The Walk to Class — Academic Advising Cool Trick #1

I like walking across campus to teach class. As I walk, I clear my head — think about the lecture I’m about to give, and talk to my teaching assistant (TA). My TA is often a graduate student doing research with me. We talk about class (how is grading coming for that last assignment?), about their research, and about our lives.

When I was associate chair of my department in charge of the teaching schedule, people would often beg for a close classroom. Some people have mobility challenges and other legitimate needs for a close room, but for everyone else, I never understood that request — I like my walk. OK, I don’t want to teach in the Paper Science building (1.1 miles from my office), but the walks to Klaus (0.4 miles) or CULC (0.6 miles) are lovely.

I’ve always enjoyed the walk to class, but it was only recently that I realized that it’s one of my best advising tools. I meet with my PhD students one-on-one every week, but conversation on the walk turns out to be a significant addition. My TA this semester, Ciabhan Connelly, is co-advised by Eric Gilbert at University of Michigan. At each of our weekly advising meetings this term, Ciabhan and I find ourselves filling Eric in on what we talked about on our walks to and from class. I wasn’t consciously aware of the tremendous amount of information exchanged on these walks.

Getting a PhD is the process of becoming a junior peer to your advisor. I find also on our walks, we have become friends. I could tell on our first walk this term that Ciabhan was a bit nervous — what are we going to talk about? But as time has gone on, we have begun talking as I would to any friend. And if I share some department politics, that is also mentoring — he aspires to an academic job, and learning about how departments work or fail to work is relevant.

If you think about it, if you took four short walks per week for ten weeks with anyone you know, you’d end up becoming better friends. I always knew I enjoyed my walk to class, but I only recently realized that it is important.