Progress Update
In this section we aim to provide an update on what the current area of focus is for
the Academic Support & Advocacy formation team. This notes some of the areas of attention
we’ll address in the first 6-12 months.
- We aim to step back and review our support services to ensure they are aligned with
student needs and expectations. The Academic Support & Advocacy Team is meant to help
connect students with support services, and not be the provider of all services. An
important component will be to ensure the services the university is offering are
meeting the campus needs.
- This work will involve insuring we have a good understanding of what services are
being offered, assessing if they are meeting student needs and expectations, growing
and scaling services as needed.
- For example, we want to ensure the supports we offer for mental health, tutoring,
writing center, success coaching, career supports, housing, food and financial support
are all evolving to meet our changing student landscape.
- A critical initial priority will be building out the advocacy supports on campus for
fall 2023.
- For Fall 2023 advocacy is specifically going to look at providing high-touch care
to high-care students. For example, data as of early May 2023 indicates that there
are over 3,200 undergraduate students who are currently not on good academic standing
or are indicating as benefiting from high-care supports. The initial focus will be
determining how best to scaffold supports for these students. In partnership with
the Committee For Advising Excellence we will be determining what advocacy looks like
at WCU, what the role of an advocate is, how students are connected with advocates,
and how advocates coordinate care with students’ advisors and faculty.
- It is our plan to maintain the existing SSC supports in colleges/departments for summer/fall
2023.
- We then went to look at laying in additional intentionality around differentiated
enrollment support work. Some examples of differentiation could include considering
shifts to how we advise students around course registration, identifying and tracking
major-specific indicators of success or potential risk.
- As the university moves to implementing a new student information system Banner to
replace myWCU, we recognize it provides us an opportunity to revisit common practices
around enrollment support and implement differentiated care.
- A key priority is to ensure we build out the personnel, technology, and professional
support resources necessary to mature the ways in which we support students.
- During the summer & fall 2023 we will be focused on hiring additional resources, as
well as laying the foundation for this entity with designating space for their work,
establishing communications (such as this website), building Navigate to align with
the structure identified, and marketing the entity.
- We are being highly intention about this work as we want to be clear to faculty and
staff on how they can work with ASA to support students for the 2023-2024 academic
year and beyond.
