Update on Advising Redesign Implementation Teams

The Academic Advising Redesign continues to move forward! You’ll recall that five implementation teams were charged with developing different aspects of the project:

Team Architecture – This team was tasked with staffing the four advising teams that encompass the academic pathways—providing the “who.” They got right to work and completed their assignment by the end of March. Each of the four advising teams has a set of assigned advisors as well as support professionals drawn from various student service units. Dr. Kimberly Wright, kuwright@nvcc.edu

Referral Map – This team is working on the “how, what, when” of the advising teams. They have begun defining the base level skills and knowledge for advisors, then identifying the student needs that require referral to experts on the support team, such as an international advisor or career counselor. They’ve also begun brainstorming the tools necessary for advisors to make quick, effective referrals.  Amanda Wilder, awilder@nvcc.edu

Team Building – This team has the very challenging assignment of bringing together disparate personnel from various campuses and blending them into a dynamic, high functioning group committed to working together to serve students. They plan to use activities and programming that inspires, nurtures, builds relationships and makes being on the team “the best place to be.” They are preparing a pre-assessment to understand the staff’s hopes and concerns. Look for that soon!  Cecil Jackson, cecijackson@nvcc.edu

Training – Having just begun meetings, they know their work will depend in part on competencies outlined by the Referral Map team. There is already a strong collection of training workshops and resource materials that the group can revise for the new model. Maureen Lawson, mlawson@nvcc.edu

Communication – The team brainstormed different avenues to get the word out, like The Daily Flyer, updates at small and large group meetings, campus leadership team meetings, campus council forums to name a few. They agreed on the importance of keeping staff and faculty regularly engaged to build familiarity over time. They also discussed different, more interactive modes for reaching students when the time came to introduce the teams. Mark Bumgarner, mbumgarner@nvcc.edu

If you have any questions, suggestions, and/or concerns regarding the implementation of the new advising model, please contact the team leads listed above.

Submitted by:
Mark Bumgarner, Assoc. Professor Student Svcs., MBumgarner@nvcc.edu