In Keeping With the Holy Cross Experience, Class Dean Offers Students Personalized Attention

“Best class on record!”

That’s the response Ron Jarret, dean of the class of 2012, offers each time he’s asked about his students.

In fact, it’s a bit too early to tell whether that’s actually the case. Jarret admits he’s speaking out of enthusiasm. This is his first year as a class dean, and he couldn’t be more eager to help students navigate academic opportunities, including Montserrat. He will stay with the class of 2012 through graduation.

Jarret’s distinguished career at the College started 23 years ago, and he says that if not for his own college advisors, he wouldn’t be at Holy Cross today. Jarret started as a biology major at Rhode Island College, and after taking a few chemistry courses, was encouraged to double major in chemistry. (He also minored in mathematics and physics, making him a science polymath.)

His goal was to become a high school science teacher after college, but his chemistry professors urged him to go on to graduate school. He says he applied only to appease them.

“My plan was that I would apply only to the very best programs in the country, expecting to get rejected from all of them!” remembers Jarret.

Instead, he got accepted to all, including Harvard and Yale. He chose to attend the latter, earning his Ph.D. in physical organic chemistry.

In addition to teaching since his arrival in 1983, Jarret served as the chair of the chemistry department for 12 years, and has played the roles of research advisor and academic advisor. Most notably, he is one of the architects of Discovery Chemistry, a nationally-recognized curriculum that features introduction of many chemistry concepts in the laboratory rather than the lecture.

Jarret is glad his professors and advisors pushed him during his years in school.

“Grad school gave me the ability to shoot higher, and work with students in areas that I wouldn’t have been able to in high school,” he says. “My greatest joy in what I teach is organic chemistry, which of course isn’t offered at the high school level. I am thrilled with the way that things have worked out. I have those people to thank.”

Those experiences fueled his desire to accept the class dean position, and mentor students even outside of the sciences.

“Receiving good advice along the way, and having people who were willing to stick with me through the whole process influenced me and the roles that I have taken on at Holy Cross,” he says.

There is another reason that makes Jarret qualified to fill this new role: his oldest son, Adam, graduated from Holy Cross last year; his daughter attends Fordham University; and his youngest son has started the college application process.

“I think seeing my own children go through the process has increased my desire to help people get the most out of college, in an individualized way,” he says. “There are a lot of important programs that Holy Cross offers that not everyone is aware of — from Academic Services Learning to the Counseling Center to the Chaplains’ Office — and I see it as my job to connect them to these important resources.”

Jarret admits that students can be under considerable pressure —oftentimes by well-meaning parents, faculty, advisors, and others — and sometimes an appointment with a class dean helps put things in perspective.

“I often find myself telling students ‘Stop for a minute and think about this. Do you really have to follow this timetable? Do you really have to take all of these classes this semester? Is that really in your best interest?’ Sometimes that’s all it takes. At the end of the day it’s their decisions to make, but the class deans allow students to make more informed decisions.”

His advice for parents is to allow students to follow their passions. He points to his son who graduated as an English major in May and is currently developing software for a publishing company.

“I think the most important thing that a parent can do is to let each son or daughter find the areas of study and the modes of inquiry that excite them the most and let them follow their passions,” he explains. “I am a believer that they will find their place in the world. Sons and daughters have to make choices regularly throughout their path here, where they constantly have to decide if they have to say yes to one thing and no to another.”

Are any of his children pursuing a career in science?

“I’m 0 for 3 in raising scientists,” he says, “but as long as they’re valuable contributing members in society I’m happy, and that’s what I wish for all our students.”

Related Information:

• Montserrat