# First-Year Advising ## expand\_more Academic advising is an integral part of the Harvard College educational experience. More than helping students select courses, effective advising encourages reflection, exploration, and informed decision-making as students develop the knowledge, confidence, and judgment to shape their own educational journeys. Through conversations with faculty, staff, and peers, students learn to navigate the curriculum, connect with opportunities across the University, and make increasingly intentional academic and co-curricular choices. Effective advising helps students move from receiving guidance to developing the confidence and judgment to navigate Harvard independently. The first year at Harvard is intentionally designed as an integrated educational experience. Advising, orientation, residential life, and academic programming work together to help students become active participants in Harvard's intellectual and residential community. Together, these experiences reinforce one another, helping students develop the knowledge, relationships, habits, and confidence to navigate Harvard with increasing independence. Harvard’s advising model recognizes that no single individual can provide every kind of guidance a student will need. Instead, students are encouraged to build an advising network that includes faculty, staff, peers, and academic departments, drawing upon different forms of expertise as their interests and goals evolve. Students begin engaging with academic advising before arriving on campus through a coordinated summer onboarding experience that includes online academic modules, live small-group advising sessions led by faculty and staff, and opportunities to learn directly from faculty and academic departments. Together, these experiences help students understand Harvard's curriculum, reflect on their interests, and begin making informed academic decisions before arriving on campus. Throughout the first year, they continue building relationships with Resident Deans of the First Year, Proctors, Peer Advising Fellows (PAFs), faculty, academic departments, and advising staff, each of whom contributes distinct expertise and perspectives. By the end of the first year, students should understand the curriculum, develop effective academic habits, begin exploring academic interests intentionally, know how to access expertise across the University, and feel increasingly confident shaping their own educational experience. **The First-Year Advising Network** Each student begins their time at Harvard with an advising network composed of a Resident Dean of the First Year (RDF), proctor, and Peer Advising Fellow (PAF). These members of the advising network are highlighted in my.Harvard for each student. For student athletes, a head coach will also appear in the advising network on my.Harvard. Faculty who have concerns about a first-year student are encouraged to contact members of the student’s advising network as appropriate. *Resident Deans of the First Year* Resident Deans of the First Year (RDFs) provide guidance on academic policies, connect students with campus resources, support students through academic and personal challenges, and help students navigate important educational decisions throughout the year. *Proctors* Proctors are adults, usually graduate students or full-time staff, who live alongside students in dormitory entryways and are central members of the first-year advising network. Through individual conversations, entryway meetings, and everyday interactions, they help students interpret the first-year experience, build community, develop effective academic habits, and connect with appropriate resources across the College. *Peer Advising Fellows (PAFs)* Peer Advising Fellows are upper-level students who help first-year students navigate Harvard from a student perspective. They share their own experiences, encourage exploration, answer questions about academic and campus life, facilitate entryway programming, and help students connect with opportunities and resources throughout the College. PAFs complement the guidance of faculty and staff by helping students navigate Harvard through the perspective of a fellow undergraduate. **Advising Beyond the First Year** As students identify their interests and declare concentrations, primary responsibility for academic advising gradually shifts toward academic departments. Faculty advisors, Directors of Undergraduate Studies, Undergraduate Coordinators, and other departmental advisors guide students through concentration requirements, advanced coursework, research opportunities, and other aspects of their academic experience. Throughout their undergraduate careers, students continue to build relationships with a broad network of advisors, mentors, faculty, and staff. **The my.Harvard Student Information System and Other Advising Resources** Students can access records tracking their academic progress in the my.Harvard Student Information System. In the “Advising Network” tab, students will find the photos, names, and contact information for all their assigned advisors at Harvard and can also see important advising materials, such as score reports from placement exams. Students can use the *Academic Advising Report* to track their progress toward degree requirements, and they can use the *What-If Report* to run a simulation of their requirements based on declaring a potential concentration. Members of each student’s advising network are strongly encouraged to consult and update the *Advising Journal* regularly to support coordinated advising across the student’s network.