Advising & Degree Pathway SupportTo ensure that our students make timely progress toward degree completion, we must provide degree pathways that clearly delineate the semester-by-semester sequence of courses that lead to graduation. These pathways should be supported by course schedules that are accessible, reliable, and predictable. Importantly, student progression toward degree attainment should be supported by comprehensive and proactive advising and outreach efforts that guide students along these pathways and keep them on track in the face of emerging challenges.
1. Establish degree maps and perpetual schedules for every academic program illustrating the recommended semester-by-semester sequence of courses that lead to degree completion.
2. Establish multi-year course schedules that indicate precisely when and how classes will be offered in future semesters. The schedules should be tailored to individual programs and aim to achieve an optimal balance of meeting our student’s need for for accessible courses in multiple times/modalities while also supporting our commitment to academic rigor.
3. Use available technology to make schedules as efficient as possible, minimizing scheduling errors that could hinder a student’s path to graduation.
4. Ensure that we have a dynamic process of monitoring course scheduling that includes multiple stakeholders and allows us to adapt to changing student registration patterns (e.g., adding sections to meet unexpected demand).
5. Implement mandatory academic advising for most programs that assists students with long-term academic planning and provides guidance on effectively navigating the degree pathway to graduation (e.g., course selection).
6. Conduct intentional retention efforts through academic advising that include direct outreach and support for students who are not persisting and an early alert system that identifies students at risk of attrition and guides them to essential support.
