May 14, 2021
Oakland University’s Excellence in Academic Advising (EAA) initiative recently hosted a four-day, virtual “Campus Retreat” to celebrate the first-year successes of the program and to provide an opportunity for participants to learn from and challenge one another.
“It is clear through the participation at the retreat and throughout year one of the project that the campus community is invested in the future of academic advising,” said Sara Webb, senior director of First Year Success at OU. “We already have a strong advising community that supports and advocates for our students and who works well together across departments and divisions to ensure an atmosphere rich with student success.
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“The EAA initiative has provided a platform to share the accomplishments of OU advising, and to analyze, plan and act on improvements that will ensure our ongoing success,” she added.
Launched in January 2020, the EAA initiative is a three-year, evidence-based self-study sponsored by the Gardner Institute and the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA), and funded in part by The Kresge Foundation. During the first year of the project, nine committees were tasked with evaluating academic advising at OU through the lens of “conditions of excellence.”
“After a brief pause in the summer of 2020, the committees re-engaged in full force in fall of 2020,” Webb said. “Although ‘year one’ has extended well beyond 12 months, a lot has been accomplished.”
For example, the EAA:
• Created a Steering Committee and selected chairs and co-chairs of the Conditions Committee
• Successfully launched the EAA on campus
• Recruited more than 100 staff, faculty and students for Conditions Committee membership
• Reviewed over 260 key performance indicators across the nine “conditions of excellence”
• Collected almost 300 pieces of evidence gathered to support conclusions, recommendations and future action plans
• Administered a survey to faculty, staff and students with 43 percent and 9.5 percent response rates, respectively
• Developed a summary of findings of each of the nine conditions committees
• Developed preliminary recommendations specific to each of the nine ‘conditions of excellence.
“The campus retreat was the first time since the campus launch that all members of the EAA project were able to come together, with over 80 participants taking part in six hours of meetings held over four days,” Webb said.
The retreat kicked off on Monday, May 3 with opening remarks by Britt Rios-Ellis, executive vice president for Academic Affairs and provost, and Glenn McIntosh, senior vice president for Student Affairs and chief diversity officer. It continued through Thursday, May 6 and included a review of the EAA process, intended goals, overarching themes, committee recommendations, and next steps.
“The EAA Campus Retreat was an opportunity to bring the framework of the EAA project and the specific knowledge and needs of OU Academic Advising together,” said Shannon Esselink, director of Advising Services for the College of Arts and Sciences. “While the project has structure and milestones, it is really a tool to be used to move us forward. The information, conversation and thoughts shared over the four days were both meaningful and valuable.
“The level of participation across all the committee members was amazing to see and I was so thankful for the individuals that took on extra roles during the breakout sessions,” she added. “It was a culmination of all the work over 100 campus members invested in academic advising. The recommendations that emerge from this first year of work will direct our path to Excellence in Academic Advising.”