What’s the secret to “seamless” academic advising?

Written by: edepillis

Business students describe the advising they get at the Dr. Rita Patel Thakur Academic Advising Center as “easy” and “seamless.” They even cite it as the reason they stuck with college. But great advising doesn’t just happen–it takes careful planning and graceful execution.

History

Years ago, the college had faculty members doing the academic advising for the college. Although our faculty advisors were experts in their disciplines, advising was not their main responsibility. The faculty at La Verne must maintain excellence in teaching, generate intellectual contributions, and serve on committees. Additionally, faculty are on 10-month contracts, which meant that students often could not get help from their faculty advisors in the summer. With all of their other responsibilities, faculty could not stay current on general education requirements, changing policies, technical system issues, financial aid, student accounts, or the specific regulations, restrictions, and support for populations such as international, military, and first-generation students, and those with accessibility and mental health needs.

In 2011, the college voted to convert two faculty positions to professional advisor positions for the college. In 2021, after observing how effective the college-embedded professional advisors had been in promoting student success, Associate Dean Dr. Rita Patel Thakur provided a generous financial gift to establish a permanent advising center in the College of Business. Today, the Dr. Rita Patel Thakur Academic Advising Center provides specialized academic advising services to students in undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degree programs at the La Verne Campus including 4+1 pathways and graduate certificates. As a result, advising errors are minimized, and students have greater access to excellent advising support. According to the latest campus advising survey, the College of Business has the highest level of student satisfaction with academic advising.

The Secret Sauce

What makes the center work? Five main principles: One-to-one relationships, regular contact, college-embeddedness, specialization, and a culture of going the extra mile for the student.

1. Student success begins with one-to-one relationships. Upon enrolling at La Verne, a College of Business student is assigned to one academic advisor who remains their point of contact. Academic advisors get to know each of our students and provide personalized advising services from initial enrollment through graduation.

2. College of Business advisors are proactive, meeting with students at least once every semester to help them stay on track, and reaching out more often when a student is struggling. An advising session can include helping students to plan course schedules that are right for them, guiding students in developing an educational plan to graduate, discussing career options and pathways, working through challenges, working with faculty and program directors in the College of Business, and connecting students to resources outside the college.

3. College of Business advisors are embedded in the college, allowing them to work with faculty toward the shared goal of student success. Their offices are physically located in the college, where they are available both in person and via videoconferencing. They attend College meetings and professional development events, and work with faculty on developing curriculum.

4. College of Business advisors specialize by program in order to provide the highest level of expertise. They engage in professional development and stay up-to-date on future curricular changes in their programs. Advisors may teach a section of the college skills course or spend time cross-training so that they can fill in for their colleagues in a pinch. But their primary responsibility is advising in their program.

5. College of Business advisors go above and beyond the limits of their job description, connecting students to resources and following up where needed. Organizational culture originates with leadership, and the culture of going the extra mile is modeled by the center’s executive director, who often works outside regular hours to take student calls from time zones around the world.

Using these principles, the Dr. Rita Patel Thakur Academic Advising Center helps students to stick to their academic path and graduate on time.

Academic advisors also work closely with the College of Business O’Brien Career Center where students get career planning, interview and resume preparation, internship and job search strategies, and professional mentoring for success after graduation.

Where to Find Us

The Dr. Rita Patel Thakur Academic Advising Center is located in the Cogley Building at 2180 Third Street, La Verne, CA 91750. When students arrive at the Cogley Building, they enter the double glass doors and then turn right to enter the Dr. Rita Patel Thakur Academic Advising Center. Within this space, students will find a welcoming Student Support Center and their academic advisor’s office. Students can use the Student Support Center to register for classes, complete forms, and study prior to or after meeting with their academic advisor. Pictured below: Dr. Rita Patel Thakur, the Cogley Building exterior, and the Student Support Center.