Advising

Hi. I'm Sam Rebelsky. I'm the senior active member of the Computer Science department. Those of you who've had a class from me know that I'm opinionated, snarky, and disorganized. I hope you also feel that I'm kind, knowledgeable, and funny. Well, maybe not that last thing. You will see many of those characteristics in my advising.

CS advising

It is my responsibility as your CS adviser to help you craft a liberal education that includes a computer science major. In the ideal, that means that we will work together to ensure that you can articulate the goals and components of a liberal arts education (preferably beyond "one from column A and one from column B"), that you select courses that will help you achieve those goals, and that you can explain how your collection of curricular and extracurricular work makes you liberally educated. We will also work together to design an education that makes you a computer scientist.

In practice, I will also help you deal with the red tape and complex systems at the College and advise you on how to navigate the limited resources in the CS major at Grinnell. At times, you will find that I am a "hands off" adviser; if you don't ask for help, I won't offer it. At other times, particularly when registration deadlines near, you may find that I am a "helicopter" adviser. I find that I choose courses and click the "Register" button for at least one advisee each semester.

Tutorial advising

My responsibilities as Tutorial adviser are similar to my responsibilities as CS adviser. I should help you craft a liberal education and begin to select a major. We will work together to articulate the goals and components of a CS education and on articulating how your four-year plan achieves those goals.

I will also help you with the red tape and complex systems at the College. I will alternate between "hands off" and "hands on" periods. I expect to be particularly "hands on" during Tutorial, but will be more hands off for the remaining semesters we are together.

Having me serve as your adviser

Or is that "Getting stuck with Sam as your adviser"?

There are three ways you can end up with me as your adviser.

The most frequent one is through the legendar CS major declaration process. In this process, which typically takes place early in your fourth semester, you list me as one of your potential advisers and our magic adviser matching system ("binding system", in the words of pmo) pairs us.

You may also end up in my Tutorial. Like the CS major declaration process, the Tutorial selection process involves having you provide a ranked list of choices and then relying on some magic software to pair students and Tutorials.

I've also ended up "inheriting" some advisees when colleagues go on leave.

Our first major declaration meeting

If you are a CS major, I expect you to do a bit of preparation before we have our first advising meeting. You should revisit the College Catalog's statement on Liberal Education and read William Cronon's “‘Only Connect …’ The Goals of a Liberal Education”. You should also start thinking about the remainder of your four-year plan.

The declaration essay

When you declare a major at Grinnell, the College expects you to write a short essay in response to the following prompt.

Before you declare your major, please consult with the faculty member who will serve as your new adviser. Review the courses you have already completed. Then write below (or attach as a separate document) a 100-200-word rationale evaluating your liberal arts education to date and setting goals for the remaining semesters. If you are declaring a second major, then the statement must also explain why the requested second major is necessary to achieve your particular educational objectives.

As the prompt suggests, you'll need to explain what a liberal arts education is and how the combination of past and future courses will make you liberally educated. I have no idea how you're supposed to fit all of that into 100--200 words. So don't try to stay within the limit.

Also: Be prepared to rewrite the essay. I expect what you write to be persuasive and even eloquent. If you're not up to those standards, I'll ask you to rethink and revise.

Some red tape

The College's deadline for declaring a major is becoming increasingly firm. And if you don't declare a major by the deadline in your fourth semester, you may not be able to register. So start the process early!

Since the Registrar's office no longer provides advisers with a copy of the major declaration form, I ask that you provide me with a PDF. If necessary, we can wander down to the Science Division Office together and scan it there.

Because the department has so many majors, our Chair has set up a major declaration form box in the Science Division Office. The Chair will sign all the forms left in that box and then route them to the Registrar's office. At least that's what I think will happen.

FAQ

Can you explain the CS department's registration process?

You can find my explanation in this musing.