Advising Initiative Pilot

Undergraduate First Enrollment Overview

The 2021 Presidential Task Force on Educational Planning, along with subsequent working group reports, included several interconnected sets of recommendations related to early initiatives, a Together in Early Advising & Mentoring (TEAM) model for academic advising and student supports, and an incoming student’s first enrollment. Several of these recommendations have already been acted on (e.g., expanding the availability of early transcript review).  

The Office of Academic Affairs is committed to continuing to act on these recommendations from the Task Force, and to that end OAA will be implementing a TEAM model described below. In addition, OAA will be conducting a pilot project in 2023-24 to provide first enrollment advising services to incoming students beginning in July, 2023. 

Three goals have been identified for these changes:

Goal 1

Provide initial academic guidance to new students in the School of Undergraduate Studies, immediately following completion of orientation, by recommending courses for the first term of enrollment. 

First enrollment advising will be provided to incoming students by professional mentors following the completion of orientation.   Acting in their advisor capacity, these professionals will review a new student’s information (e.g., received transcripts, academic program, data collected during orientation activities) and recommend courses for that student’s first enrollment.  

Students will have an opportunity to set up a live session to speak with their 1st enrollment advisor.  

If a student has received 1st enrollment advising but has not yet registered, professionals from the Office of Enrollment Management will assist with getting that student enrolled in their first term. If ready, students will complete their registration during this appointment. 

Goal 2

Change the timing of new mentees to mentors from assign-upon-acceptance (current practice) to assigning after a student registers for their first course.  This should eliminate assigning mentees who never register for classes and streamline communication with incoming students at the beginning of their time at SUNY Empire.

Once a student registers, they will be assigned a mentor and a student success coordinator (SSC).  Together, the mentor and the SSC will serve as a support team for newly enrolled students.   At this point, the initial advising relationship is concluded.

Goal 3

Coordinate advisement and mentor assignment timelines with the implementation of recommendations from the Educational Planning Task Force and subsequent working groups, specifically regarding recommendations about early initiatives and the TEAM model.

Similar to the existing role, mentors will work with primary mentees on degree planning, prior learning assessment, and academic advisement. With the merging of the student success and development team and the academic services team, student success coordinators will now support students with first-term outreach and engagement workshops; navigating technology, policies, and processes; and non-academic coaching, concerns, and referrals. In addition, they will also manage processes related to informal and formal problem-resolution, academic grievances, and appeals for students within their caseload.  The activities of both the mentor and student success coordinator are not new, but in the new team model, a student will be introduced to both roles after they have completed registration.