The Advising Redesign and Integration Initiative at Gordon State College (GSC) is an ongoing, multi-year effort to transform the college’s academic advising system into a proactive, structured, and program-embedded model. The project seeks to enhance student success and retention by ensuring that all students receive personalized, discipline-specific guidance from the moment they enroll until they reach 60 earned credit hours. Beyond this threshold, students transition to faculty advisors within their academic majors, ensuring continuity and depth of support throughout their degree pathways.
This redesigned system centers on professional advisors who are strategically embedded within GSC’s three academic schools. By aligning advisors with specific disciplines and programs, the college fosters closer collaboration between advising and academics—allowing advisors to provide targeted, informed guidance that supports students’ academic, professional, and personal development.
The overarching goal is to create a structured, process-oriented, and intrusive advising program that integrates advisors fully into the academic fabric of the institution—shifting advising from a transactional function to a relational, developmental partnership between students, advisors, and faculty.
Project Design and Major Elements
1. Expansion of Professional Advising
Gordon State College has expanded its professional advising model to include all students with up to 60 earned credit hours, a key milestone in students’ academic journeys. This expansion ensures early and consistent engagement with professional advisors who are trained to support students through foundational coursework, academic planning, and early career exploration.
To sustain this effort:
- The advising staff is increasing from five advisors in Fall 2023 to eight by Fall 2026, maintaining an average caseload of approximately 200 students per advisor.
- As of Fall 2025, GSC employs six full-time professional advisors who collectively serve all students with fewer than 60 earned credit hours.
This strategic staffing plan provides the necessary infrastructure to deliver consistent, personalized guidance to students in the first half of their academic careers.
2. Intrusive Advising Approach
At the core of the redesign is an intrusive (proactive) advising model, in which advisors actively engage with students rather than waiting for them to initiate contact. This approach includes multiple, structured outreach and engagement strategies:
- Five targeted advising emails each semester are sent to students through the Navigate platform, providing reminders, resources, and check-in messages aligned with key academic milestones.
- Appointment campaigns are conducted each semester to ensure students meet with their assigned advisors for academic planning and course registration for the upcoming term.
- Early alert and intervention processes identify students facing academic challenges, enabling advisors to connect them promptly with appropriate campus resources.
This proactive communication and engagement structure allows advisors to maintain ongoing contact with students throughout each term, fostering accountability, connection, and informed decision-making.
To strengthen this model, formal NACADA training began in Spring 2025, providing professional development in intrusive advising techniques, student success strategies, and data-informed decision-making. These efforts support a unified advising philosophy and reinforce a culture of proactive, student-centered service across the advising team.
3. Integration with Academic Schools
To ensure advising is both contextually relevant and closely aligned with academic programs, professional advisors are now embedded within GSC’s three academic schools:
- The School of Business and Professional Studies
- The School of Education, Arts, and Humanities
- The School of Nursing, Health, and STEM
Each school has two dedicated professional advisors who collaborate directly with faculty, administrators, and educational support staff. This embedded structure fosters:
- Improved communication between advisors and faculty regarding curriculum, course sequencing, and program expectations.
- Enhanced consistency in advising practices and policies across disciplines.
- Stronger connections between students and their academic communities, reinforcing a sense of belonging and engagement.
By positioning advisors within academic units, GSC bridges the traditional divide between student services and academic affairs, ensuring advising becomes a cohesive component of the student learning experience.
Conclusion
The Advising Redesign and Integration Initiative represents a foundational shift in how Gordon State College supports student success. Through structured, proactive, and discipline-embedded advising, the college is cultivating a system that not only helps students persist but also empowers them to make informed academic and career decisions. As the initiative continues to expand through 2026, GSC aims to institutionalize advising excellence as a defining feature of the college’s commitment to student achievement and institutional effectiveness.
KPIs:
KPI 1. The number of advisees per advisor
KPI 2. Year-to-year retention for FTFT students
KPI 3. Student perception of advising quality (from survey) – "satisfied"
Baseline measure (for each KPI):
KPI 1. Two hundred actively enrolled students per advisor per Fall term and 175
per Spring term.
KPI 2. One percentage point
KPI 3. One percentage point
Current/most recent data (for each KPI):
KPI 1. 172.6 in Spring 2024
222.5 in Fall 2024
186.5 in Spring 2025
265 in Fall 2025
KPI 2. 49.7% (Fall 2022 FTFT)
53.2% (Fall 2023 FTFT)
64.5% (Fall 2024 FTFT)
KPI 3. 90% - Spring 2025 (Professional Advising)
90% - Fall 2025 (Professional Advising)
Goal or targets (for each KPI):
KPI 1. 200 actively enrolled students per advisor per Fall term and 175 per
Spring term.
*Given the realities of 60 CH professional advising, we may need to increase this to 225 and 175 or 250 and 200.
KPI 2. 65%
KPI 3. 80% "satisfied"
Gordon State College has made significant strides in enhancing student advising through structured communication, improved advisor engagement, and a more intentional approach to professional training and workload management.
Advising Loads and Staffing:
We have exceeded our initial targets for advisees per advisor, reflecting both the success of our advising redesign and the increasing demand for advising support. Currently, advising loads for the School of Nursing, Health, and Natural Sciences exceed 300 advisees per advisor, and one advisor in the School of Business and Professional Studies is approaching that level as well. These numbers are well above our ideal range. To address this, we plan to hire two additional advisors. Funding remains a challenge; however, we anticipate adding one new professional advisor for Fall 2026. This new advisor will serve students in the School of Nursing, Health, and Natural Sciences, providing critical relief to existing advising staff.
Standardized Advising Campaigns:
Our standardized advising campaigns—implemented through Navigate—have proven highly effective. Students now receive five encouraging and informative emails from their advisor each semester, as well as two additional emails and two text message reminders during advising and registration periods. These nudges have helped sustain engagement, prompting timely advising appointments and course registration.
Advisor Training and Professional Development:
While we successfully launched biannual NACADA-aligned training in Spring 2025, maintaining two sessions per year has proven difficult due to competing demands and heavy advising loads. Both summer and fall have been especially busy, leaving limited time for professional development. We are now adjusting our expectations to focus on one comprehensive NACADA training each spring semester. Once advising loads decrease and additional staffing is secured, we will revisit the possibility of restoring two annual training sessions.
Advisor Relationships and Collaboration:
We have made strong progress in building connections between advisors and their students before each semester begins. However, continued attention is needed to strengthen relationships among advisors, academic assistants, and academic administration within each school. Sustaining this collaboration is essential for ensuring consistent communication, coordinated student support, and a shared understanding of program requirements and student needs across all academic areas.
Expanded Student Support Structure:
As we move into the 2025–2026 academic year, the merger of the Student Success Center, Career Services, and other student support offices has continued to yield positive results. Collaboration between Advising and Career Services has been particularly strong. These teams have worked closely to plan and implement campuswide initiatives such as Major Fest and the annual Career Fair, both of which have significantly improved student awareness of academic pathways and career opportunities. This integrated model of support ensures that students experience a seamless connection between academic advising and career development
throughout their time at Gordon State College.
Overall, these developments demonstrate continued progress toward a proactive, student-centered advising model. Despite challenges in staffing and scheduling, the Advising Redesign initiative remains on track to strengthen student engagement, advisor capacity, and institutional alignment in support of student success.
In 2025–2026, Gordon State College will focus on strengthening the Advising Redesign initiative by improving advisor capacity, student engagement, and communication consistency across all schools.
1. Lower Advising Loads
Advising loads remain high—especially in the School of Nursing, Health, and Natural Sciences and the School of Business and Professional Studies, where some advisors manage around 300 students. We plan to hire two additional advisors, with one position expected for Fall 2026. Until then, we will explore redistributing advisees and using temporary or faculty advising support during peak periods to ensure students continue receiving timely, personalized attention.
2. Implement Success Plans for At-Risk Students
Beginning in 2025–2026, all students newly on academic probation or returning from suspension will complete a success plan with their advisor. These plans will set clear academic goals, identify campus resources, and schedule check-ins. Standardized templates and brief advisor training will ensure consistency across schools.
3. Expand and Diversify Advisor Training
We will increase advisor training opportunities beyond NACADA sessions to include short, practical workshops and peer-led discussions. Topics will focus on advising students in distress, maximizing Navigate tools, equity-minded practices, and effective communication. Advisors will complete at least one structured training per semester.
4. Finalize Advising Handbook and Best Practices Sheets
The Advising Handbook will be finalized and distributed college-wide. Advisors will also receive one-page Best Practices sheets covering topics such as degree planning, early outreach, and probation advising. These concise resources will standardize approaches and improve efficiency across the advising team.
5. Reinforce the “15 to Finish” Message
We will strengthen campus-wide promotion of the importance of enrolling in 15 or more credit hours per semester. This message is now embedded in all advising and registration communications, but we will expand its visibility through banners, yard signs, and flyers in the Student Success Center and high-traffic areas. Advisors will emphasize “15 to Finish” in every student meeting to reinforce the expectation.
6. Reestablish Paper Advising Invitations for Residential Students
We fell behind in delivering paper invitations for advising appointments to residential students, many of whom are harder to reach digitally. This initiative will resume in Spring 2026, ensuring that every student receives a personalized, physical reminder to meet with their advisor and register early.
Outlook
These focused initiatives will strengthen advising capacity, improve communication, and promote a culture of academic momentum. By lowering advising loads, supporting at-risk students with structured plans, enhancing advisor training, and making “15 to Finish” a visible and consistent message, Gordon State College will continue advancing toward a proactive, student-centered advising model that supports timely degree completion and student success.
CHALLENGES:
Limited Funding for Staffing:
Budget constraints may delay hiring additional advisors needed to reduce advising loads.
High Current Advising Loads:
Heavy caseloads limit the time advisors have for training, implementing success plans, and personalized student outreach.
Competing Institutional Priorities:
Advisors and support staff are balancing multiple campus initiatives, reducing availability for new program rollouts.
Training Time and Capacity:
Finding consistent time for professional development, especially during peak advising and registration periods, remains difficult.
Communication and Coordination Across Units:
Effective collaboration among Advising, Residence Life, Marketing, and Academic Schools is essential but can be slowed by differing schedules and workloads.
Resource Needs for Campaign Materials:
Producing and placing “15 to Finish” banners, yard signs, and printed materials requires additional funding and logistical coordination.
Tracking and Assessment Systems:
Monitoring completion of success plans, training participation, and campaign impact will require refined data collection and follow-up procedures.
SUPPORT NEEDED:
Professional Development Resources: Provide systemwide training modules, webinars, and shared best practices to supplement advisor development.
Data and Analytics Support: Offer guidance on tracking advising loads, success plan outcomes, and 15-to-Finish metrics through standardized data dashboards.
Peer Collaboration Networks: Facilitate cross-institutional communities of practice where advising teams can share strategies, templates, and campaign materials.
Communication Toolkits: Develop systemwide messaging and marketing assets (e.g., 15-to-Finish materials) that campuses can adapt locally.
Policy and Process Guidance: Provide recommendations on effective advising structures, workload benchmarks, and success plan implementation models used across USG institutions.
