During the 2022-2023 Academic Year, the Provost’s Office, with support from all OSU college Deans, will be conducting an institution-wide review of OSU’s undergraduate academic advising. This review will be led by the Division of Student Affairs and the Office of Academic Affairs, in recognition of the clear connection between academic and student support services. Effective academic advising is essential to supporting student academic progress and overall student success. With this understood, it is imperative that we assess our academic advising programs to help ensure students are gaining value from their advising experiences and that those experiences are equitable across the colleges and throughout the student life cycle. 

Why a review and why now? 
  • A review of academic advising honors quality control and embraces a culture of improvement
  • Allows us to consider the approaches/structures that maximize advising for the most students 
  • We have ongoing concerns about students "falling through the cracks," especially during moments of transition (into or within the University) 
  • The last comprehensive review of "Student and Faculty Attitudes Toward and Experiences with Undergraduate Advising at Oregon State University: 2011 and 2014" (S. Drummond Hays, J.M. Allen, & C.L. Smith) was written up in October, 2014. More recent efforts have occurred, but they have not been comprehensive. These include:
    • Adding the Academic Advising topical module to the latest NSSE iteration (April - May 2021)
    • The recurring Transitions Survey administered out of Undergraduate Education (w'21; fa'21; w'22) includes a handful of academic advising questions
    • The Transitions and Advising Survey formerly administered out of Cross Campus Strategic Initiatives (sp'17 & sp'18)
Project Team: 
  • Alix Gitelman, Vice Provost for Academic Affairs
  • Dan Larson, Vice Provost for Student Affairs 
  • Kevin Dougherty, Associate Vice Provost & Dean of Students
  • Rebecca Mathern,  Associate Vice Provost & University Registrar 
  • Lisa Templeton, Associate Provost for Ecampus
  • Maureen Cochran, Senior Director of Student Affairs Strategic Initiatives 
  • Kerry Kincanon, Director & Head Advisor, University Exploratory Studies Program; 2022-2023 Chair, Academic Advising Council 
  • Jeff Malone, Director, Cross Campus Strategic Initiatives; 2022-2023 Chair-Elect, Academic Advising Council 
Internal Landscape Assessment Team: 
  • Jeff Malone, Director, Cross Campus Strategic Initiatives; 2022-2023 Chair-Elect, Academic Advising Council 
  • Kerry Kincanon, Director & Head Advisor, University Exploratory Studies Program; 2022-2023 Chair, Academic Advising Council 
  • Maureen Cochran, Senior Director of Student Affairs Strategic Initiatives 
  • Marilyn Stewart, Assistant Director, Dr. Lawrence Griggs Office of Black & Indigenous Student Success 
  • Stephen Jenkins, Executive Director, University Housing & Dining Services 

Timeline

Early Fall 2022 - Internal Landscape Assessment (including student perspectives)

  • Qualtrics responses via College Associate Deans & Head Advisors (October 3 - November 4) 
  • Qualtrics responses via Directors of Academic Counseling units (October 6 - November 7)

Late Fall 2022 - Analysis of materials & internal report preparation

Early Winter 2023 - External Review

  • External Reviewers via NACADA: The Global Community for Academic Advising will be on campus January 25, 26, & 27th.
    • Dr Jennifer Joslin, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs - Drury University 
    • Dr Karen Sullivan-Vance, Associate Director for Strategic Program Development - NACADA
  • Visit Schedule can be found here 
  • Visit Recap
    • Over their three day campus visit, our external reviewers interacted with OSU community members across 19 distinct sessions (the 18 sessions listed on the schedule linked above, plus 1 additional student session that was added on Friday, January 27th).
    • In addition to the student voice elements (NSSE advising module, transitions survey, etc) that were shared as part of the pre-visit landscape assessment and documentation, the reviewers were able to interact directly with 25 students (Agricultural Sciences, Business, Engineering, Forestry, Honors College, Liberal Arts, PHHS, Science, and UESP) during their visit .
    • Due to their roles and various affiliations, several members of the community met with the reviewers in more than one session. All totaled, across the three days, the reviewers heard from 121 distinct community members. 
    • All session participants were also invited to share additional feedback via email before February 3rd. 

Winter/Spring 2023 - Consideration of findings/recommendations.

  • The Project Team recieved the external report on March 15, 2023
  • The Project Team will triangulate the internal reports, the external report, and their own impressions from the internal/external review.
  • AAR Project Team shares findings/recommendations with related bodies such as the Provost's Council of Deans (PCOD), the Academic Advising Council (AAC) & the Undergaduate Education Council (UEC). Steps forward are discussed, decided upon, and enacted with these groups. 

 

Related Communications

  • Message seeking support of Deans sent to Provost Council of Deans (PCOD) – July 13
  • Message to Faculty Senate Executive Committee – August 18
  • Message to Academic Advising Committee members – August 22
  • Plans and updates shared at the Fall (September 16, 2022) & Winter (December 13, 2022) Advising Town Halls
  • Project Website: https://advising.oregonstate.edu/2022-2023-academic-advising-review
  • Updates to the Academic Advising Council (AAC) – November 9, 2022, December 14, 2022, & January 2023
  • Update to the Undergraduate Education Council (UEC)– January 5, 2023
  • Update to be shared at Spring Advising Town Hall (March 21, 2023)