Lafayette College’s advising office will undergo some major changes in the upcoming months. Throughout the remainder of 2022, the advising office will look to bring in a new first-year class dean and shift around some of the current staff.
The catalyst for these staffing shifts was former dean of advising Michael Olin’s decision to take a position at Princeton University last fall. Olin was heavily involved in formulating the current structure of Lafayette’s advising office, starting with the creation of the dean of advising position in 2013. With his departure, Dean Tim Cox had to fill the role of interim dean of advising while also serving as senior class dean, a post he has had since joining the college in 2019. This dual position has not allowed the senior class to have their own dean.
Over the next few months, the current first-year class dean Brandon Morris will move into the sophomore class dean position, while the sophomore class dean Christopher Selena will move into the senior class dean position. Abigail Close will remain as the junior class dean. The college is currently conducting in-person rounds of interviews, and once a new first-year class dean is hired, the changes will be officially made.
“We’re going to officially have a full-time person for each class once this process is complete,” Selena said. “All of us will be able to be more proactive about addressing student needs.”
Selena will also leave his position as director of the Academic Resource Hub, a position that will be filled by Marty Sullivan.
“I’ll be able to better focus on the senior class dean role, and ensure everyone is on track to graduate,” Selena said of leaving his leadership role with the Academic Resource Hub. “I can also better oversee the academic award ceremonies throughout spring senior year.”
Selena emphasized that although the class year dean experience is quite similar between all four years, being a senior year dean involves many other notable roles.
“It’s the same type of position, but senior year dean correlates to a slightly more developed level,” Selena said. “There’s a lot more variables to address with senior students, such as circumstances of either underachievement or credit deficits.”
Otherwise, the end of senior year is an exciting time, one that Selena is looking forward to experiencing firsthand.
“I’m really excited to be there at the endgame of the college experience, especially revisiting groups that I’ve already worked with as sophomores. The celebratory end of the year is exciting, but there’s also a lot of pressure and chaos leading up to that,” Selena said.
Morris, who has held his current position since 2016, is looking forward to working with sophomore students in his new role.
“I look forward to being in a position where I can work again with the class of 2025 whom I built strong relationships with last year and then work with the class of 2026 again the following year as they move into their second year,” Morris said. “This is a unique situation and one I’m very excited about.”
Morris is still working with first-years throughout their transition into college life, especially as pre-registration for second-semester classes is taking place. However, he is looking forward to experiencing a new perspective by guiding sophomore students as they eventually declare a major at the end of the spring semester.
“As the first-year dean, I talk with many students about what to expect, but now I’ll be able to work with them firsthand as they go through the declaration process,” Morris said.
