Next Practices

Creating Advising Capacity with Diversified Support | Landon Peterson, Snow & Julia Carlo, NSU

Jun 27, 2023

40:39

Today we have a panel of guests! Joining today is Landon Peterson, Director of Academic Advising at Snow College, Julia Carlo, Executive Director of Advising at Northeastern State University, and our own Rob Friedhoff, Vice President of Community Development at Civitas Learning. If you’d like to hear a previous episode with Rob Friedhoff, he spoke about boosting academic advising capacity in Season 1, Episode 7.

In our discussion today, we discuss how to use student success analytics to deliver the right support instead of the same one to every student. We share ways to diversify student outreach and intervention to better serve students and maximize limited resources. We discuss how to navigate the challenges and opportunities that come with change management. With the perspective of two institutions using the same tools, you can see the different approaches to the same goal and how this change in advising has impacted students in both.

Show Notes:

[2:19] - Today, we’re focusing on tailoring support with shrinking resources.
[5:40] - Julia shares how her team is shifting from the same support model to finding the right support through Civitas Learning.
[7:54] - The bottom quartile students are typically not those who advocate for themselves and take advantage of open advising.
[9:56] - There’s “magic” in advising, especially when we are able to help the students who need it the most.
[11:27] - Landon describes the changes made at his institution that created a synergy between departments and advising and created more space for students.
[13:03] - The students that need to be seen the most are often the least engaged.
[14:59] - Change is hard and can be approached differently. Julia implemented change gradually, and she describes the growing pains.
[18:17] - There was 100% participation over time, and the institution saw the impact.
[19:45] - It’s not about ignoring the student's need, it’s prioritizing how much of a need we can meet.
[21:14] - Katy shares a story to help with peak registration periods.
[23:19] - The results have kept advisors motivated during busy periods of the year.
[25:01] - Civitas has data points for predictors of success that are specific to your institution.
[27:48] - Landon describes the outcomes and their impact on student retention.
[30:00] - Julia explains the impact and the data that shows it just by acknowledging a student once by an advisor.
[32:07] - Faculty and advisor relationships are powerful.
[34:35] - Leverage and celebrate those who are doing the work.
[37:22] - Find what works for students and help them get what they need. That’s the goal. Knowing the data is part of telling that story.