Bellarmine Academic Advising Council

Rationale

Today’s university students desire a quality educational experience that offers the best return on investment for their futures. As student demographics become increasingly more diverse; services and strategies must evolve to rise to unique needs. A vital strategy for supporting the educational mission of the university as well as, overall student success is the academic advising process. According to the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) best practices in academic advising promotes student learning and development and connects to the educational mission of the institution. Additionally, academic advising is a collaborative process which can create meaningful, impactful student experiences that in turn can be transformative.

Furthermore, Bellarmine University’s new Tradition and Transformation Strategic Plan as well as, the Liberal Education Taskforce (LET) Core Curriculum Proposal, discuss providing students with a distinct and transformative educational experience for long term student success. In order to build upon the work of the 2016 Advising Review Committee, the LET Core Curriculum Committee, and to reflect the new Strategic Plan it would be imperative to create an Academic Advising Advisory Council (AAAC).

Having this council would assist in strengthening academic advising across the institution, in order to provide our students with an intentional, holistic academic advising experience across the lifespan of the student’s educational journey. This council would be one strategy to best serve our evolving student population in order to assist in moving the needle on persistence, retention and ultimately graduation.

Purpose

The purpose of the AAAC is to strengthen communication and collaboration around academic advising service and delivery across the institution. The fundamental goal would be to create an intentional, meaningful and transformational academic advising experience for undergraduate students at Bellarmine University.

Goals

  • Develop common language around academic advising at Bellarmine University utilizing best practices (CAS Standards, NACADA Core Competencies, NACADA Core Values)
  • Provide a forum for discussion around academic issues regarding equitable and inclusive policies, processes and procedures around advising (advising manual/resources, personal advising philosophy, major declaration, advisor transition processes, identify institutional barriers, etc.)
  • Make recommendations for common training and professional development opportunities for consistency of advising delivery.
  • Provide input on appropriate tools and resources to enhance advising services (Early Alert/FIRE, Advisor Trac/Beacon).
  • Develop ongoing and continuous assessment of academic advising in order to create accountability and improve practice.
  • Make recommendations for recognition process for exceptional academic advising.

Outcomes

  • Creates a university-wide understanding of academic advising.
  • Creates best practices across the institution regarding advising delivery in order to provide an equitable, advising experience for every undergraduate student.
  • Strengthens collaboration across the institution by bridging faculty and professional academic advising.
  • Creates assessment around academic advising efforts across the institution.

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