Looking for next year’s SDAs!

13 April 2020

Juniors, are you interested in serving the department as an SDA (Student Departmental Advisor) next year?

The official blurb is below, but basically you serve as peer advisors about the major to people in their first couple of years, and help ease the lives of the majors. This year the SDAs are Ann Isaacs and Marshall Basson.  You could ask them how they spend their time (which varies even between the two of them).
We need to choose SDAs soon, so please email Marty at mbaylor@carleton.edu to express interest.
Please send a short note about why you want to do this, and in particular what perspective you might bring, including — say
— having studied abroad one or more times
— non-traditional track through the major
— physics and pre-med/physics and engineering … etc

Each year, one or two seniors serve departments (or programs) as SDAs. These Student Departmental Advisers help inform students about courses, prerequisites, college and departmental requirements, and so supplement information and advice available through advisers and published materials.  It is now time to identify SDAs for 2020-21.

A complete description of the responsibilities of SDAs can be found here. The specific roles that SDAs play vary significantly from one department to another. But, in general, one might think of a good SDA as a student who:

–knows the department and its curriculum well,

–is responsible,

–communicates clearly with both students and faculty,

–would represent the department well as an “ambassador” to other students, job candidates and other visitors,

–is enthusiastic and eager to be a “booster” for the department.

The only College-wide requirements are that all SDAs must: 

–have a 3.0 GPA and

–be in residence and enrolled throughout their senior year (it is possible to make exceptions to this policy in the case of departments or programs with very few senior majors/concentrators).

SDAs will have to be available for a brief orientation during New Student Week in the fall.  The exact date and time will be announced to all newly selected SDAs this May.

Note that SDAs serve the College as volunteers.