Ensuring Student Success
Campus leaders hosted a forum to improve SDSUs academic advising.
SDSU Provost Chukuka Enwemeka hosted the university’s first Provost’s Advising Forum on Sept. 11 to discuss expanding academic advising — one of the major initiatives of the strategic plan.
More than 180 faculty members, administrators and students attended the event to brainstorm ideas on how to improve SDSU”s academic advising.
“The purpose of this event is to discuss and explore best advising practices, take academic advising to the next level and to do what we do better,” Enwemeka said during the forum.
Raising awareness of the academic opportunities available to students is a major component of the plan. Through the forum, participants worked to explore best advising practices and methods to improve advising.
Making advising available for students goes beyond academics. A goal of the strategic plan is to increase accessibility to counseling and health services, and high-impact practices such as student research and study abroad.
Supporting student success
During the event, SDSU President Elliot Hirshman spoke of the extraordinary progress the university has made in supporting student success through "Building on Excellence," the university's strategic plan.
“We should be proud of our excellence, our achievements and we should build on this tradition by dedicating ourselves to make further progress,”Hirshman said.
The forum called for an increase of face-to-face interactions between students and advisors and encouraged forum participants to think of how to facilitate ways to make advising more accessible for all students.
“We have made extraordinary progress in supporting student success — enhancing retention and graduation rates, reducing achievement gaps," Hirshman said. “Yet, we can still make further progress, especially in supporting students who face academic and financial challenges.”
Next steps
In addition to the Provost's Advising Forum, SDSU will hold events throughout the year and offer opportunities for faculty and staff advisors to earn certificates in advising. As a part of this campus-wide initiative, SDSU’s seven colleges will also establish or adopt new practices, such as having an advising center and adopting new pre-major policies.
