By Phil Hamilton, Aug 21, 2009 in Academic Life Outside the Classroom
As a new academic year begins, a number of junior professors will soon be asked to serve as faculty advisors to various student clubs and organizations. There are certainly “pros” and “cons” to performing this service and, for those of you just starting out, here are some things to keep in mind.
One “con” involves the significant time commitment often involved in advising a club (especially if it is active). Young faculty members are typically overwhelmed with teaching responsibilities, course preparation, and research and publications projects. Advising a club may be one thing too many. If the student organization is politically conservative, moreover, it may be a liability for a new professor to serve, particularly given the left-leaning tendencies of most professors in higher education.
But there are certainly “pros” involved in such service. Several years ago, I served as the faculty advisor to our University’s History Club. I found this to be some of the most rewarding service work I’ve performed in my academic career. Over the course of several years, I worked with a number of students to arrange talks on campus by outside lecturers; we also visited other institutions to hear historians give public talks and I frequently led field trips to such historical sites as Colonial Williamsburg, Monticello, and Gettysburg.
Although the time commitment was frequently enormous, especially in organizing and leading the field trips, this work was also extremely gratifying. The students genuinely appreciated the effort I took to arrange things and the time I spent with them. And many of these students subsequently took my classes in early American history.
Serving as the club advisor was also helpful when my tenure review occurred. I teach at a public liberal arts institution where teaching and close interaction with students are extremely important. While research and publications are essential for tenure, they cannot save a candidate who has a bad reputation in the classroom and with students. Thus, my service work as a faculty advisor was seen as a definite plus by the administration.
Therefore, if any of my younger colleagues who are just starting out are asked to serve as a faculty advisor to a student club, I would urge you to weigh the pros and cons by asking yourselves the following questions: 1. Can I afford the time commitment that will be involved given my other responsibilities? 2. How will such service be regarded by my colleagues, especially by those who will ultimately be evaluating me regarding tenure? 3. Will I enjoy helping and spending time with the students of this particular club? In other words, would the rewards justify the potentially heavy time commitments?
1 Response to "The Pros and Cons on Advising a Student Organization"
Lee Trepanier on Aug 21, 2009
I would only add that you should consider what type of students will be members of the student club. On the one hand, if you have dynamic and driven students, then advising the club is relatively easy and can be enjoyable; on the other hand, if you have students that need to be prodded and reminded to attend meetings, then advising is not only time-consuming but demoralizing.