About three weeks ago, Weinberg sophomore Brandon Ray was confused about what he should do with the rest of his life. He was a math major with a minor in chemistry and wanted to know what distribution requirements he could double-count. He also wanted to know if he should get his teaching certificate at Northwestern or go into Teach for America.

“These questions could have easily been asked to a friend, but I wanted guidance,” Ray said.

Ray called his college adviser in Weinberg’s new academic advising office, located at 1813 Hinman Ave.

“It’s just nice to have that reassurance that you are doing things right,” he said. “And if you don’t know what you’re doing, (your adviser) is there to help you muddle through any confusion you have about what you want to do with your life and what you can do to meet those goals.”

The new advising system was put into action last year to fill the advising gap during the sophomore year. As sophomores, most students no longer had advisers from freshman seminars but did not have advisers in their majors yet, said Weinberg Associate Dean Craig Bina.

“In this new program, students are assigned to college advisers at the end of their freshman year,” Bina wrote in an e-mail. “Each college adviser will work with the same group of students until they graduate.”

The School of Communication and the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science have instituted similar programs, but officials there were unavailable for comment.

Philosophy Prof. Mark Sheldon, who advises about 260 sophomores, said he considers his advisees his cohorts and is looking forward to developing a relationship with them over the years.

Comparing Weinberg’s new advising method to the Oxford/Cambridge model of assigning “moral tutors” to entering students, Sheldon said the program is an “effort to create a structure where students have someone they could go and talk to that isn’t grading them.”

In an e-mail, English Prof. Sheila Donohue said she and fellow college advisers interact with students as “intellectual mentors and also, in a way, life mentors.”

College advisers help their advisees fill their distribution requirements, select a major (or two) and decide if they can or should study abroad. Donohue said they also tackle major issues with students regarding how choices in college will affect long-term career and personal goals.

“It can help tremendously to know that you have an adult within the system who is there specifically to help you make your academic life more what you’d like it to be,” Donohue said. “As advisers and faculty members, we can be both an advocate for the individual student and a reality check.”

Bina said all of the college advisers are also faculty members who regularly interact with students in the classroom.

College advisers teach about two classes a year and spend a majority of their time advising. Sheldon said being an adviser is very similar to being a teacher, and he loves both of his roles.

“(Throughout the) year, I’ll teach a large class and a smaller seminar and advise students one on one,” Sheldon said. “I love that mix.”

Sheldon and the seven other advisers represent many of the different disciplines one can study in Weinberg. Although he is from the philosophy department, Sheldon said he advises students objectively and relies on the specific expertise of his fellow advisers.

“For example, I may have a student with a specific interest in physics, and I would then ask (physics Prof.) Andy (Rivers) to sit in on our discussion,” Sheldon said.

Both Sheldon and Rivers said they readily recommend students to departments in order to get more detailed answers to questions about majors.

“We are in no way taking over for the major advisers,” Rivers said. “We are here to answer more general questions and provide neutral answers.”

Rivers said college advisers had a great breadth of knowledge about Weinberg and NU as a whole. They serve as liaisons for the Weinberg Office of Undergraduate Studies & Advising and attended a month-long training session before school started. This orientation included workshops with the registrar, career services, the dean’s office, and Counseling and Psychological Services.

According to Rivers, the advising office is more proactive this year than in the past.

“We now have the manpower and womanpower to do a lot more outreach,” he said.

College advisers e-mail their advisees to see how they’re doing, but Rivers said they are hesistant to make the advising program mandatory.

“We wanted to make the program more voluntary, and hoped that a mass majority of students would utilize us as a resource,” Rivers said. “A majority have been.”

Ray said his adviser told him about resources he didn’t even realize NU had, and he said all Weinberg students could benefit from visiting their adviser.

“The (college advisers) should take a more proactive approach in terms of our advising,” Ray said. “I think it should be mandatory that you meet with your adviser at least once a quarter to discuss your plans so that you don’t become totally screwed over.”

Rivers said he doesn’t want students to be forced to visit the offices. Donohue hopes students will want to meet with the advisers of their own accord.

“Our goal is to get every single student to come visit our offices,” Donohue said. “Students should know that we’re all really nice people with a great sense of humor. It’s not like the dentist or anything.” nyou