Suffolk University has shined light on many potential changes for the future in the direction of student academic success. Among these changes are new tactics for advising and registration for all students.
“Students and faculty are looking at Student Success and saying ‘What’s changing?’” said Lauren Mahoney, director of the advising center. “It’s an evolution; a school grows over time.”
This year, multiple offices on campus have moved locations or combined in an effort to better Suffolk’s future towards student success. Among these are the Center for Learning and Academic Success, which was profiled last week. Now, even advising offices have joined forces.
Students who are new to the university or are undecided majors automatically receive an administrative advisor. These staff members are mostly responsible for pointing students in the right direction. Once a student chooses a major, they move onto a faculty advisor within their chosen department.
Ultimately, getting CAS and SBS administrative advisors working more closely with one another is a major goal. Still, any logistical changes have yet to be worked out. They will hopefully come within a few years.
However, according to Mahoney, it is important for students, especially returning students, to realize that, when it comes to advising, “nothing yet has changed. We need to do it the old way while creating a new way.”
Many students do not recognize the difference between advising and getting cleared to register, which is a major problem, according to Mahoney
“Advising has nothing to do with registration,” says Mahoney. “It’s a conversation. Part of advising is to force [students] to come to an office and get cleared to register, which might force that conversation. Students know what they want, maybe not what they need.”
The new advising center also hopes to be able to offer additional training to faculty advisors, especially those who wish to be more self-sufficient in aiding students and not rely too heavily on other departments for questions and other information. They want to know as much as they can.
More than 60 faculty members will be directly affected by this new student success notion, according to Emily Fritz-Endres, the assistant to the vice provost for student success.
“There are so many constituents—we’re assessing the needs right now and that takes time,” said Fritz-Endres, “We need to understand exactly what we need to implement.”
Suffolk is only in the beginning phase of implementing these changes across the university.
“One of the most common student questions is ‘Is anything going to change?’ said Mahoney. “We hope so.”
