What We Do

The Undergraduate Deans Office, a department within the Dean of the College division, provides support for undergraduate students as well as for other enrolled students. The office's main mission is to support students in their engagement with the curriculum and in their overall educational experience at Dartmouth.

A dean is assigned to each student, and follows that students throughout their college years. Although each of the deans has specific areas of academic and counseling expertise, they are generalists in the sense that they support the mission of the office.  Students can schedule appointments with any of the deans even if not assigned to them.

The deans serve:

• as resources for academic, social and personal advising
• as resources for improving academic performance
• as conduits of information about the College and its procedures
• as sources of support for students who have various kinds of concerns
• as sources of encouragement and information for students pursuing various kinds of opportunities
• as referrals to other College offices, and
• as administrators of academic and conduct regulations.

Many students schedule individual appointments with their deans to consult about various academic, personal, and social issues. These include:

• selecting courses
• identifying and structuring a major
• planning for off-campus study
• arranging for leave term opportunities
• applying to graduate programs or for fellowships and grants
• choosing a career
• securing financial resources for off-campus opportunities
• creating social/student organizations and programs
• resolving personal and family encumbrances or hardships
• maximizing the Dartmouth experience (academic and extracurricular)

Additional resources in the office are the Deans Office Student Consultants. Student consultants are trained by the Undergraduate Deans Office and are prepared to field questions relating (but not limited) to: major courses and curriculum requirements, D-plan strategies, internship and research opportunities, off-campus programs, time management skills, reading comprehension and study strategies. The purpose of the DOSC program is to provide academic peer advising on an informative but informal level.