student extraclass activities is well developed at Rice University. It is not difficult to organize
a group nor is it difficult to function within the rules and regulations of the University. No
need is noted for a change in administrative structure that supports the organization of
these groups.
5. It seems that the office of Student Activities, a position recently filled by Patricia
Martin, may consider a closer involvement in student organizations. This is not intended to
suggest closer supervision or monitoring; it is intended to note that some organizations may
need assistance in maintaining structure and developing ideas for publicizing and expand-
ing their purposes and membership.
6. There should be more encouragement for graduate student involvement in extra-
class activities. The presence of graduate students is most obvious in sports activities and
less obvious in drama, music and dance. The presence of the clubs and activity groups
should be better publicized in order that students may avail themselves if their interests
warrant.
7. Extraclass activities serve to bring interested people to the campus for participation
with the groups or as consultants, specialists or performers. This is a meaningful service.
The Rice Thresher, February 6, 19S4, page 15
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Mitchell, Mark M. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 71, No. 18, Ed. 1 Friday, February 3, 1984, newspaper, February 3, 1984; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245550/m1/35/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.