College Earns National Holistic Advising Award

SUNY Schenectady was one of five institutions from across the country chosen to receive a $35,000 Holistic Advising Award from the Advising Success Network (ASN). The awards were created by the ASN to “recognize holistic advising redesign efforts supported by cross-functional teams and centered around student experiences to increase completion and success indicators for Black, Latino/a/x, Indigenous, Asian, and Pacific Islander students and poverty-affected students.” The College was selected by a panel of advisors who represented colleges, universities, and organizations from throughout the U.S. during a competitive application process. A case study on ASN’s website details the College’s approach to holistic advising.

Pamela McCall, who accepted the award in June during the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) Conference on Student Success in Kansas City, Mo., shared that the College plans to utilize the funding for services to directly support students, as well as technology upgrades.

Recipients of the award were assessed based on the following criteria:
Position advising as a lever for student success and equity.
Define the ideal student journey.
Create and sustain campus cross-collaboration.
Support students’ personal, academic, and career plans.
Use advising technologies to scale high-quality practices.
Invest in high-quality data structures and systems.
Promote continuous improvement.

The institutions that received the Holistic Advising Award were: SUNY Schenectady, Arcadia University (Glenside, Penn.), Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish (NHS) College (New Town, N.D.), College of Lake County (Lake County, Ill.), and Claflin University (Orangeburg, S.C.).

“It is an honor for the College to have been chosen to receive this prestigious award from the Advising Success Network,” said Mitzi Espinola, Assistant Director of Academic Advisement and Retention at SUNY Schenectady. “The funds received will assist the College in continuing to support student success through services that directly impact their educational journey.”

“NASPA and the Advising Success Network are proud to recognize SUNY Schenectady for their use of cross-functional teams and student engagement strategies to inform and provide holistic advising and student supports,” said Elise Newkirk-Kotfila, Assistant Vice President for Strategy and Partnerships, NASPA – Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education. “The College has leveraged advisors and students as change agents in this work, and we look forward to following their continued success. We were particularly excited to showcase college leaders at NASPA’s Conference on Student Success in Higher Education this June.”

In addition to the Holistic Advising Award, SUNY Schenectady was one of seven institutions selected to receive the Student Choice Award by a panel of students who are current interns with the ASN or recently served as ASN Fellows. Student Fellows presented this award to institutions that reflect a commitment to the inclusion of student voices and perspectives. SUNY Schenectady received $3,000 with this recognition. The awardees were SUNY Schenectady, College of Lake County, Muskingum University, Nashville State Community College, Northern Kentucky University, Purdue University- Main Campus, and Truckee Meadows Community College.

The Advising Success Network (ASN) is a national network of five organizations partnering to engage higher education institutions in holistic advising redesign activities to advance success for Black, Latinx/a/o, Indigenous, Asian, and Pacific Islander students and poverty-affected students. The network provides services and resources that guide institutions through implementing evidence-based advising practices to advance a more equitable student experience to achieve our vision of a higher education landscape that has eliminated race and income as predictors of student success. 

The ASN is coordinated by NASPA - Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education, and includes Achieving the Dream, the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, EDUCAUSE, NACADA: The Global Community for Academic Advising, and the National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition.”