Hobart and William Smith Colleges

30 May 2024 • Mentorship New Advising Model Launching

Advising for students will be streamlined with multiple resources co-located in Smith Hall.

Designed to align coordination of mentorship for first-year students and streamline support for all students moving forward, Hobart and William Smith is launching a new advising model this summer. Building off the success of last year’s First-Year Experience programming, President Mark D. Gearan and Provost Sarah Kirk have laid out a new advising structure to support the Colleges’ goal of creating a relationship-rich environment. They have worked with the deans so that all incoming first-year students will be assigned to a dean according to their First-Year Seminar, with four deans working as a team. Rising sophomores, juniors and seniors will remain in the current class dean model.

“Last year, we introduced faculty summer advising and the First Year Mentor model to the First Year Experience to engage students more intentionally as soon as they commit to HWS,” says Provost and Dean of Faculty Sarah Kirk. “Our next step is to create a new, best-in-class advising model that builds clear pathways for individualized academic success in the first semester and that ensures all students have the support necessary to thrive. I’m grateful to the deans for their partnership on this endeavor. The deans will follow individual cohorts of students for all four years, allowing them to coordinate their efforts with the First-Year Seminar faculty who serve as advisors for first-year students and then to connect students with multiple people across campus who match their needs and goals.”

As in the past, the Office of the Hobart and William Smith Deans will assist students with academic and future planning, provide support and connection to campus resources to encourage each student’s full engagement in their college experience, and offer assistance in connecting with faculty. The deans will also oversee honor societies and academic accolades and will participate in historic traditions and celebrations such as Charter Day, Founder’s Day and Moving Up Day.

The Office of the Deans will include David Mapstone ’93, P’21, Joe Mink and Kelly Payne. Lisa Salter will step away starting in the fall semester to travel with family. Amy Green will join the office in August bringing her extensive experience as an HWS faculty member, adviser and co-Director of the Writing Colleagues Program to her work. She previously served as a Dean of William Smith for a semester in 2023.

Lisa Kaenzig P’22, who has advised and guided students for more than 20 years in the William Smith Dean’s Office, is taking on a new role as Dean of Leadership, Entrepreneurship and Innovation and Director of the Centennial Center beginning July 1. Kaenzig will oversee the Centennial Center’s staff and signature programs. In her new capacity, Kaenzig will also continue her work as director of the HWS chapter of the Public Leadership Education Network (PLEN), the only national organization with the sole focus of empowering, educating and engaging women and marginalized gender groups in public policy to promote diverse, inclusive leadership in policy making.

Professor of Philosophy Scott Brophy ’78, P’12, P’25, who has served as Dean of Hobart College for four years, will return to the Philosophy Department where he will resume teaching, writing and mentoring students. Brophy received his Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Rochester. In addition to teaching and writing about the history of philosophy and on public policy, especially in the areas of law, the environment and education, he has served in a variety of faculty leadership roles including twice as presiding officer of the faculty, twice as the chair of the committee on academic affairs and more than a decade as chair of the philosophy department. He is the author and principal investigator of numerous publications and grants and has twice received awards from the faculty, once in recognition of his teaching and again in appreciation of his service to the community.

To facilitate this new advising model and better integrate student support services, multiple offices will be co-located in Smith Hall to provide a hub for student support including the Office of the Hobart and William Smith Deans, the Office for Campus Life, and the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.