Conversations That Shape Student Success

Ever since I arrived here about 18 months ago, I've been thinking about meeting with our student advisors. Over my 30+ years in academia, a lot has changed in terms of what we do and how we do it. One aspect that remains unchanged is the critical role of advisors in transforming our students’ lives. 

Advisors are the front line—the coaches, mentors, and, often, the steady support a student needs most. They help students understand the “academic journey”, navigate their courses, understand the sequence that must be followed, and, importantly, develop the life skills that carry them through life’s curveballs.

That’s why last Wednesday’s meeting with our advisors felt both long overdue as well as useful and inspiring. Here is what I heard:

• Transfer and Returning Students: Students transferring from other institutions, including from our sister campuses, must jump through higher hoops to come here. In addition to simplifying articulation and transfer requirements, we also need an integrated handoff between admissions and advising.
• Students with Dual Credit: More students come to college today with dual credit than in the past. Such credit has been shown to improve their college graduation rate. We need a seamless system to ensure that students graduating from high school with dual credit courses have their credits counted. This process must be simple, quick, and easy to use. This will help advisors provide students with the right information.
• The ‘Hidden Curriculum’ in Academic Units: We need a transparent system to transfer information on curriculum and curricular changes between all the academic units and University College. 
• Workload: In addition to large, unequally distributed caseloads and salary concerns, advisors carry a heavy burden as we implement new initiatives. Starting this past summer, Stellic and the focus on meeting proactive freshman advising goals is adversely impacting our advisors’ ability to help sophomores and other classes of students.
• Systems Improvement: Stellic has provided much-needed improvements to its advising systems. However, some advising processes are still done manually. We need to revise these processes to better support students in making the right decisions.

Working together, I am confident we will turn these conversations into action and make tangible improvements for advisors and the students they serve.

If you are a faculty member reading this, I encourage you to review the curriculum requirements for transfer students in your area. If you are an administrator, I ask you to consider ways to remove the unintended roadblocks we may have created for advisors, and, by extension, for our students. If you serve on the Advising Council, I look forward to hearing from and meeting with you to discuss salary inequities, workload, and professional development opportunities for advisors.

Finally, and importantly, if you are an advisor, I ask you to always reach out. From what I heard at the meeting, your message is never just about a problem—it’s about solutions. For that, I am sincerely grateful.