AA/PPS 02.02.30 - Undergraduate Academic Advising

POLICY STATEMENT

Texas State University is committed to providing students with an academic advising experience that ensures meaningful holistic guidance, timely intervention, and intentional resources to support a student’s degree progression and completion.

1. BACKGROUND INFORMATION

   1. The provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs (EVPAA) has supervisory responsibility for academic advising at Texas State University. Administrative responsibility for advising services and practices at Texas State is delegated to the vice provost for Academic Success (VPAS).

2. ACADEMIC ADVISING AT TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY

   1. Academic Advising Mission Statement:

      Academic advising is a relational practice and an ongoing conversation in which academic advisors provide meaningful holistic guidance, timely intervention, and intentional resources to support a student’s degree progression and completion. Through sustained dialogue over time, academic advisors help students make meaning of their higher education experience, aligning educational pathways with career goals while supporting their ability to navigate institutional systems with clarity and confidence. Academic advisors foster intellectual growth, personal development, and a lifelong capacity for learning, purpose, and contribution.

   2. Texas State embraces the concept of advising supported by the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA: The Global Community for Academic Advising). Advisors and students meet individually or in small groups, assisted when and where appropriate by technology. Both have responsibilities and rights in a learning environment that fosters the retention and graduation of students. This interaction is best understood as a special opportunity for teaching, learning, and mentoring where each individual student’s aspirations and skills are the focus of conversations or communications. Serving as a guide and mentor to the students, the advisor helps students establish or refine academic and career goals, while learning the value and responsibilities of higher education. The advisors’ responsibilities will include the transmission and translation of policies that affect students’ completion of their undergraduate degrees.

3. PROFESSIONAL ACADEMIC ADVISORS

   1. Professional academic advisors are hired by the university and directly overseen by the associate vice provost for Academic Advising and Transitions (AVPAAT). Professional academic advisors, functioning as teachers and mentors, must hold at least a baccalaureate degree and preferably an advanced degree or coursework toward such a degree.

      Through case management, their primary responsibilities are to:

      1. foster a welcoming, student-centered environment;

      2. engage students in meaningful dialogue that promotes reflection, growth, and decision-making;

      3. provide meaningful guidance, timely intervention, and intentional resources aligned with students’ goals;

      4. support students in connecting their academic experience to personal and career aspirations;

      5. provide accurate, timely, and transparent information about curriculum, policies, and pathways;

      6. use proactive and responsive strategies to support academic success and remove barriers;

      7. encourage critical thinking, self-authorship, and student agency;

      8. connect students to campus resources and collaborate with institutional partners;

      9. uphold ethical standards, including confidentiality (per the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA)); and

      10. continuously develop professionally to enhance academic advising practice and student outcomes.

   2. Professional positions related to academic advising are:

      1. Academic Advisor I – provides holistic and proactive academic advising by assisting students with course selection, understanding degree requirements, and connecting them to campus resources.

      2. Academic Advisor II – delivers holistic and proactive academic advising while coordinating group advising efforts (e.g., workshops, orientations, and major exploration sessions) to support academic engagement and academic success.

      3. Academic Advisor III – provides holistic and proactive academic advising and coordinates academic advising campaigns at the center level (e.g., registration, retention, and progression) while mentoring advisors and leveraging data to inform practice.

      4. Assistant Director of Academic Advising – oversees academic advising operations, including the coordination of academic advising workflows, staff supervision, and implementation of group initiatives and campaigns aligned with center goals.

      5. Director of Academic Advising – provides strategic leadership for advising centers by setting vision, aligning initiatives with institutional priorities, and ensuring the effective coordination and assessment of academic advising services and academic success efforts.

4. ADDITIONAL ACADEMIC ADVISING ROLES AND FACULTY PARTNERSHIPS

   1. Faculty play an important role in the student experience and may serve as mentors to students seeking guidance on careers, graduate education, and pre-professional pathways. Through ongoing engagement, faculty provide insight into disciplines, research opportunities, and industry expectations, helping students connect their academic experiences to future goals. In partnership with academic advising, faculty mentorship supports students in making informed decisions and deepening their understanding of potential post-graduate opportunities.

   2. Directors of Academic Advising facilitate the maintenance of program audit updates for their assigned colleges and academic programs. Additionally, directors of Academic Advising will attend regular meetings at the college- or institutional-level (as delegated by the AVPAAT) where changes in policies and procedures will be explained and their implications discussed.

5. EXPECTATIONS FOR ACADEMIC ADVISING, ASSESSMENT, AND RECORD-KEEPING

   1. Texas State has established the following expectations for professional academic advising, assessment, and record-keeping:

      1. academic advisors will advise each new or returning student prior to the start of their first semester;

      2. academic advisors will encourage new students to meet with them during the students’ first semester following entrance into the university;

      3. academic advisors will contact students on academic probation prior to registration;

      4. academic advisors will meet with student athletes. In consultation with a representative of the Athletic Academic Center, academic advisors will review the student athlete’s degree programs, guide their course selections, and verify their records (e.g., changes in majors, minors, teacher certification plans) so that certification officers can ascertain these students’ academic progress, status, and eligibility;

      5. academic advisors will encourage students to meet with them prior to each registration period to ensure that students are engaged in planning their course selections. Students will also be encouraged to use the degree audit prior to these meetings to use as basis for course progress and to determine that other standards such as grade requirements for courses, major and minors are maintained;

      6. academic advisors will develop and keep secure advising records for students, either in their advising centers, or in official electronic repositories;

      7. academic advisors will affirm and update the catalog of record for students and monitor application of credit to degree requirements in the degree audit;

      8. academic advisors will provide students with access to an electronic assessment instrument to provide feedback on advising services;

      9. assessment of advising services will be coordinated by the AVPAAT; the results of the assessment and recommendations for change will be shared with the VPAS, the provost and EVPAA, and the university community; and

      10. academic advisors and others with advising-related responsibilities will take reasonable precautions to ensure the security, retention, or appropriate destruction of all convenience copies or non-permanent student records under guidance from the person charged with oversight of records retention, in compliance with FERPA.

6. ACADEMIC ADVISING SUPPORT OF INSTITUTIONAL PRIORITIES

   1. Academic advisors will provide support to administrative priorities of institutional significance, such as:

      1. affirming coursework applicability to the degree for federal financial aid, National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), Education Abroad, and Veterans Affairs programs;

      2. commencement ceremonies;

      3. developing and approving plans designed to promote continued eligibility for Title IV financial aid according to Satisfactory Academic Progress guidelines;

      4. evaluating functionality and accuracy of technologies used within the academic advising program on campus;

      5. new student outreach and recruitment activity, including reviewing and approving transfer planning guides, supporting new student orientation;

      6. ensuring that students are appropriately advised on making timely degree progress;

      7. providing proactive outreach and responsive support at key academic risks, transitions, or milestones to connect students with resources and ease barriers to success;

      8. receiving and forwarding transfer equivalency requests to the appropriate faculty;

      9. processing of students for graduation; and

      10. responsibilities associated with UPPS No. 03.01.13, Tuition Rebate Program and UPPS No. 03.01.17, Undergraduate Excessive Hours Fee.

7. STUDENT ADVISING APPEALS PROCEDURE

   1. Directors of Academic Advising will investigate student allegations of inaccurate or misadvising, report their findings, and communicate their recommendation to the AVPATT, and to the student. Students will have the right to appeal such recommendations to the VPAS, whose decision is final.

8. REVIEWERS OF THIS PPS

   1. Reviewers of this PPS include the following:

      Position	Date
      Associate Vice Provost for Academic Advising and Transitions	June 1 E5Y
      Vice Provost for Academic Success	June 1 E5Y

9. CERTIFICATION STATEMENT

   This PPS has been approved by the following individuals in their official capacities and represents Texas State Academic Affairs policy and procedure from the date of this document until superseded.

   Vice Provost for Academic Success; senior reviewer of this PPS

   Senior Vice Provost

   Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs