Students have a pre-major advisor for their first three and a half semesters at Bowdoin and all pre-major advisor assignments are handled by the Office of the Dean of Students in coordination with the Office of the Dean of Academic Affairs.
After students initially declare a major/minor during their fourth semester, the academic departments/programs assign major and minor advisors internally and the ADC handles the data entry and ongoing management of those assignments in Banner, Bowdoin's student information system. Initial major/minor assignments are in place in advance of students preparing to register for their fifth semester courses.
Each department/program is free to approach the assigning process however they deem appropriate, but all assignments must be entered in Banner for students to view in Polaris.