Advancing Academic Advising Project

Overview

The Advancing Academic Advising Project (3AP) is a campus-wide collaboration to create a best-in-class academic advising system that helps our students flourish and supports the professional development of our academic advising staff. It is sponsored by UTM's Vice-President & Principal, Professor Alexandra Gillespie and is led by Brian Ingoldsby, Senior Project Manager in the UTM Campus Project Management Office.

Over the next eighteen months, the project will aim to meet the following goals:

Identifying a goal state for UTM's academic advising program;
Developing recommendations and an implementation plan for achieving that goal state;
Significantly involving UTM community stakeholders to support enhancement activities.

The first phase of the project, focused on identifying a goal state for UTM’s academic advising program and recommendations for advancing to that state, began in the Fall of 2023 and will culminate in a report delivered to University leadership in the summer of 2024.

Executive Steering Committee

Anuar Rodrigues, Executive Director, Strategy
Mark Overton, Dean of Student Affairs and Assistant Principal
Nicholas Rule, Vice-Principal, Academic & Dean

Project Team

Brian Ingoldsby
Senior Project Manager

Project Management Office

Felicity Morgan
Director, Career Centre

UTM Career Centre

Jessica Silver
Director, Student Engagement

Centre for Student Engagement

Pascal Michelucci
Professor

Department of Language Studies

Sandra Ngan
Senior Project Manager

Project Management Office

Sharon Marjadsingh
Academic Advisor and
Program Administrator

Department of Historical Studies

Svitlana Frunchak
Assistant Registrar,
Academic Advising Services

Office of the Registrar

Olha Fihol
Assistant Registrar,
Registrarial Services

Office of the Registrar

Project Team Activities

The primary objective of this project is to improve students' academic advising experiences, and we are committed to centering our students' experiences, needs and voices throughout the process and beyond. Additionally, we are committed to engaging with our academic advisors to identify ways of building a model of academic advising that is even stronger.

Project Team activities to date have focused on: engaging in extensive community consultation; leading the Project’s seven (7) working groups (involving over 65 community members); facilitating communication and change management activities; and investing in group learning and development.

Working Groups

In alignment with the goal of engaging and leveraging the expertise of UTM community members to the greatest extent possible, the Advancing Academic Advising Project (3AP) has organized over 65 community members into 7 working groups, each responsible for reviewing and making recommendations related to a particular aspect of UTM’s academic advising program.

The seven working group areas include:

The Programs and Services Working Group is tasked with reviewing and making recommendations related to the programs and services students are currently experiencing. Examples of topics this group will be exploring include:

Whether existing programs and services are fulfilling the goals and desired outcomes for our academic advising program
Program/service efficiency and effectiveness
How programming decisions are being made
Recommended/required policies

More information to come

The Assessment and Application of Research and Theory Working Group is tasked with reviewing and making recommendations related to the extent to which quality assessment is happening and research and theory are being used to inform practice.

More information to come

While many working groups will be exploring the inclusivity of aspects of our academic advising program, the Equity, Diversity, Inclusion & Indigeneity Working Group will specifically focus on reviewing our academic advising program from an EDI&I lens and making recommendations as to how academic advising at UTM may be enhanced to support the success of all students.

More information to come

The Advising Staff Working Group is focused on the experiences of advising staff, including: their recruitment, training, on-going professional development; well-being; organization,; support structures; avenues for voice and representation, etc.

More information to come

The Communications Working Group is focused on reviewing marketing and communication activities related to academic advising at UTM and making necessary recommendations as to how such activities may be enhanced. Examples of questions the group will be seeking to answer include:

To what extent are current marketing and communication efforts working?
Do our students know what we want them to know?
Are best practices in place that support communication effectiveness?

More information to come

The Information Systems and Technology Working Group is tasked with reviewing and making recommendations related to the tools and data available within our academic advising program. The group will consider:

Use of technology
User training and access
Technology integration

More information to come

The Facilities Working Group will be responsible to reviewing and making recommendations related to the locations and spaces in which academic advising occurs . Examples of topics the group will be considering include: