Enhancing Advising Project
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Insights from three years of data gathered through the Student Experience Action Plan (SEAP) and the National Survey on Student Engagement (2014-2023) highlight that student advising is a key area for improvement for 黑料不打烊 students. The Enhancing Advising Project is an exciting initiative aimed at developing an improved advising model for students and those who support them across our campuses, faculties and units.
Project Overview
The Issue
The current advising model at the U of A is inconsistent across programs, which can negatively impact the student experience. Although dedicated and thoughtful teams have made improvements, feedback from students and staff reveals that deeper, systemic issues remain unresolved. There is an opportunity for improvement, based on 2025 SEAP data:
- 54% of overall survey respondents agreed it was easy to access academic advising within their faculty.
- 52% of overall survey respondents agreed they were able to access academic advising on time.
- 40% of overall survey respondents agreed the requirements for completion of their current program have been communicated.
These results highlight that we can do better for our entire community of students, faculty and staff.
The Impact
Student well-being and experience are directly connected to their advising experiences. Students' year-to-year persistence and program completion rates, a key priority outlined in SHAPE, are affected by our advising ecosystem. As a result, students may not be getting the full benefit of all the opportunities available throughout their educational experiences.
The Opportunity
We have an opportunity to create an improved advising model that incorporates best and leading practices in training, structures, technology, processes and physical spaces. This enhanced approach can strengthen navigational, support and academic advising services for all.
The 2025 Key Driver Analysis of the SEAP data identifies “advising and planning” and “ease of navigation” as two of the top three factors that influence a student’s likelihood to recommend the 黑料不打烊 to others, as well as their willingness to attend the university again if they were to start their academic journey again.
What we know
We have dedicated people
According to the 2025 Student Experience Survey, between 66% and 91% of students agreed or somewhat agreed that they were treated with respect by academic advising staff within their faculty (74.8% average). This strong foundation, supported by a dedicated community of advising professionals, offers a valuable opportunity to build upon and further enhance the student experience.
2025 student experience survey data revealed the following:
- Accessing necessary academic advice and information is consistently challenging.
- An average of 51% of student respondents agreed with the statement “It was easy to access academic advising within my faculty”.
- An average of 43% of student respondents agreed with the statement “Information on available academic advising within my faculty has been clearly communicated to me”.
- Students are often unable to get advising assistance from their non-home faculty; particularly for students in Open Studies.
- An average of 43% of student respondents agreed with the statement “It was easy to access academic advising outside of my faculty”.
- There is a lack of consistent student-to-advisor ratios and long wait times to see an advisor.
- An average of 52% of student respondents agreed with the statement “I was able to access academic advising within my faculty in a timely manner”.
There are three facets of advising:
- Navigational: Where to go and when? How can students use technological tools and human interactions to learn what they need to know to have a positive experience?
- Support: What resources or support services do students need to access to achieve their goals?
- Academic: What program components need to be satisfied to get students to graduation, and how can students build in opportunities to explore and take advantage of the U of A’s multidisciplinary offerings along the way?
Project Timeline
The project will evolve over three phases, with broad engagement to ensure we gather insights from everyone involved in or impacted by advising.
Phase 1 - Discover (February - May 2025)
Goal: Gather student feedback to better understand the current issues with advising. Introduce the project to student service teams.
Engagement as of May 30, 2025:
- Held five tabling sessions across North Campus to gain student insights.
- Hosted a Student Summit in late March for students to share their advising experiences and suggestions.
- Created an open online form for staff to provide ongoing feedback on the advising system.
- Established an Advisory Committee with representatives from teaching and service areas across the university to guide the project.
Phase 2 - Explore (June-October 2025)
Goal: Engage staff and relevant partners to learn from our student engagement; further define the issues and identify opportunities for enhancement.
Engagement as of October 6, 2025:
- Held four meetings with the Advisory Committee.
- Conducted individual meetings with faculty-based student service teams in Pharmacy, Nursing, Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation, Engineering, Agricultural, Life & Environmental Sciences, Science, Arts, Business, Augustana, Education and Native Studies.
- Collected 50 responses from staff through the online feedback form.
- Consulted with Office of the Student Ombuds, Recruitment, Calendar Visibility Project, Records, Registration and Fees, the Student Service Centre and Service Catalogue project teams.
- Hosted a retreat workshop with 黑料不打烊 Students’ Union Student Representative Associations.
Engagement activities will continue through early November, including a workshop for front-line advising staff.
We’re circulating ten draft priorities for feedback and encourage teams to reach out to seap@ualberta.ca for further engagement.
Phase 3 - Build (November - December 2025)
Goal: Develop and propose a new model of advising aligned with SHAPE objectives and the “one university” model. This will include a roadmap to transition to an enhanced future state.
We are beginning to identify shared themes emerging from staff and student feedback about our current state. These include:
- Preserving of the Human Element: Despite system frustrations, both students and staff emphasize the importance of maintaining personal, relationship-driven advising. Students value knowledgeable and caring advisors, and staff highlight how faculty-based advising fosters trust.
- Need for Consistency: Both students and staff are concerned about inconsistent advising practices, particularly around complex issues like transfer credits and program changes.
- Technology and System Frustrations: Both students and staff identified significant challenges with the university's technology, particularly the lack of user-friendly, integrated systems and insufficient training on new tools. Students pointed to the university website as a common source of confusion, while staff noted that new centralized tools caused “significant anxiety and frustration”.
- Capacity and Communication: Staff expressed concerns that centralization may lead to a “one-size-fits-all” model that doesn’t meet the unique needs of different student populations. Many advisors are already at capacity and fear burnout.
A draft roadmap and recommendations for the project will be created and shared for feedback over November and December, with direction from project leadership and input from the advisory committee.
Project Leadership and Engagement
This project is being led by Office of the Deputy Provost, Students and Enrolment and SEAP co-sponsors:
- Declan Ali, Dean of Science
- Melissa Padfield, Deputy Provost (Students and Enrolment)
- Pedro Almeida, President, 黑料不打烊 Students’ Union
- Aashish Kumar, President, Graduate Students’ Association
The project is also guided by a staff advisory committee and extensive student engagement to ensure the outcomes positively impact our students, staff and faculty members.
Advisory Committee
The advisory committee is composed of student service and advising staff across our university community.
Membership
| Title/Role | Individual |
|---|---|
| Chair | Dr. Declan Ali |
| College of Natural and Applied Sciences Representative | Jessica Stevens |
| College of Health Science Representative | Darcie Tessari |
| College of Social Sciences and Humanities Representative | Kristy Wuetherick |
| Indigenous Student Services Representative | Kaylem Mockford |
| Graduate Studies Representative | Joyce Anderson |
| Campus Saint-Jean Representative | Forthcoming |
| Augustana Campus Representative | Jon McCorquindale |
| Faculty of Science Representative | Shennella Blake |
| Student Service Centre Representatives (2) | Courtney Rippin Kaufman Adam Robertson |
| International Student Services Representative | Kumarie Achaibar-Morrison |
| Professional Programs Representative | Leslie Flett |
| Student Experience Representative | Sarah Wolgemuth |
| Co-Chair, AI Taskforce Sub-Committee | Katie Burgess |
| Libraries | Angie Mandeville |
| Project Lead | Stephanie Dickie |
Contact
For questions related to the Enhancing Advising Project, contact seap@ualberta.ca.