New 4-year Advisement Model Stays with Students Through College Career

JoAnne Malatesta shows President Havidán Rodríguez around the offices for Undergraduate Education and Advising Services. (UAlbany photo)

ALBANY, N.Y. (Feb. 20, 2020) — Improving the student experience, from admissions through graduation, is the goal of a new student advisement model that will be introduced to new students in the fall.

The new model is designed to enhance the student experience by creating Student Success Teams, made up of advisement professionals, departmental advisors and faculty mentors. The team approach will offer continuity and consistency for students, even if they change majors, to support and guide them as they complete their programs, similar to the current EOP advising structure.

“This is a holistic and proactive advisement model that will allow advisors and students to build stronger relationships, and trigger a faster response if a student needs more direction or seems to be struggling,” said JoAnne Malatesta, interim vice provost and dean of undergraduate education.

Currently undergraduate students change advisors when they change majors, or have periods where they have no advisor as they switch departments. The new model not only assigns a professional advisor from the Academic Support Center (ASC) to each student, but builds on a close working relationship between departmental advisors and those in the ASC, Malatesta said.

The new system will launch in Fall 2020 with incoming freshman and over time add new transfers until all students are part of the new model. Malatesta said the University is in the process of hiring about a dozen new professional advisors.

“Advising has changed over the years,” she said. “It’s not just about schedule maintenance — students are arriving on campus with more complex issues and need more guidance to successfully navigate university life. Our ultimate goal is student success: better retention, better completion, higher graduation rates and a better overall experience for all students.”

The new advisement plan is part of a larger Strategic Enrollment Management plan, a joint effort of Academic Affairs, Student Affairs, Undergraduate Education and the Graduate School. The plan was developed by the Strategic Enrollment Management Committee, led by Provost Carol Kim and the Vice President for Student Affairs Michael Christakis.

“UAlbany has established Student Success as a top University priority within the Strategic Plan, and consistent, personalized advisement throughout the duration of a students’ academic career is essential for that success,” Kim said. “The four-year advising model will be transformative for our students and will serve as a core component of our student success framework going forward.”

Goals of the Strategic Enrollment Management plan include:

• Assisting students to build academic and personal success
• Improving retention, persistence and time-to-degree rates
• Closing the achievement gap between historically underrepresented students and the general student population
• Mitigating financial barriers to a UAlbany education

“The new advisement plan is an essential component of UAlbany’s renewed emphasis on enrollment management strategies that acknowledge the unique opportunities and challenges our students confront throughout their collegiate journey,” Christakis said.

You can learn more about UAlbany’s Strategic Enrollment Management Plan here.

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