Summer Summit for Student Success: A Festival of Advising Best Practices

A Festival of Advising Best Practices took place in the Center for Academic Excellence on Friday, June 24. This event was born from the idea that, no matter what their official titles are, all faculty and staff members at Quinsigamond Community College can be considered as the first line of contact for each student. With the support of a Best Practices grant from President Gail Carberry, the Starfish planning team transformed this idea into a half day event with the goal of encouraging open discussion and dialogue among participants as a way to broaden the conversation related to student retention, success, and completion.

The day began with colleagues conversing while QCC music instructor Jose Castillo played acoustic guitar. Along with colorful decorations, Mr. Castillo’s music set the festive tone for this event. Director of Career and Academic Planning Liza Smith then introduced and provided local, state and national contexts for the day’s presentations by talking about QCC’s Strategic Plan, Massachusetts Department of Higher Education’s “ ‘Big Three’ Plan to Produce More College Graduates” (which is part of The Vision Project), and Complete College America.

Five presentations followed the journey of a typical college student, starting with Dean of Distance Learning and Professional Development Pat Schmohl’s “Who Are They”? He shared techniques for learning about students’ career goals early on so as to better advise them. This was followed by advisor and faculty member Nadine Stewart’s presentation on the challenges of advising when helicopter parents are involved, English Professor Amy Beaudry spoke about ways to encourage students to register during Priority Registration, and Coordinator of Career and Academic Planning Services Lupe Lomeli and Coordinator of Disability Services Ann Panetta co-presented on how using Starfish as a communication tool between Advising and Disability Services  better serves QCC students. The final presentation by Coordinator of Career and Academic Planning Services Eric Saczawa was about using information from students’ Starfish course overview pages to provide them with more individualized advising.   

In attendance were forty part- and full-time faculty and staff members representing various campus offices, such as Advising, Admissions, College and Career Pathways, Disability Services, the Alden Library, and Student Employment and Transfer Services. Rebecca Brownstein, Senior Enrollment Counselor at the Southbridge campus, who attended the event said, “The Summer Summit for Student Success was a wonderfully beneficial opportunity to collaborate with faculty and staff throughout the College. The Summit provided us with a chance to learn about College-wide initiatives that benefit the students we work with on a daily basis. Collaboration and the opportunity to participate in professional development is paramount to ensuring that our students receive the most up to date, informative and inclusive advising possible.”

Planning has already begun for a second Festival of Advising Best Practices to be held in June 2017.