1. “Need to Re-Envision Academic Advising
“Need to Re-Envision Academic Advising? If you got the will, we have the way: Strategic Advising Analysis in 10 Intentional Steps.”
Presented by:
Richard T Finger
Director, Graduate Studies & Success Initiatives
Lehman College, City University of New York

2. CUNY Mission
Pathway to the middle class for many immigrant, first generation and low income New Yorkers

3. Lehman College Mission
Embracing diversity and actively engaging students in their academic, personal and professional development

4. About lehman College Hispanic and Minority Serving Institution
Entirely commuter campus (less than 15 dorm beds)
Campus primarily serves the Bronx as both an educational and cultural hub to one of the poorest urban areas in the United States
Lehman is 4 – train stops from Yankee Stadium 20 minutes from Manhattan
Campus is a sprawling urban oasis, park like grounds, with representative architecture of each decade over the last 100 years
Lehman has hosted President Obama, Justice Sotomayor, Sen. Chuck Schumer, Rep. Charles Rangel, and UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon
Ranked by U.S. News & World Report as a Tier 1 institution among regional universities in the North for four consecutive years; Top 40 public college and No. 5 among all colleges in the North for graduates with the least debt; graduate Social Work Program (MSW) among the Top 100 in the nation.
Ranked No. 56 among master's universities for social mobility, research, and service (Washington Monthly).
Celebrated 20 years as a founding member of Hispanic Educational Technology Services (HETS), a bilingual consortium of institutions that works to expand the educational opportunities and the access to the post-secondary
education to the Hispanic community.

5. lehman’s strategic advantages
Improving enrollment, persistence, and graduation rates
Embracing our role as a transfer institution: 75% of students are transfer students
Increasing articulation and dual admissions agreements with all regional community colleges
Advancing online learning: 21% of all course offerings are online
Implementing Undergraduate to Graduate Dual Credit Program
Award winning Freshman Year and Sophomore Year Programs

6. Lehman’s Institutional Challenges
100% Unionized Staff:
Tenure-track faculty
Administration
Civil Service clerical employees

7. Best Practices fatigue
Foundations of Excellence Studies – John Gardner
Program Prioritization – Robert Dickeson

8. The Lehman Culture: Building a culture of trust “Enrollment Leadership Committee: Judgment Free Zone”
Enrollment Leadership
Vice President of Student Affairs
Vice President of Enrollment Management
Admissions
Bursar
Adult Degree Program
Communications
Enrollment
SEEK Program
Academic Standards

9. Advising at Lehman College - 2015
SEEK Program
Urban Male Leadership
Study Abroad
Academic Advisement
Advising at Lehman College
School of Health Sciences, Human Services, and Nursing
Veterans Affairs
Adult Degree Program
Freshman Year Initiative
Admissions
Pre-Health Advising
Careers in Teaching TRIO
Honors Program
School of Arts and Humanities
School of Continuing and Professional Studies
School of Natural Social Sciences
Sophomore Year Initiative
School of Education
Career Services

10. Re-envisioning Advising: Goals
Examine current academic advising landscape: identify best practices, challenges, and obstacles
Identify operational bottlenecks in support of advising
Develop a comprehensive advising model with implementation plan
Automate paper processes

11. Understanding Our Process

12. Step 1: Begin with a charge
Associate Dean’s Council
Enrollment Leadership Committee
Dean’s
Council
Provost’s Council
President’s Cabinet
Presidential Charge

13. Step 2: Engage the entire campus in the process “Keep your friends close…”
Advisory Board
VP of Enrollment Management
VP of Student Affairs
Chief Information Officer
Head of Faculty Senate
Deans from every school
Steering Committee
Directors of all Advising Units
Advising Working Group
Associate Deans
Director, Academic Advising
Director, Graduate Studies
Representatives from each school.
Representatives from each advising area.
Information Technology
Students
Automation Working Group
Associate Dean’s
Registrar
Director, Academic Standards

14. Step 3: Engage Internal Constituent groups
Presentations to each working group:
20-minute SWOT Analysis
Roundtable Discussions
Fair and Open Analysis – no judgement!

15. Advising at Lehman College - 2015
SEEK Program
Urban Male Leadership
Study Abroad
Academic Advisement
Advising at Lehman College
School of Health Sciences, Human Services, and Nursing
Veterans Affairs
Adult Degree Program
Freshman Year Initiative
Admissions
Pre-Health Advising
Careers in Teaching TRIO
Honors Program
School of Arts and Humanities
School of Continuing and Professional Studies
School of Natural Social Sciences
Sophomore Year Initiative
School of Education
Career Services

16. Step 4: Conduct a comprehensive review of the literature and regional best practices
Attendance at NACADA regional and national conferences
Review of Advising Literature
Outreach to regional schools
Follow-up discussion and debate on transferrable best practices

17. Step 5: Identify Best Practices and deficiency areas
What are we doing right?
What are they doing right?
What does the research tell us?
What are our weaknesses? How do we address this?
How does the community feel about our work?
Can this be institutionalized?

18. Step 6: Share Findings widely
Working Group Communications: Team Sites
Presentations to Advisory Board and Steering Committee
Regular Updates at President’s Cabinet
Town Hall Meetings
Focus Groups with Students

19. Step 7: Begin to draft a Model
Establish sub-groups to focus on broad themes:
Caseload Management
Advising Technologies
Communications
Training
Automation
Knowledge Management

20. Step 8: Complete a draft with cost: Benefit Analysis

21. Step 9: share model widely
Share with anyone who wants to read it!

22. Step 9: share model widely
Share with anyone who wants to read it!

23. Step 10: Solicit feedback and revise
Campus wide Discussion of Student Success
Student Focus Groups
School Meetings
Administrative Divisional Meetings
Dean’s Council
Faculty Retreat
President’s Cabinet
Provost’s Council

24. Lehman College Academic Advising Model Phase: 1

25. Where have we allocated resources?
Development of Academic Advising Dashboards
Search for “Hub” Director
5 New Advisors
Advisor Training Program
Automate Processes
Retention Management Software
DegreeWorks Scriber Training

26. Next Steps

27. Richard Finger – Richard.Finger@lehman.cuny.edu
Questions?
Richard Finger –