1. The New Look of First-Year Academic Advising: A Perspective from the Provost’s Office Jodi Koslow Martin Assistant to the Provost Brynn Landwehr First-Year Academic Advisor 22nd International Conference on the First-Year Experience Montreal, Canada July 2009

2. Aurora University Private, independent university 45 miles west of Chicago, Illinois Approximately 2000 undergraduate students 377 students in the Fall 2008 first-year cohort 415 first-year students currently enrolled for Fall 2009 Who We Are… Sample Fill Sample Fill Sample Fill

3. Where We Were… Faculty Advising Model First-Year Advising Program The Strategic Market Survey Report prepared by The Alford Group in November 2006 noted: Students and parents brought forward concerns regarding academic advising 48.5% of students are “somewhat satisfied;” 12.1% are “somewhat unsatisfied;” 6.1% are “completely unsatisfied” with academic advising Student and parent comments reflect perceptions that academic advisors do not know requirements well enough, do not track student academic progress enough, do not offer enough academic mentoring in students’ early years

4. 1 Director 8 Professional Advisors 1 Administrative Assistant 5 Student Assistants Who We Are…

6. Strategy defines value for an organization.

7. Great organizations make big and small changes continually to be strategic.Montgomery, C.A. (2008, January). Putting leadership back into strategy. Harvard Business Review, 54-60. Montgomery, C.A. (2008, January). Putting leadership back into strategy. Harvard Business Review, 54-60.

8. How We Got There… Montgomery, C.A. (2008, January). Putting leadership back into strategy. Harvard Business Review, 54-60.

9. Where We Are… Day-to-Day Operations Majors Other Responsibilities AU4U: First-Year Registration & Orientation Registration Communication Speaking students’ language Casting a wide net

10. Where We Are: Speaking Students’ Language

11. Where We Are: Challenges Redefining faculty involvement Balancing advisor loads Multiple advisors per major Working collaboratively with other departments

12. Where We Are: Successes Heightened attention to first-year efforts Student engagement in academic advising Recognition from first-year students Moving forward – accurate, accessible information

13. Recommendations Create an identity Cast a wide communication net Find momentum in unlikely places

14. Jodi Koslow Martin 630-844-7510 jkoslow@aurora.edu Jkoslow347 (AIM) Brynn Landwehr 630-844-7861 landwehr@aurora.edu AUBrynn13 (AIM) Aurora University 347 S. Gladstone Avenue Aurora, IL 60506