In 2016, an Advising Task Force made up of faculty and staff designed a new academic advising model that combined the talents of professional academic advisors and faculty mentors to support students from matriculation to graduation. This new model was implemented in Fall 2019.
All first year students will be assigned to an academic advisor in the Academic Advising office. The students will work with the professional academic advisor for one year.
At the end of the second term, students officially declare their intended major and their academic advisor assigns them a permanent faculty mentor. Undeclared students will remain with their academic advisor until they declare their major. Students will work with Career Counselors and their academic advisor to find their major.
Curriculum
Augsburg University is committed to intentional diversity. Inspired by this statement from Augsburg’s mission statement, Academic Advising designed an advising curriculum for our students. Academic advisors serve as cultural navigators for students transitioning to Augsburg. We expose first-year students to requirements, traditions, and language of higher education. Our goals are not merely to retain a first-year student, but prepare them to navigate the university experience all the way to graduation.
Currently, our advising model is very prescriptive due to the lack of a comprehensive degree audit. However once there is a degree audit in place at Augsburg University, we will be able to meet our expectations as serving as cultural navigators with a developmental advising approach.
Academic Advising Syllabus Template
Student Learning Outcomes
Understand the expectations of successful college student
- Utilizing support and resources (Tutoring, Gage Center, CWC, etc.)
- Making academic progress (32 credits and 2.5 GPA)
- Major discernment
Explain the culture of higher education
- Preparing for courses with books and syllabi
- Connecting students to financial services
- Reviewing academic calendar deadlines
- Academic success (SAP)
Engage and use appropriate tools to complete comprehensive academic planning
- Making academic progress (32 credits and 2.5 GPA)
- Term registration planning
- Using Records & Registration, the Registrar Office website and Academic Advising website
- Complete ENL 111 Effective Writing and Developmental Coursework in first year
- Complete a long term plan
NACADA
NACADA (National Academic Advising Association) is the global community for Academic Advising. To understand the importance of the association’s purpose, read through The History of NACADA. NACADA strengthens the academic advising profession by providing resources and research.
There are four pillars, or guiding principles, of academic advising:
- Concept of Academic Advising
- Core Values of Academic Advising
- Core Competencies of Academic Advising
- Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education: Standards and Guidelines for Academic Advising
It is with these four pillars, that we designed Augsburg University’s Academic Advising model.
References
Augsburg University. (2018). Mission Statement. Retrieved from (http://www.augsburg.edu/about/mission/
NACADA: The Global Community for Academic Advising. (2017). NACADA pillars of academic advising. Retrieved from https://www.nacada.ksu.edu/Resources/Pillars.aspx
Strayhorn, T. . (2015). Reframing Academic Advising for Student Success: From Advisor to Cultural Navigator. NACADA Journal, 35 (1), 56-63.